Read: Hebrews 2:1-15
God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (v. 4)
Miracles can be hard to understand—a barrier to belief for some, and an invitation for others. However, they are part of God’s testimony. The author of Hebrews here notes their contribution to the witness of the early Christians in a Roman world as skeptical as our own. But to rightly present miracles to others, we must understand them correctly ourselves—both what they are and what they are not.
Jesus’s miracles are not spectacles to convince skeptics. They are, rather, “seeds of belief,” planted in our hearts to begin to grow into a living faith. They are also expressions of God’s character, enacted by Jesus because he is doing what his Father, God, is doing. In this series, we will begin with miracles that give us insights into the nature of God—his holiness, his authority, and his legacy of prophecies fulfilled and promises kept. We will also discover in Jesus’s miracles initiatives by God to form his own nature in us—the transforming experiences of forgiveness, adoption, trust, and provision.
As the ministry of Jesus comes to its climax in his suffering and sacrifice, so his miracles will increasingly direct us to see Jesus as God’s sacrifice for us in the grand miracle of his resurrection, the cornerstone of Christian faith.
As you pray, ask Jesus to help you see in his work both those things that help you understand his character and to permit you to experience and participate in his work.
About the Author
Fred Van Dyke is a conservation biologist dedicated to the care for God’s creation. In this role Fred has served government agencies, private consulting firms, and academic institutions doing research, management, and teaching in conservation science. He is also the author of two books on faith and environmental stewardship.
