God Uses Miracles Today

God uses miracles today to reach people and invite them back into relationship with himself.

The very word ‘miracle’ invites skepticism. We live in a skeptical culture. People in today’s culture like to think of themselves as refined and well-educated. In fact, in the world today, there are more educated people than have ever existed.

Research completed by Max Roser and Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and presented in an article titled, Global Rise of Education, details an expansion in education for over 200 years. Global literacy rates are increasing due to the rise of primary education. Secondary and higher education have experienced growth as well. Roser and Ortiz-Ospina tell us, “The global average years of schooling being much higher now than a hundred years ago.”

As education is on the rise globally, skepticism of mystical or miraculous events seems to increase. When people hear stories of a miraculous event, they immediately begin to think of a reasonable explanation. It’s sort of like trying to figure out a magic trick. There must be some simple explanation that explains the miraculous.

Jesus, the Miracle Worker

I’ve heard stories of miracles and they always fascinate me. Especially, I wonder about the stories of Jesus and the miracles He performed during His ministry on earth. Jesus turned water into wine; He healed lepers; He made the lame to walk; He caused the blind to see, and; He enabled deaf people to hear. This must have been a wonderful time in history.

History supports the eyewitness accounts outlined in the Bible Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Outside of scripture, numerous historic documents detail the activity of Jesus and His miraculous acts.

Josephus, a Jewish historian born in AD 37, wrote about Jesus in his history of Israel, The Antiquities. In a section entitled, Testimonium Flavianum, Josephus records the account of Jesus. He writes, “About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he is one who wrought surprising feats and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Christ [meaning Messiah]. When Pilate, upon hearing him accused him by men of the highest standing among us, had condemned him to be crucified, those who had in the first place come to love him did not give up their affection for him. On the third day he appeared to them restored to life, for the prophets of God had prophesied these and countless other marvelous things about him. And the tribe of Christians, so called after him has not disappeared to this day.”

This is taken as a straight-forward corroboration of the eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ resurrection in Jerusalem during the first century. In other words, it is a historical fact; a miraculous claim, corroborated by a secondary, unbiased source. That is very astounding evidence of a miracle. The Resurrection of Jesus is His most remarkable miracle and most profound to His followers.

Jesus Makes a Bold Claim

Additionally, it is a miraculous claim of a spiritual event. The astounding nature of this event is made even more incredible when you consider that Jesus said this would happen before it occurred. Of course, He said it in his mysterious way, but He said it to be certain.

After turning over tables and chasing vendors out of the temple court, Jews asked Jesus about His authority to do such things. “Jesus answered, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.’ ‘This temple took forty-six years to build,’ the Jews replied, ‘and You are going to raise it up in three days?’ But Jesus was speaking about the temple of His body. After He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this. Then they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.” (John 2:19-22)

The Case for Miracles

In his newest book, Lee Strobel writes about the nature of miracles. Strobel is a skeptic at heart, a former investigative journalist and atheist turned believer in Jesus Christ. He set out on a journey to disprove the validity of Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God. Along the way, Strobel found out the truth about Jesus and he found faith as a follower of Christ.

In The Case for Miracles, Strobel details “accounts of miraculous healings and other phenomena that simply cannot be explained away by naturalistic causes.”

In a recent speaking engagement, Strobel said, “Here are my conclusions: First, God is still in the miracle business; second, miracles occur a lot more frequently than people think; and third, many miracles are far better-documented than many skeptics suppose.”

Strobel points out that it is important to define a miracle. He quoted late philosopher, Dr. Richard Purtill, saying, “A miracle is an event brought about by the power of God that is a temporary exception to the ordinary course of nature for the purpose of showing that God has acted in history.”

Strobel builds on that, saying, “When I see something extraordinary that has spiritual overtones, that is not explainable by any natural means, and is validated by independent sources or witnesses, well that’s when the miracle bell tends to go off for me.”

God’s Mystery at Work

Miracles are thought to be impossible because they violate the laws of nature. Strobel says, “That’s just a misunderstanding of what the laws of nature are. God intervenes in the natural world He created.”

There is a mystery of God here. The mystery in advance of a miracle occurring is seen in the question, “Will God answer the prayer?” Many Christ-followers are not even willing to boldly ask God for a miracle, because they don’t want to lose face, nor do they want to make God look bad.

As if that is even possible! God is not looking to you to defend His position. Action or seeming inaction, God knows what He’s going to do – or not do. It’s His choice, His plan, His responsibility. James, brother of Jesus and his follower after the resurrection, says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” (James 1:5-8)

Why Does God Use Miracles?

God doesn’t always use miracles. Sometimes he uses common sense. Sometimes God points out truth in His Word, the Bible. Sometimes God uses people with spiritual gifts to connect with people in just the right way. But, miracles? Why?

God uses miracles to get people’s attention. But He doesn’t overdo it. He also uses them to point to Jesus. For example, Muslims and other religious people in spiritually dark regions of the world have been having dreams and visions of Jesus, also known as “Isa,” the prophet in the Q’uran. I know a story of a man who met the Lord of Light detailed in Hindu holy scriptures, and He said, “I am Jesus.”