On miracles

He is "...the same yesterday, today and forever." - Heb. 13:8

"He" is the God of the OT and the NT. His Book, the Bible, is replete with miracles - from the parting of the Red Sea to the casting out of demons to the healing of the sick by the passing of Peter's shadow.

And yet today the question is asked, "Are there still miracles in this day and age?"

To ask this question is to ask if God has changed, in disposition at best, in character and power at worst, in the course and passing of time.

Personally, I believe that God is neither diminished in power nor inutile. to the contrary, I am firmly secure and certain that He is still able to part seas, raise corpses back to life and cause the lame to come away form their mats "walking and leaping and praising God".

So why doesn't He?

I believe that we can find clues to the unravelling of this riddle from Scripture itself.

It is written that Jesus could not perform as many miracles as He could have in a certain town because of the faith of the people therein.

When people argue against miracles they usually do so from the apparent absence of such. No miracles, they say, therefore no more miracles.

But the coelecanth was long thought extinct until they found living specimens in some Amazon river. All of a sudden, they were no longer just prehistoric things of the past but living specimens of the present.

Interestingly enough, such things are actually referred to as "Lazarus taxa" [pl., /sing. - "taxon"], after the biblical character Lazarus.

Then some say, "well how come the only places we ever hear about alleged 'miracles' are form such far-flung place like Africa or in the mountains and jungles far from the city? rubbish!", they say.

And yet when we hear about certain plants and herbs that have incredible healing faculties and find out that they only thrive in certain climates and conditions we simply say that such is true - the climate plays a great part in the cultivation of such a healing thing. Could it be that the spiritual climate in these "sophisticated times" is just as non-conducive to the working of miracles?

I have also been reminded of the distinctives that divide one church from another - Pentecostals from Baptists, Conservatives from Reformed.

My question is this - are not miracles, casting out of demons and even speaking in tongues in Scripture?

Ah, but accommodatingly say, "Yes but these have ceased." We're back to the coelecanth. Then they go on to say, "These have ceased because the 'greater revelation' has finally been completed - the whole canon of Scripture."

Alright then. Let me ask, which is a more complete revelation, Scripture in its entirety or the full, face to face Glory of God unveiled? And yet, did not Lucifer become satan the accuser in spite of his having beheld the fulness of His Glory in Heaven?

If such a full revelation was not a deterrent to rebellion, are we not being arrogant in saying that just because we now have the whole Bible mankind can no longer benefit from the manifestation of God's glory and power wrought through miraculous signs and wonders?

So, then, why do we not see such miracles in our day and age? Could it be that we have simply given up on ever seeing them prematurely?

Remember that the Lord Jesus, knowing full well of his good friend Lazarus' fatal illness, refused to take one step towards him until after his death, and, even then, only until after a good four days?

[Read the full story here]

When He arrived, apparently too late, He walked straight into the understandable despair and not-quite-veiled, twice-expressed accusation of His tardiness that resulted in Lazarus' untimely demise.

It was at this juncture, not sooner nor later, that Jesus asked to be taken to the now-rotting corpse and commanded that the grave's stone be removed...and called forth Lazarus out from the grave and back into the land of the living.

In the apostle Paul's case, another apparent failure of a miracle to manifest, his thorn was thrice refused from removal by God Himself because He plainly told Paul that He had a greater purpose and end in mind - that His Grace may be revealed sufficient for Paul.

[Consider: Was Paul really simply after relief?]

So where are we now?

C.S. Lewis, in his immortal classic, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" set the unfolding adventure of the four Pevensie siblings in Narnia, during a time when it was trapped in a perpetual winter by the evil magic of the White Witch.

It took the powerful return of its rightful King, Aslan the Lion, to restore Narnia back to its rightfully verdant and vivacious glory. Aslan needed only to breathe back life into her and all of her inhabitants.

I believe that we, in this cynical day and age, are in need of a similar "breathing upon". What this age, and our hearts, needs is the Divine Breath from the sweet, life-giving King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

We need to humble ourselves, lay aside our rationalizations and simply acknowledge God in all His undiminished power and glory.

The minute we do so, I truly believe that the miracles shall begin.