spirit and healing in africa - University of the Free State

considered a tentative condition in our redemption; instead, it is definite and to be experienced
directly, despite the fact that diseases are still present in the new order of resurrection existence.
Reformed thought on transformation has room for a holistic understanding of the human being.
Within the boundaries of metaphorical language, there is an openness to the aspect of
physicality, meaning that the body can change and become healed under the influence of
experiencing God’s grace, but not in a direct way. It is through the change in the believer’s
identity that his or her perspective changes, leading to the transformation of various aspects of
the believer’s existence, including the healing and restoration of the body, soul and spirit.
Transformation as a union with Christ emphasizes the relational understanding of salvation and
wholeness, and it draws attention to the person and work of the Holy Spirit. The most prominent
metaphor applied to the redemptive work of the Spirit is adoption: the Spirit of adoption is the
One who transforms the believer into a son or a daughter of the Father, and who enables the
believer to participate in God’s plan of salvation for all of creation. This transformation is a
process of change, that begins with the presence of the Spirit in the life of the believer, and ends
with the ultimate mending of creation. The transforming work of the Spirit of adoption involves
the whole person (spirit, soul and body) and all of creation. The transformation of the believer is
a process, since the final adoption is still underway and awaited in the presence of the groaning
Spirit.
The metaphor of adoption implies that the transformed believer lives in the tension of the Spirit.
When a person approaches God as the Father, it means that every dimension of his or her life is
reclaimed for this Father. Adoption is never partial. Yet it is still in process. With the adoption,
the union with Christ through the Spirit, the believer is introduced to a different kind of order
that also affects our ideas about healing and restoration. When healing is framed by the tension
of the Spirit, healing can be perceived as the order that is found in the cross and the resurrection
of Christ. Articulating healing as transformation, as living in the tension created by the Spirit of
adoption, means that healing is shaped by the pattern of Christ: healing is about frailty, hope and
service to others. This disoriented way of approaching healing is also to be found in the countercultural
gifts of the Spirit. By enabling people to remain living in the tension of the ‘already’ and
the ‘not-yet’, the Spirit causes upheaval in many ways, including the way we deal with healing.
She brings to mind that healing has a shadow side, because healing through the Spirit draws one
away from oneself, and into God’s plan of salvation. Thus, healing through the Spirit of adoption
is disorienting and counter-cultural, because it involves an existential shift in the center of
gravity: the individual believer is no longer the centerpiece of healing, but the triune God who is
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