Bruce Collins, Evangelist

The personal website of Bruce Collins

Meditation for the week of April 13, 2008

Luke 7:12-15
And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.

Recently many of my friends have had loved ones die. Some of them have been elderly and some of them have been young. Could the Lord have kept them from dying? Yes! Could the Lord have raised them from the dead after they died? Yes! Did He do either of those two things for my friends? No!

Do I believe in miracles? Yes! I watched three of my four children being born. My wife and I were involved in the process but we sure didn’t create life. Each life that is born into this world is a miracle. So the real question is, “Do I believe in unusual miracles?” In other words, do I expect to see someone raised from the dead or do I expect to see a man swallowed by whale and then vomited out on dry ground or do I expect to see a man stand up in a ship and calm the storm that is about to capsize the ship? The answer is no, I do not. However, I do believe that those miracles as recorded in the Bible did actually happen.

One of the arguments against the miracles of the Bible is that they aren’t generally happening today. All of them run counter to nature. But that is what makes them miracles and that is why the Lord Jesus had to be God in order to do them. An almighty all powerful God is the only one Who could create life in my opinion, and He is the only one Who could set aside the normal consequences of nature.

Those who reject the idea that we are God’s creation, normally reject the idea that unusual miracles have occurred. The only unusual miracle that they believe in is the time and chance event that started the whole so-called evolutionary process. Those who reject God will normally ask where God came from. While I don’t understand how God can exist when He had no beginning, I find the idea that there is a God more believable than the idea that we are all here in this intricately designed ecological system as a result of time and chance. If there is no God, where did matter come from? Where did the spark come from that ignited the first conscious life? I personally find it easier to believe in God than to believe that things “just happened”.

Are unusual miracles happening today? I have heard missionaries tell about them, but I have not actually seen them. But they are not happening often like miracles did when Moses brought the children of Israel out of Egypt or when Elijah and Elisha ministered to the nation of Israel or when the Lord was here and even shortly afterward during the early stage of this church age. Miracles have always been used by God to authenticate His Word. Moses spoke for God, Elijah and Elisha spoke for God, the Lord was The Word of God and the early disciples in the church needed to prove that they were speaking for God before a complete Bible was available. While I don’t expect to see unusual miracles today, not everyone saw them in the Lord’s day either. Not every son who died young was raised from the dead, only one was. Not every woman who had an issue of blood was healed, only one was. While lepers were healed, not all lepers were healed and not all storms were calmed. Miracles were not available on demand, but the miracles that were performed should have convinced the Jews that Jesus was their Messiah. They should convince us today that Jesus is the Son of God and that He has power on earth to forgive sins (Mark 2:10).

Even though I may not expect to see unusual miracles, the Lord might return today for the church and turn the law of gravity upside down as He calls believers up to meet Him in air (1 Thessalonians 4:17). I am sure that the mother of this boy who was raised from the dead didn’t expect her miracle either, but it happened just the same. However, even though I don’t expect to be witness to an unusual miracle, I do expect to be in Heaven when I die. And one of the reasons I am confident in that is because the Bible says that the Lord did miracles. And I believe the Bible.

Bruce Collins

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