Friday: Further Thought – Signs of Divinity
Daily Lesson for Friday 11th of October 2024
Read Ellen G. White, “The Crisis in Galilee,” Pages 383–394; “ ‘Lazarus, Come Forth,’ ” Pages 524–536; and “Priestly Plottings,” Pages 537–542, in The Desire of Ages.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
“The life of Christ that gives life to the world is in His word. It was by His word that Jesus healed disease and cast out demons; by His word He stilled the sea, and raised the dead; and the people bore witness that His word was with power. He spoke the word of God, as He had spoken through all the prophets and teachers of the Old Testament. The whole Bible is a manifestation of Christ, and the Saviour desired to fix the faith of His followers on the word. When His visible presence should be withdrawn, the word must be their source of power. Like their Master, they were to live ‘by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.’ Matthew 4:4.
“As our physical life is sustained by food, so our spiritual life is sustained by the word of God. And every soul is to receive life from God’s word for himself. As we must eat for ourselves in order to receive nourishment, so we must receive the word for ourselves. We are not to obtain it merely through the medium of another’s mind. We should carefully study the Bible, asking God for the aid of the Holy Spirit, that we may understand His word.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 390.
Discussion Questions
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We have been discussing Jesus's miracles this week. While we are convinced that they demonstrate that Jesus was divine, many at the time were not convinced and thought that Jesus received his power from other sources.
It is useful to think of miracles in our modern world, they would probably invoke a similar reaction. We have become very skeptical of the supernatural.
Let me tell you a story. A couple of years ago one of my best friends was diagnosed with colon cancer. Within 10 weeks we were attending his funeral. As most of you know, I had a similar diagnosis earlier this year, and many of you prayed for me. Through the miracle of good surgery and the healing grace of God, I am a survivor.
My friend had lived a life full of love and care for others. He had been a witness to God's love and even in the face of death gave us all hope and encouragement. Why did my friend die and yet I survived? I don't know the answer to that one. However, I pray for the miracle that my life will witness God's love to the folk around me.
The "miracle" is not the main event. Christ living in us is the miracle that we should pray for. And that should last a lifetime, no matter how long we have to live.
We’ve certainly seen this week how unstable it is to not be anchored down in the midst of fierce winds; objects caught up in hurricanes and tornadoes are blown and tossed about, knocking other things down around about them as they fly loose. The apostle James here says that a heart and mind that constantly doubts the divinity of Jesus and the reliability of His Word is like such an object thrown about in the wind. Without a certainty in our relationship with Jesus, then the various near-truths the world offers constantly challenge that relationship and take away the rest that being yoked to Jesus provides.
We can observe how the lives of the disciples played out over time, contrasted with the lives of the religious leaders who put Jesus to death. Those leaders were in a constant state of covering their tracks, paying off the guards who had stood at Jesus’ tomb, losing their authority and eventually Jerusalem, and the Temple itself. Whereas we see the disciples, leaving the upper room where they began in a fearful state and moving out with their testimony of meeting their risen Lord and in the power of the Holy Spirit, speaking in multiple languages, healing and preaching mightily and growing in their faith and confidence in Jesus, even to the point of death. The faith and testimony of the disciples lives on, 2000 years later. Those religious leaders who murdered Jesus are dead and their influence long gone. Jesus is the Rock and in Him alone is stability. 🙏🏻
Much has been written about God’s ‘signs and wonders’ which we are privileged to have heard about from ancient times until now. Though I wonder if we have sufficient interest to contemplate them further then just seeing 'results', or - if we wrap the 'heavenly' up too tightly into our 'earthly' blanket?
I am a ‘curious’ believer, always asking questions and not satisfied with a directive to ‘just believe’; though this is exactly where one starts the ‘Walk of Faith’. As I contemplate ‘signs and wonders’, I see them as an invitation to explore the metaphysical aspects of our existence. God’s creation is sooooo incredibly complex/interrelated, but at the same time so simple to be settled when wholeheartedly believing in God’s Grace and Mercy through our faith.
The ‘Thought’ and the ‘Word’ create, establishing themselves in our physical world – John 1:1-5. I often wonder if we are sufficiently curious enough to really want to understand the deeper spiritual aspects of our existence in this physical world? It includes aspects beyond the physical and spiritual, and the Holy Spirit will reveal them to us if we ask. I believe that our faith will receive a great 'boost'.
My hope is that born-again Christians will be curious enough to 'view' God’s ‘signs and wonders’ beyond their religious applications, as they also provide answers to our existence in this marvelously constructed universe. Do we extend our newly received ‘sight’ far enough, are we interested or exited enough to want to truly comprehend the wonderous workings of God’s ‘hands’, or are we satisfied believing in a God constructed using our 5 senses plus faith?
Happy Sabbath and blessed new week ahead
Thankyou and Happy Sabbath.