God and Miracles Today

"And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."- John 14:13, 14

If God is supernatural, why aren’t we seeing more miracles today? The twelve men who walked with Jesus experienced a great deal of the supernatural, for Christ, according to the Gospels, touched blind eyes and men saw. He cleansed the lepers. He unstopped deaf ears and the lame walked. This of course was very unsettling to people, especially the religious leaders who were convinced that God had the power, but to actually see it was rather distressing. How could they account for it?

Paul explained, writing to Corinthians, "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them..." (2 Corinthians 5:19). Paul’s explanation was that God’s power was manifest in the life of His Son, Jesus Christ. When Christ did something miraculous God was working through Him.

Miracles were prominent in the early church. After the day of Pentecost, Peter and John went to the temple and encountered a lame man. "We do not have any silver and gold," Peter explained. "But we will give you what we have. In the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk." The man got to his feet and walked, leaping and praising god (Acts 3:6-8).

Luke, the historian for the early church said, "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles" (Acts 2:42). Mark closes his Gospel, saying, "Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them, and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it" (Mark 16:20).

What the early Christians had, the church today seems to have lost! Are miracles confined to the days of the first century alone? Some believe so, and never see anything more miraculous than the common cold going away in three days. Others believe Hebrews 13:8 which says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and tomorrow, and expect God to meet them in ways that defy human explanation, and it happens. At its inception Christianity was cradled in the supernatural, and its very nature and character are still the same today.

To His disciples in the Upper Room, the night before the crucifixion, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it" (John 14:12-14). Do you believe it? Then believe that God will do that for which there is no human explanation. Yes, as the hymnwriter put it, "I believe in miracles."

Resource Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:11-21