The Hand of God
Last week we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus, something that by all human understanding is impossible. When we read through the Bible, we find a whole lot of impossible things. - We call those things miracles. A miracle is 'an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs'. A miracle is when God chooses to show His divine power in our human world.
In a general sense, miracles happen every day as we see God's handiwork around us – the sun rising and setting, the birth of a child. But as far as our understanding, those things just occur naturally. Those events obey the laws of physics as we understand them. But when we talk about a miracle – we're usually talking about something that transcends our understanding of natural laws; it goes above and beyond any explanation we could fathom.
And as we look at the Bible, there are numerous accounts where…
I. God performed miracles
Throughout scripture, we see stories of God performing acts that seem impossible to us. And we don't have to look very hard to find those accounts. Let's start at the very beginning with the first recorded miracle…
Genesis 1:1-5 (NIV)
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (2) Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (3) And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. (4) God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. (5) God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning - the first day.
God spoke everything into existence. God willed everything into existence. That's impossible - but yet - He did it!
Robert Jastrow was an American astrophysicist and cosmologist. He was a leading NASA scientist and author. And he was also a struggling unbeliever until the day he died in 2008. But despite his doubt of whether or not there actually is a God...
Mr. Jastrow was quoted as saying, "Astronomers now find they have painted themselves into a corner because they have proven, by their own methods, that the world began abruptly in an act of creation to which you can trace the seeds of every star, every planet, every living thing in this cosmos and on the earth. And they have found that all this happened as a product of forces they cannot hope to discover. That there are what I or anyone would call supernatural forces at work is now, I think, a scientifically proven fact."
No one can answer - all the matter and gas and energy that happened to explode in some 'Big Bang' to create this incredible universe - where did it all come from? The Bible tells us. God is fully capable and powerful enough to create matter and energy in any way He chooses to suit His purposes - even though 'natural law' says it's impossible.
That's at the beginning of the Old Testament, but again at the very beginning of the New Testament - we also find yet another huge recorded miracle revealing the power of God found in Matthew 1:23 (NIV)...
"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" - which means, "God with us."
Not only did God create everything from nothing, but He somehow, miraculously became human in the person of Jesus. That's impossible - but yet it happened! It doesn't fully fit in my brain, but I do know one of the reasons this impossible miracle of God becoming man occurred. In the Bible, God performed miracles...
A. Because of compassion
God was motivated by compassion for His creation; for mankind. He performed the miracle of the incarnation, Jesus being fully human and yet fully God – expressly for the purpose of dying on a cross to pay for our sins. Many miracles we see performed in scripture were motivated by love, by compassion. We find this account in the Gospels after the news of John the Baptists' awful death by beheading in Matthew 14:13-14 (NIV)...
When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. (14) When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
Jesus was still mourning the horrific death of His cousin John, but was then moved by the needs of those around Him. God cares about our troubles and pains. And we see multiple accounts of Jesus performing miracles, healing people's sickness and ailments – because of compassion. But there's another repeated reason that God performed miracles throughout the Bible. - God performed miracles...
B. For His glory
God had a purpose behind intervening in the natural events of life. I want us to look again at a story we've looked at before. We're probably very familiar with it as it's a favorite for kid's Sunday school lessons - it's got a ton of drama and spectacle. Some of you may have recently watched the movie "The Ten Commandments" with Charlton Heston as it was aired again as part of Easter tradition. I want us to look at the account of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea.
But I want us to again remember this event not just as a story from the Bible – but as a real historical event. Moses was crying out to God as the Israelites were being pursued by Pharaoh. Let's pick up with God's response in Exodus 14:18-22 (NIV)...
"The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen." (19) Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel's army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, (20) coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.
(21) Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, (22) and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
And then let's jump ahead to a key verse in Exodus 14:31 (NIV)...
And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.
This is not just some made up kid's story! This was a real historical event, a genuine, impossible miracle! Even the ancient historian Josephus - who has been proven remarkably accurate - even he documented this account in his history book "The Antiquities of the Jews". God intervened and performed a seemingly impossible act. I've read critics who've said, "If there really was some perfectly timed wind strong enough to part the sea, no one could have survived it." - That's why it's called a miracle.
And did you notice, at the very beginning of that passage - God performed this miracle for His glory; to show His immense power in a very tangible way. The miracle was both out of compassion for God's people and their safety and to demonstrate His power; to bring Him glory!
And just as a reminder to us all – this is the exact same God that we serve today. Because we're so far removed from Biblical times, it's incredibly easy to forget just who God is and His inconceivable power. Scriptures recorded that God performed miracles in the past, but I need to remind us that even today…
II. God performs miracles
We need to remember what God said in Revelation 1:8 (NIV)...
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."
God rescued the Israelites in a very dramatic and powerful fashion and He still has that same power today. Now, I haven't heard of Him parting any seas lately – but that doesn't mean that God no longer intervenes in human affairs. God still performs miracles…
A. In our lives
God still has compassion for His people and He still has a desire to show us His power. But many times we miss those miracles. Sometimes it's because we simply take God's handiwork for granted. If it's not as dramatic as parting the sea, we don't take notice. Other times, because God doesn't perform a miracle in the way we expect He should, we ignore it. For instance, we frequently pray for healing. When it comes, do we always see it as a miracle? Do we just say, 'Well, I got better' - maybe give a Dr. all the credit? And then if it doesn't happen just the way we think it should, do we blame God?
I don't claim to understand everything of why God does what He does. Why do some believers get better when prayed for and others don't? Why do some end up with chronic conditions and lifelong struggles? Why did a friend I know from Bible College die from a heart attack, but I survived mine? Two of them! - I don't know... For a bit of perspective, I'd like to share this video clip…
We frequently pray for healing. And when it does come, do we always see it as a miracle? And when it doesn't happen just the way we think it should, do we blame God? I like this quote, "Prayer is not getting man's will done in heaven, but getting God's will done on earth. It's not overcoming God's reluctance but laying hold of God's willingness."
Prayer isn't supposed to be me trying to convince God to do something, but rather – prayer is me submitting my will to God's so that in agreeing with Him, He can use me for His purposes.
If you'd look at every instance in the New Testament where the word 'pray' or 'prayer' is mentioned, you'd find 99 separate verses. Of those 99, only 5 have to do with prayer in regard to sickness or good health. - Now that's not to say we shouldn't pray for healing – of course we should. It couldn't be more apparent from this passage in James 5:13-15 (NIV)...
Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. (14) Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. (15) And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
We are to pray for those who are sick. And we do – and sometimes they're healed and sometimes they aren't. Either this passage is wrong – or – more likely, there's something we may be missing.
Every person in the Bible who was healed eventually died. The last two weeks, I've mentioned Lazarus who was raised from the dead by Jesus Himself – but later Lazarus died, again. But that didn't mean that God had failed. The first miracle was an obvious one of healing, Lazarus rose from the grave. The second miracle that occurred despite Lazarus' second death may not have been as apparent. But that didn't mean that God wasn't present and active at Lazarus' death. It was then that the miracle of Lazarus seeing His risen Savior again, occurred.
God performs miracles in our lives every day – but sometimes our vision is just too small and we take them for granted because we can't always understand God's higher ways. We can, and should, pray for healing, but don't forget…
Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
God's miracles go beyond just healing. God gives those who believe in Him the strength to face anything, even death – knowing that it will be all right in the end. That doesn't mean it will be easy, but we can know that we won't be alone. God performs miracles to give us strength. God performs miracles of changed lives. God can take a broken, messed up life and turn it into something beautiful for His purposes – if we allow Him.
God still performs miracles in our lives and God performs miracles…
B. In His Church
God cares more about His Church than any human possibly could. Jesus' words from Matthew 16:18 (NIV)...
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Jesus established the Church and He planned great things for it. The word translated here as Church means 'a calling out'. Jesus' Church is called out from the world. Not as a judgment against the world - but called out from the world for a special purpose, a higher purpose.
It was that calling that many years ago established two separate congregations who then successfully merged to form the Deep River Church of Christ. It was God's power that created this congregation. And there are those of you here who know the hard work and prayer that went into this Church, and even this building! Do we think of God's leading as a miracle?
Let me again remind us - about 17 years back a huge storm came right through our property and ripped out massive trees but left our building standing. Was that a miracle? Then a few years later we needed a new roof - and a hail storm tore up our aging roof and it was replaced completely - courtesy of our insurance policy? - Lucky planning on our part - or a miracle? And then a year after that - who remembers our 'faith campaign'? In a bad economy and with a very thin bank account, in just a few weeks we collected a single offering of about $30,000 that just so happened to be enough to pay off the balance of our building's mortgage. Was that a miracle?
As we move forward – do you believe that God has big plans for Deep River? Do you believe that God is done doing miracles, or do you believe that He can and will do amazing things in our lives and in His Church?
So What?
We often think that if God would just do one huge, very undeniable miracle for us – then we would absolutely believe without a shadow of doubt and follow whatever God might tell us.
The story of God parting the Red Sea is found in Exodus chapter 14. In Exodus chapter 15, we find the Israelites who had just witnessed this incredible miracle grumbling to Moses because they had trouble finding drinkable water. God then performed yet another miracle and fixed their water problem. Then in chapter 16 they were grumbling about food.
The problem isn't that God doesn't do miracles. The problem is that we don't remember them. We forget how God has blessed us and then move on to our next complaint. We serve a God who is willing, and more than able, to do whatever it takes to grow His Kingdom for His glory! Perhaps it's time we remember that and get out of His way. Trust God with everything you have, even when you don't see His hand moving – and follow Jesus completely!