I believe in miracles

We are less than a month from Christmas. The record of the birth of Jesus from both Matthew and Luke is a record of something clearly miraculous.

Acts 19:11 tells us that “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul.” (NIV) The adjective extraordinary is used by many translations in that verse. It implies that there were ordinary miracles. The Bible simply views Christianity as characterized by miracles.

In a song published in the 1950s Carlton Buck wrote:

"Creation shows the Power of God, there’s glory all around, 

"And those who see must stand in awe, for miracles abound."

The last line of the song was:

"I believe in miracles, for I believe in God."

Perhaps the reader can think what ordinary miracles might be. An example from the song quoted above is “I’ve seen the lily push its way up through the stubborn sod.” Some would see that as just natural, but the Christian sees any kind of life as miraculous. A beautiful plant growing in an unexpected environment is certainly to some of us an ordinary miracle. Maybe an ordinary miracle is just a miracle that can be repeated, not necessarily by trying to produce it or wishing it to happen, but likely in answer to believing prayer, often through what some consider mere coincidence.

Extraordinary miracles are another thing altogether. They are not at all likely to be repeated. In a few cases it is very clear that they won’t be. 

The creation of the universe and the creation of life almost certainly won’t be repeated, unless we consider the destruction and re-creation predicted in 2 Peter 3:11-13 a repeat of the original creation. Within the last five years I read an essay by James Tour, a professor at Rice University since 1999, in which he basically said that life could not have happened by chance and that no amount of time and research will enable humans to create living cells from non-living material. Tour is a synthetic organic chemist who specializes in making molecules that have never existed before as far as we know. 

In some ways, however, the miracle of the birth of Jesus Christ is the most spectacular of all extraordinary miracles. It isn’t just the miracle of a virgin birth, but also the miracle of the eternal all-knowing, all-wise, all powerful creator God entering the created world as a human being that sets this miracle apart from all others. 

This is the miracle that the Apostle John held in such awe as he wrote the first seventeen verses of the first chapter of what is commonly known as the Gospel of John. I highly recommend reading that chapter during this Christmas season. I believe in the miracle you will read about there. 

Pastor Dan York ministers at Dover Community Church.