I believe in miracles. As a Christian, how couldn’t I? Our whole faith is based on the reality of the miraculous. Nobody can rise from the dead without a miracle taking place.
But what about miracles today? On one level, a miracle occurs every time a person accepts Christ and is handed the gift of eternal life. Anything God does is by definition a miracle. But the kind of miracle I’m talking about is not just something that to the eye of faith God is involved in, but something no human ability could ever produce, something even an unbeliever would say must be God.
Some people (the theological term is cessationists) believe that miracles were only used by God to attest the preaching of the apostles until the Scriptures were completed, and now, as we have the witness of the Bible, we don’t need the support of miracles any more.
I never figured out where anything in the Bible could be used to support this position, and long ago came to the conclusion it is mainly a cover to justify the unbelief of a western church which has compromised with the rational spirit of the secular age in which we live.
But there is still a problem with miracles, or more accurately, with how people respond to them. It becomes very clear in John’s Gospel, where miracles are said to be “signs” which point to the deeper truth of who Christ is. People were attracted by the miracles Jesus did, particularly when they got a free fish lunch out of them, but failed to see the One to whom they pointed.
The fact is people are suckers for the supernatural. In one sense, that is why signs and wonders are still important in evangelism. They break open the unbelieving doors of a person’s heart so that, at least momentarily, they become open to the claims of Christ. But miracles are not an end in themselves. If you don’t follow the miracle to the miracle Giver, you’ll wind up with a hardened heart and in a worse state than you were before.
This is what bothers me about some forms of faith teaching. The offer of the miraculous becomes an end in itself, where God validates himself through demonstrations of the miraculous. But God needs no miracle to validate himself. And where people need miracles to validate God or a church or a preacher, the miracles quickly become idols. Because God will not be manipulated this way, the miracles, if they truly exist, dry up and people walk away disillusioned and bitter.
But let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Jesus performed miracles because he had compassion. And in God’s kingdom, compassion has not gone out of style. Miracles can be God’s means of providing life and provision for his people. Miracles can still be the honey which draws unbelievers in, some of whom, as John’s Gospel also records, will become true followers of Jesus.
I have seen countless supernatural interventions of God in my life. Miracles? Probably just a few, such as friend diagnosed in his late twenties with Multiple Sclerosis. I know that MS can go into remission for a lengthy season, but in this case the symptoms completely disappeared when I prayed for him and never came back.
Do I want to see more? Yes, absolutely. Because as Jesus said to Martha just before he raised Lazarus from the dead, miracles lead ultimately to the glory of God.
Most miracles occur where people are desperate and have no other alternative, and where they have faith in the supernatural power of God because they’ve never been taught otherwise. That’s why they are still plentiful in most places outside the western world. And why Christians from that world have a lot to teach us.
I will keep on fighting the rationalism of our western culture. I will not be limited to what my five senses can obtain for me. I want more, not because I want miracles, but because I want to follow the One who performs them.
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AWAKENING MINISTRIES // FOUNDATION of FAITH Project
Foundation of Faith Project is strengthening generations in faith and bringing beautiful changes to the communities around them. Through teaching, mentoring and coaching, many are finding out who they are and who they are destined to be. They are bringing more to their world. David Campbell is the key leader in this initiative and you can support him financially directly through Awakening Ministries.
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