The Pastor's Page - 2/18/10
Miracles as Proof of God's Existance
Recently I came upon one of the many Christian programs whose entire focus is on miracles. Let me begin by saying I am wholeheartedly in favor of miracles. Personally I think most of us have experienced miracles of deliverance from personal harm more often that we may wish to know. Yet when all we ever talk about is the miraculous we are sure to go astray in some way..
In the program referred to above I saw this very thing. The speaker was emphasizing the importance of miracles as a means of proving the existence of God and thereby drawing people to the salvation available in Christ. Proponents of power evangelism insist that miracles will open people’s eyes to the Gospel. Without diminishing the teacher or the possibility of miracles we have to, as always, ask, Is this what the Bible teaches? The answer of course is no for several reasons.
First, in His teachings about our witness to the world Jesus never taught that miracles in and of themselves will bring people to salvation. Jesus said it was our love for one another and our unity that would prove to the world we were God’s children. (John 13:35, 17:21) It’s hard to see how either will be accomplished, when we are split over something like miracles.
Second, Jesus said men were condemned not because they did not know whether God existed or not but because they refuse to believe in Christ. “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” (John3: 17-19) Jesus says in this passage that the problem is man’s rejection of the light because of his evil heart, not
because of uncertainty over God’s existence. Paul makes the same point in Romans chapter 1. There the Apostle says men suppress the truth in unrighteousness. He also says that, “since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20) Men know enough about the created world to be left without an excuse about whether God exists or not. It seems contrary to Scripture to insist that God prove His existence through miracles when, in His Word, He says that really isn’t the problem.
Finally the claim that miracles will be a cure all for the problem of unbelief is not supported by Scriptures. Jesus did all kinds of miracles virtually all the time and yet most people refused to come to Him for salvation. A study of the miracle of the loaves and fish in John 6 will highlight this especially clearly. One day they are confessing He is the Messiah (John 6:14) and the next day the very same people are asking for a sign to prove His claims. (John 6: 26-30) Many of the miracles performed by the disciples brought
more persecution than professions of faith. Miracles are not a cure all for the darkness of the human heart.
Should we pray for miracles? Absolutely. Should we insist, while ignoring Scriptures to the contrary, that miracles will solve all the problems of a fallen world? You decide.
