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The Gift of Working of Miracles
…To another the working of miracles;…
- 1 Corinthians 12:10 KJV
The Gift of
Working of Miracles rounds up our discussion on the Gifts of
the Spirit listed in 1
Corinthians 12. This gift has to do with suspending and in some
cases overturning the laws of nature, this gift defies human logic. This gift,
like the other eight gifts that we've already discussed, is an
expression of God himself in the lives of people and it operates as the Spirit
wills.
While praying, hoping and waiting for
miracles can be good and positive things, the Gift of
Working of Miracles is
none of those. This gift, as its name suggests, involves action on the part of
the recipient, it involves doing something for the miracle to happen. It is
“working” of miracles, not waiting or even praying for miracles as many have
incorrectly assumed.
Before exploring this gift any
further, it is important we remind ourselves of the truth that signs, wonders
and miracles are God’s idea and invention, not man’s. He is the Originator of
signs, wonders and miracles and He hasn't stopped performing them to
this day. He is not a respecter of persons and He hasn't changed one
bit.
These three terms: signs, wonders and miracles are sometimes used interchangeably in
the Bible in describing supernatural occurrences. Signs point people towards
God, wonders cause people to be in awe of God and miracles restore and
transform lives. Signs, wonders and miracles express God’s matchless ability;
they also speak of His great love, grace and mercy towards us. When all is said
and done, it is God who receives all the praise and all the glory, for it is He
who does the miracles.
You see, God does signs, wonders and
miracles for various reasons, chief of which is to get people to believe in
Him. Remember when He was sending Moses to deliver the children of Israel from
Egypt? God gave Moses miraculous signs to perform before the people, why? So
that the people would believe his message, they would believe that truly the
God of their forefathers had appeared to Moses.
8 And it shall come to pass, if they
will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that
they will believe the voice of the latter sign. – Exodus 4:8 KJV
Let’s now fast forward to the
ministry of the Lord Jesus. He performed many signs, wonders and miracles and
this is what He said to the Jews who were opposing him:
37 Do not believe me unless I do the
works of my Father. 38 But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the
works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the
Father.” – John 10:37-38 NIV
And to His own disciples, He said:
11 Believe me when I say that I am in
the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the
works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am
going to the Father. – John 14:11-12 NIV
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So it is abundantly clear that one
reason both the Father and the Son perform signs, wonders and miracles (through
the Holy Spirit of course, for He is the administrator of all the gifts) is to
get people to believe. Jesus promised that signs will follow all those who
believe in Him and the Holy Spirit records how the early disciples went about and
the Lord was working with them confirming His word with signs following. And
that has been the pattern all along – the Lord back up His word – the Gospel of
the Kingdom – with signs, wonders and miracles every time it is preached.
>>> TO BE CONTINUED
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