Miracles, signs and wonders are God’s instruments

Pastor Dwight Fletcher

God is deliberate about what He does and His methodology. Understanding the why behind miracles, signs and wonders will lift our faith and expectation of what God can do in and through us. It will also help us to have the right motivation for seeking or reporting miraculous signs. We are living in a season when so much has changed for the worse and God wants to do more in and through us than we could ever dream or imagine.

God uses miracles, signs and wonders deliberately for the following reasons:

1. TO REVEAL JESUS’ GLORY

“What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” John 2:11 (NIV). The Greek word for glory is doxa and it refers to Jesus’ Divinity. When we experience the miraculous or we participate in it, God gets the glory. God wants to reveal the glory of His Son in and through us. And one of the ways He does this is through signs.

2. TO EXPRESS GOD’S LOVE FOR PEOPLE

The signs that Jesus performed spoke of the Father’s mercy and love for people, as well as His dominion and power. The miracles Jesus did were in response to His love for people. “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” Matthew 14:14 (NIV) Miracles speak of God’s grace and generosity and His purposes. Jesus’ actions were an expression of God’s heart. God loves those around us and wants to miraculously touch their lives through us.

3. TO CONFIRM GOD’S WORD

Evangelism and signs & wonders go hand in hand in the New Testament. God confirms and testifies to the Gospel through signs and miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit. “So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.” Acts 14:3 (NIV). Signs and miracles point to the Cross which is the complete work that Jesus has accomplished to provide salvation, healing and freedom through His death and resurrection.

4. TO DEMONSTRATE THAT GOD’S KINGDOM IS AMONG US

Signs are the evidence of the message and establishment of the Kingdom of God. As citizens of God’s Kingdom, we can expect to see signs and miracles taking place as we take our place as royal sons and daughters in God’s Kingdom. It is obvious that this is something God wants us to do. He told His first century disciples to do it. “…He (Jesus) sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” Luke 9:2 (NIV). God wants His people to demonstrate His Kingdom life.

5.T O DRAW PEOPLE TO JESUS

The ultimate purpose both of the signs and the recording of them is to result in people believing in Jesus as Messiah. In Acts, people believed after signs and miracles were performed (Acts 9:42). The experience of signs and wonders deepens our faith and expectation from God. It allows us not to settle for less, but to maximise in our lives the victories Jesus died for and was raised to life to secure. There is more in Christ than many of us realise.

The highest value of miracles, signs and wonders is when they result in people believing in and receiving Jesus as Saviour and are born again into God’s family; this is the greatest miracle of all.