Sunday, September 15, 2013

God is Still in the Miracle Business!

       The Bible tells us that God did amazing miracles in the Old Testament. He did them Himself at times & through His prophets or chosen leaders at other times.  Why? He wanted to show His people the awesome different traits of His character. He showed them His mercy, His provision, His healing power, His protection, His ability to fight their battles for them & His overwhelming love for them in spite of their unbelief and frequent failings. His character was easily seen through those things that He did.

     The New Testament Gospels record how Jesus performed amazing miracles. Why? He wanted to point the people away from the ritualistic religion that had taken His people into the bondage of law and return their hearts to loving God. He did miracles of healing, deliverance, & power over both nature & quantity. He raised the dead, healed incurable diseases, & showed the importance of obeying God rather than man. He didn't abolish the Law, but showed how its use was for the purpose of love rather than domination.

      The epistles of the New Testament show us that the apostles did amazing miracles. Why? They were showing God's power, through Christ's work on the cross, in order to validate the ministry & message. They wanted the people to see that Christ's body, His church, could continue on through the power of the Holy Spirit. The church would be established in spite of the fact that opposition rose against it both from established religion & secular governments. Their miracles were important in that they showed God's continuing presence on the earth, even after Jesus returned to His Father.

     According to Romans 15:4, the purpose of all this recorded information is so that we who have come after will be encouraged & have hope. It was not to tease us with something that we could never see or to make us envious of power that we could never have. It was to call us to a deeper intimacy with God & to propel us into an experiential knowledge of what we have in Christ and what we can do through Him.

     So has God changed His mind? Has He decided that our generation should wallow around powerless & ineffective?  Is there anything God can no longer do? Or is it merely the fact that we don't appropriate the power given us because of our unbelief?

     God is still in the business of performing miracles. Ephesians 1:19 says He wants to do amazing things through us & for us through His unlimited, immeasurable & surpassing great power. He didn't cease doing miracles when the Bible was completed. He didn't stop using His saints when the last of the apostles died. He is still in the miracle business. I'm not talking "name it-claim it" theology that uses God like a cosmic vending machine or a genie. I am talking about the power that God wants to exhibit through & for true believers whose faith allows them to see beyond the things seen to the things unseen. I am talking about divine deliverance, supernatural healing, & works of awesomeness that bring glory, not to any man but to the Father.
    
     Knowing all this, how should our lives be? They should be full of peace, joy, & confidence that is not based on circumstances or situations always being favorable, but based on the knowledge that God is in control, that He always knows what is best, & that when we relinquish control to Him we can then rest, expecting Him to act.  He still does miracles. He still wants to do them. What do you need today? Ephesians 3:20 says He can always do more than we can ask or think. Ask, wait, believe & watch! He hasn't changed. He's still in the miracle business!!

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