And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

Acts 2:42

Have you ever experienced a miracle? If you haven’t, I don’t think you should ignore their existence in Scripture or the innumerable Christian testimony to healings, violations of natural law, and other mighty acts of God that fill history. Often, We make our way through the 168 hours of our week with little to no acknowledgement of God’s providence. Laundry must be folded, emails must be sent, and the timeclock must be punched; the many mind-consuming (or mind-numbing) tasks of life often turn our attention away from the providence of God. We are prone to forget that without the hand of Almighty God, we would be nothing, a formless void. When believers read passages of Scripture that show the Lord splitting the Red sea, raining fire from heaven, or Jesus healing a leper, they are drawn out of their functional materialism and given a glimpse of the divine. These miracles are signs that point to the brokenness of both the natural world and our distance from the Creator. These signs point to the fact that the Father, through the Son, does not leave us broken and distant. He acts in miracles, and ultimately the incarnation of Jesus, to draw us near to himself.Miracles are the quick brush strokes of the Artist on his canvas, made with omniscient intent and awesome splendor. They are reminders of his power and immanence, and their purpose is to move us to enduring trust and worship. Miracles, as recorded in Scripture and those that occur today, are significant to the life and practice of believers because they humble us practically, focus us apologetically, and embolden us prayerfully.

Should we be chosen to be in proximity to a miraculous healing or divinely ordained suspension of natural law, the event should cause us to marvel upward and sing praises to God! Miracles inspire in the believer confidence that his God is uniquely and immensely powerful – mighty to break through the impenetrable laws of nature and mighty to break through the impenetrable darkness of the human heart. With the psalmist we can shout:

“Come and see what God has done:

he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.

He turned the sea into dry land;

            They passed through the river on foot.

There we did rejoice in him,

            Who rules by his might forever.”

(Psalm 66:5-7)

Whether we remember manna raining down from heaven, the supernatural healing of a sick family member, or the turning of water into wine, we recall miracles to remind ourselves of the nearness and power of God. The response we are created to give in the aftermath of these events is heartfelt worship.

Miracles Confront Us With God As He Is, Not As We’d Like Him to Be

Miracles are not just for the believer; they force those outside the family of faith to deal with God as he proclaims himself to be, on his own terms. As the percentage share of Christians in the United States continues to decrease, the number of those who have no religious affiliation has steadily grown.^[1] For many of these “Nones,” their idea of God – whoever he/she/it is – may be more like a distant, silent philosophical entity or a vague spiritual conception. The Christian understanding of miracles is one way that humanity is introduced to the personality of God. He is more than an idea or a force – he is a person, with words to speak, actions to perform, and affections to express. Miracles show that God is a God who intervenes in nature – he is active, personal, and powerful. He is, more so than any created thing. The early church used the existence of miracles as one of its primary apologetic tools, but modern apologetics tends to see miracles as something more of a burden amidst the skeptical spirit of this age.^[2] Early Christians pointed to miracles as evidential proofs for the reality of God in history; modern Christians feel as if they must explain miracles to make God seem rational to a skeptical audience. However, miracles must be recovered to their rightful place in our evangelistic conversations. The unnatural acts of God force us to the question of God’s existence and character. They unearth our presuppositions and reveal either the softness or hardness of our hearts to the Gospel. If one cannot swallow the idea of a God who can breathe life into a valley full of dry bones, then there is probably more merit to discussing the possibility of the supernatural than proceeding with the assumption that Jesus is the Son of God. That said, the Lord may work outside of our techniques. Just like the Judeans of the first century, the miracles of Jesus force unredeemed humanity to ask and answer the question, “how are such mighty works done by his hands?” (Mark 6:2).

Miracles Are Signs of the Messiah

Today, the historical existence of Jesus is usually not questioned – in America it is estimated that over 90% of the population believes that the man named Jesus of Nazareth existed.^[3] However, there is much more diversity in their ideas about Jesus, especially among younger adults; it is thought that less than half of all millennials in America think that Jesus is God.^[4] In conversations with unbelievers and skeptics, Christians must not shy away from the miracles of Jesus, for as John said in his thesis of the Gospel, “these things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). Jesus was not merely a great teacher, a political radical, or a wilderness-wandering zealot. He is the Sovereign Lord of all, by whom “all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible… he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17).

Consider the weird and poignant story of Jonah and the whale. How fantastic is it that a man was swallowed by a fish, stayed alive in its belly three days and nights, and was vomited out on dry land? But Jesus himself said that Jonah’s story was about himself — and indeed it was in form and substance! As a preacher once put it, if you have a hard time believing that Jonah really was in the belly of the fish, you’ve got a bigger thing coming. Christians believe that a man who claimed to be God died, was buried, rose again, and is coming back. Jesus is the one to whom all true miracles point.He is the one who keeps the universe from flying apart into chaos; he surely has the authority to intervene in it. The miracles of Jesus should elevate our Christology to the highest heights, and our evangelistic conversations should unashamedly inspire wonder in those to whom we proclaim the Gospel. To read the New Testament is to be confronted with a man named Jesus who claimed a divine identity and did jaw-dropping, earth-defying things to back his claim. This miracle-working Christ is the Christ we proclaim.

Miracles Show Us That God’s Not Done

Finally, we must not forget that God is still working all over the world through miraculous events to draw people to himself. “Christendom” is moving globally Southward, away from its historical center in Europe and North America and toward South America, sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia. In these regions, the secular-materialist heritage of David Hume and other Enlightenment thinkers is less entrenched in the mind of the average person, and regardless of whether this is a cause or a consequence, miracle accounts have proliferated in these regions. While caution in adopting any firm total number is encouraged, it is intellectually dishonest to dismiss all of these accounts as superstitious and primitive. In fact, we are compelled to learn from them. as Craig Keener recounts, many Western believers who return from experiences in the non-Western world are more compelled to pray for healing, and some have seen God respond to these prayers.^[5] He also draws the compelling conclusion that healings “seem to appear with special frequency in cultures and circles that welcome them.”^[6] While many Christians in the West would not deny that God can heal or act miraculously in one’s life, Western Christians are usually not inclined to actually appeal to God for healing with the same level of faith and trust as our Majority World brethren. While the original context concerns a plea for wisdom, James’s admonition “to ask in faith, with no doubting” for gifts from a generous God should be heeded in this respect as well. Before the claim is overstated, however, we must remember that God may equally well choose not to act in our desired ways for even better purposes than if he had. Our sufferings, for which we may appeal to God for miracles, are excruciating and sometimes inexplicable to us, but they are meaningful. They may produce steadfastness and hope, an abiding joy and a deep trust in the Lord when all one has left is God’s person and less his gifts. But far from the extreme of the name-it-and-claim-it prosperity theology, the reality that God has healed and continues to do so should create both confidence in God and humility in humans. The tangible reality that God acts in mysterious and supernatural ways today should create a sense of confidence and purpose in our prayers. How might a believer’s confidence in the Lord be deepened, his prayers more fervent and powerful, if he has increased trust that God can, and actually may, heal his sick brother? God’s people, when confronted with his miracles, should be filled with excitement at the possibility of the unexpected – and satisfaction that whatever may happen, God is not distant. The Lord of Hosts is close at hand and immensely powerful. The Artist is not finished with his masterpiece.

Bibliography

Barna Group. “What Do Americans Believe About Jesus? 5 Popular Beliefs.” Barna Group. Accessed December 4, 2020. https://www.barna.com/research/what-do-americans-believe-about-jesus-5-popular-beliefs/.

Brown, Colin. Miracles and the Critical Mind. Grand Rapids, Mich: Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1984, Grand Rapids, MI, 1984.

Keener, Craig S. Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts. Pck Edition. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Academic, 2011.

Smith, Gregory A., et al., “In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace.” Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, October 17, 2019. Accessed December 4, 2020. https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/.

^[1] Gregory A. Smith, et al., “In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace,” Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, October 17, 2019, accessed December 4, 2020, https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/.

^[2] Colin Brown, Miracles and the Critical Mind (Grand Rapids, Mich: Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1984, Grand Rapids, MI, 1984), 281.

^[3] Barna Group, “What Do Americans Believe About Jesus? 5 Popular Beliefs,” Barna Group, accessed December 4, 2020, https://www.barna.com/research/what-do-americans-believe-about-jesus-5-popular-beliefs/.

^[4] Ibid.

^[5] Craig S. Keener, Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts, Pck Edition. (Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Academic, 2011), 260-263.

^[6] Ibid.