God’s Protection Plan

If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight . . . I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee. —Exodus 15:26

God is not two-faced, double-minded, or schizophrenic. He does not put sickness on you and then heal you, only to put sickness on you again. The real meaning here in this verse is that God will “not allow” disease on you. God has no choice, because spiritual death and the curse entered the world through Adam. They reign over mankind. Satan has a legal right over man. God’s people have been under sin, sickness, and the curse. So God offers them a protec tion plan, a hiding place from the curse. Notice: God says, “If you diligently hearken to My voice, if you do what is right in My sight, if you give ear to My commandments, I will be able to protect you! I will not allow the curse to come on you.” God is not saying, “Do this, and do that, or I’ll put sickness on you.” He is saying that sin and the curse are in the world with a right to come on you, but if you hear the Word and do it, He will be able to override spiritual death, override sickness and disease! He says, “If you do this, I will legally be able to keep you sickness-free! Know this: ‘I am the Lord that healeth thee!’ I’m not the One who is making you sick; I am the Healer!” We have been taught that He is the One who makes us sick to teach us, makes us sick to keep us humble, makes us sick to punish us—but He said, “I am the Lord that healeth thee.” I believe we ought to believe who He says He is—He is our Healing.

Pastor Tom Kehres

God Is Not the Author of the Curse

By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. —Romans 5:12

How did sin, sickness, and the curse enter into the world? Did God desire that man be under the curse? If so, He could have said, “Let Us make man cursed, sick, and diseased.” Did God punish man with the curse? No! Sin and the curse entered the world by one man’s sin—Adam’s! God told Adam how to stay away from sin and the curse: “Do not eat . . .” By one man, sin entered into the world, and that sin gave way to the curse. That sin and the curse passed upon all men because of Adam’s sin. How did depression, sickness, sin, and poverty get into the world? By one man who sinned! People have been wrongly taught that God will curse them or put sickness on them, but those are not God’s choices for man. The curse is here, in this world, and you will choose to live under it or choose to be free of it! Christ came not to curse you, but to redeem you from the curse, to offer you a protection plan so you could live in the blessing (Galatians 3:13–14). What kind of God would desire to curse you and redeem you at the same time? Spiritual death came because of Adam, and it now rules and reigns over mankind (Romans 5:17). God created man to rule and reign, not to be ruled and reigned over! The curse did not enter because of God’s anger toward man, but because of man’s disobedience toward God. But in love, God gave us Christ, who has redeemed us from the curse!

Pastor Tom Kehres

The Curse Causeless

Shall Not Come And unto Adam [God] said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. —Genesis 3:17

You must understand that God did not curse the earth. God did not get so mad with Adam that He cursed his life, his wife, his labors, and the earth. God created everything to be good, to multiply, and to be blessed. Adam is the one who messed it up—not God! “Because you [Adam] have listened to your wife . . .” “Because you [Adam] have eaten from the tree . . .” “Cursed is the ground for your sake” (emphasis added)! Because of you, Adam, sickness and the curse have come into this world. Because of you, Adam, spiritual death now rules over mankind. God then simply began to prophesy of a coming generation who would live in victory and walk on the devil’s head (see Genesis 3:15). God is not responsible for the curse; He is not responsible for sickness and disease—He is against the works of the enemy. It is never God’s will that you be sick; He does not use sickness to teach you, nor to build character in you, nor to draw you closer to Him. The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy—God came to give you life and life more abundantly (John 10:10)! God wants you healed! His desire is for you to prosper and be in health (3 John 2). Do not mingle God and the curse together. He did not send it, desire it, or sanction it—mankind chose it.

Pastor Tom Kehres

The Fatal Choice

. . . for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. —Genesis 2:17

God gave a warning to Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for they would surely die if they did. Even though the warning was given, Adam and Eve disobeyed and ate. Just as God had told them, in that day they died. We know they did not die physically, because they lived many more years on the earth; so we must conclude they died that day spiritually. Spiritual death, or separation from God, came into their nature, and they were forced to live out of the soul realm. Spiritual death, which is the seed to sickness, disease, guilt, condemnation, and the curse, had come upon mankind. God did not get mad at Adam and spiritually kill him. God did not get mad at Adam and judge him by killing him spiritually. Adam chose spiritual death, and he received what he chose. Adam became a new creation, a new spiritual being that had never existed before—but instead of faith, he had fear; instead of fellowship with God, he hid from God; instead of blessing, he received the curse. Everything God had made was good; it was created for man because of God’s love for man. God never intended for man to be guilty, condemned, fearful, sick, and depressed. Man chose his position in life through disobedience to the warning of God. God is a good God.

Pastor Tom Kehres