What the Bible Says About Physical Illness

In order to understand physical illness, we must get to know what the Bible says about it.

First, the Bible reveals what the causes of physical illness are. All physical illness is a result of the curse God placed upon the world when mankind fell into sin (Isa 33:24). In addition, physical illness is sometimes caused by Satan and demons, as the four gospels show. Other times physicall illness is a result of sin in one's life. It can be a natural consequence of our sin, as when a person breaks their hand because they punch a wall in sinful anger, or when a person contracts AIDS through sexual immorality. Illness can be God's discipline of our sin (2 Chron 21:12-18; Psa 32:1-5; 1 Cor 11:29-32). Or illness can be a symptom of sinful thinking and attitudes (Prov 17:22; 14:30).

Not only does the Bible reveal the causes of illness, it also reveals the proper motive for seeking good health--to keep our body useful to the Lord (Rom 12:1).

The most important way of seeking good health is by fearing God, keeping His commandments, turning from evil, and following Jesus (Prov 3:7-8; 4:20-22).

Every physical illness occurs under the sovereign control of God, and God has a good purpose for every occurrence of illness. The Bible reveals some of God's good purposes for illness. They include bringing glory to God (John 11:1-6), making you more like Christ (2 Cor 12:7; Rom 8:28-29), making you useful to Christ (2 Cor 12:8-10), exposing your true character (Job), and increasing your ministry (Gal 4:13-14).

The thoughts above come from a message I preached in January. The audio file can be downloaded from www.cfcnb.org. Click "messages." Then look for the message from 1/13/08 entitled, "Themes in Luke: Physical Illness."