Thursday: The Creator Among Us
Read John 2:7-11, 6:8-13, 9:1-34. What do these texts reveal about the
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creative power of God?
Each of these miracles gives us a glimpse of God’s power over the material world that He Himself created.
First, what kind of process would be required to change water directly into wine? None that we know of. Indeed, it took an act outside of the laws of nature, at least as we now know them, to do what Jesus did here.
In the miracle of the fish and loaves, Jesus started with five loaves and two small fish and ended with enough to feed a multitude and have 12 baskets of leftovers. All the food was made of atoms and molecules. At the end, there were many times more atoms and molecules of food than when Jesus started to feed the crowd. From where did the additional molecules come, if not by the supernatural intervention of God?
Furthermore, what physical changes occurred to the blind man when he was healed? He was blind from birth; thus, his brain had never been stimulated to form images from the messages sent by the eye through the optic nerve. So, his brain had to be rewired in order to process the incoming information, form images, and interpret their meaning. Next, there was something wrong with the eye itself. Perhaps some photoreceptor molecules were produced incorrectly as a result of a mutation in his DNA. Or perhaps some mutation had occurred at birth in the genes that control the development of the parts of the eye-the retina, optic nerve, lens, etc. Or perhaps some mechanical damage had occurred that prevented the eye from functioning properly.
Whatever the details of the man’s blindness, the words of Jesus caused molecules to form in appropriate places, forming functional receptors, neuronal connections, and brain cells so that light entering the eye would form an image, and the man would have the ability to recognize images that he had never before seen.
Miracles are wonderful when they happen, but what is the danger of making your faith dependent upon them? Upon what, then, must our faith depend?
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Our God is a Creator of all things and Human beings including the Scientists.No negative views concerning God's creation,however sinful we're,but He still loves us!
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" Heb. 11: 1.
A miracle is not a wish list but it is given to us based on our faith and relationship with Christ. True faith is believing and trusting God. If we depend on miracles as evidence of our faith we may be jeopordizing our relationship with Christ. I say this because we cannot ransome faith and our relationship with Jesus with miracles.
Jesus' first miracle at the wedding reminds me there are better things to come, and it will be far better in my future than it was in my beginning.
The loaves and fish miracle tell me of the unending blessings He wishes to bestow on us.
Healing the blind tells me God has promised to open our eyes to His truth.
Jesus first miracle and that of feeding multitudes show that if we trust him we will never be ashamed or suffer because of following him .when the wine was out of stock the MC was not ashamed because Jesus was present, the multitude didn't suffer hunger because of following Jesus. Let us come to Him like the blind man, he is ready to open our eyes spiritually. in Genesis we read man was created from dust, the man was blind from day one and from dust man had gained his sight and memory of what he had never seen before
Turning water into a best wine? He can change you into someone better than who you are, he always make us better than before surely he is Creator among us.
He makes us smile when he turn the water into wine .Enjoyment & Peace is found in him;
We are filled when we are hungry; Physical& Spiritual;
He makes us well when we are sick; He is the great physician.
In this sinful world/life, this parables are my hope or reminder that someone there would make my life beautiful.
The Lord Jesus makes all things beautiful in his time. He is the master of all creation. What would take man so many years to think about before making an attempt to try it, Jesus would do it in a twinkle of an eye. Jesus is Lord!
Hearing the words the "Great Physician" in an earlier comment reminded me of my own experience, that the doctors of today can't match up to the healing power of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When something is wrong with our car, we go back to the manufacturer. God is our creator, and knows everything about us, so we need to call on Him when in need of healing, and at all other times too.
How true that God is the ultimate healer. This past year, I was blessed by God and received a life saving operation. One of the pastors at my church likes to call me a walking miracle. I am not sure if I would go that far but the doctors told me that without the surgery I would not make it to Christmas. Plus hey were not even sure I would make it through surgery. I was not worried. The Lord would determine my fate and He would determine the outcome. I would either continue on or I would sleep the long sleep till his return. Since I am still here, I figure He has plans for me yet. All the prayers that we sent on my behalf were answered and now I will wait to see what it is He has in store for me as I continue to heal and get well.
To me faith is a simple matter of trust. I trust God and because I trust Him completely, my faith in Him is strong. Prayer is the best way to communicate with our Lord and spending time with Him daily is equally important. Devotional reading is an easy way to bring a person closer to the Lord, along with our Sabbath studies. I truly believe that what brought me thus far is God, faith, and prayer. If you have those three things then you can have everything.
To answer the meditation question above:
"Miracles are wonderful when they happen, but what is the danger of making your faith dependent upon them? Upon what, then, must our faith depend?"
Our life to depend on Jesus, the one Who performs the miracle and not on the miracles themselves.
Changing the water into wine reminds me that Jesus can change a sinful life into a spirit-filled life.
The feeding of the hungry multitude tells me he is able to feed our spiritual hungers in the souls of men.
Jesus healing and opening the eyes of the blind man tells me of his power and willingness to open
Our eyes that we might see his truth, and the wonderful things that he wants to do in our lives.
Praise God for his greatness and his love.
Oh to taste from the hands of the one true creator! Jesus, the logos, the one with such creative powers. He can touch and change the taste, He touches and the brain is stimulated, the eyes can receive light and images are recognized. One who has never been hungry will not appreciate the miraculous abilities of God; if you have never been in a position where all you see is the end, and then to have Jesus showing up and opens the way, you will never understand how He can feed so many with what seemed so little. Open our eyes and hearts oh God that we can get a glimpse of you. God, you are good!!
Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. when we rely on thing that we CAN see it no longer becomes faith but a constant longing to see miracles, this is dangerous because.... according to Hebrews 11:6 " But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."
John 20:29 ...blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed... For we walk by faith, not by sight: and God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth....... essentially.. man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of The Lord
In the text about how jesus performed the various miracles we surely are certain that only through him were things created, for sure we have a creator and really we need to depend on him for life.
Spiritual lesson from the blind man; is that God can open our spiritual eyes, for us to perceive things the way that we can't imagine of.Many at times we think that we are on the right track,but only do we find later that we are off the track. Through the help of the holy spirit shall we see vividly just as the blind man when his eyesight were restored.
Don't forget that God couldn't change our life if we don't want to.
If you would like, so that Jesus really change your life, you have to accept Jesus as your personal Savior that means to obey with his commandments.
These miracles really put the evolution theory to pasture. How can a man altered a big bang theory unless he is God and creator of all.
Miracles happen every day all around us. Life, creation exude God's love for us through miracles. I was raised Catholic and converted to Adventism. Early on I tried to convert my siblings until I realized that it's the Holy Spirit does the converting. But through prayer and my actions some in my family have seen real changes with positive results in my own life. They began to cone to me with their problems and by pointing them to the Word of God and much prayer, answers to financial problems, family issues, job problems and health issues began to miraculously appear. The key ingredient in all of these answers to prayer was faith. I implored my sisters to always pray knowing full well that God would answer with their best interest in mind. Recently my sister had a disturbing diagnosis from a mammogram. We studied Gods Word prayed and two days i heard the good news: A follow-up exam determined there was nothing to of concern, "Check back with us in another year" was the doctor's parting advice. Now some would say that's no miracle but a symptom of our overzealous medical field over reaching exam mindset. Regardless one thing we can agree upon is that my sisters faith has been strengthened and so has mine. And miracles abound ... My ability to be an instrument in the hands of the Creator to reach my family after many years of rejection, first and foremost the greatest!
Praise God from whom all blessings flow...
Miracles happen every day? According to my understanding of the Scriptures, miracles are contrary to the laws of nature: turning water into wine, feeding the five thousand and more with five loaves and two fishes after blessing them and collecting twelve baskets of fragments afterwards, healing a man born blind etc - these are miracles.
If we base our faith only on the miraculous, then we won't have a true relationship with God. Faith and trust in God regardless of the circumstances, regardless of the outcome to our prayers,are the basis of our relationship with God. Abraham left his home,his country based on a promise, Noah built an ark based on an instruction and a prophecy, the four Hebrew youths could confidently face up to Nebuchadnezzar knowing that their omnipotent God could save them but were prepared to die if it was God's will. We have countless examples in the Bible of people who believed and trusted in God in dire circumstances. Their unwavering faith is a testimony to us, miracles or no miracles, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would be their God. The sister who related her experience about the negative prognosis given by the doctors understood that if it was God's will for her operation to be successful,she would praise Him. If it was His will for her to sleep till Jesus come, then she was also prepared to accept it. Praise be to God, in answer to her faith and the prayers of many, the operation was successful.
God has had to teach me to love Him for who He is and not because He was always blessing me in material ways. I pray that our faith will be unwavering regardless of our circumstances, regardless of the outcome to our prayers.
May our faith in GOD wax stronger with each passing moment in JESUS name. Amen.
To the question that was asked at the end of the lesson, I believe that if our faith is just based on miracles we are setting up ourselves for a fall. It should be solely based on Jesus. If we base it on the former, the time we don't experience or witness one, we would have nothing to hold on to. But if we base it on JESUS even in our darkest moments, we could be assured that He is with us, even when we don't feel His presence. You see when we study and pray, and form that bond between us and Jesus we are grounded not on miracles, but Him and His word.
To me the greatest thing about this lesson is the title. It says what Matthew says about the birth of Jesus, "'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,' which is translated, 'God with us'" (Matt. 1:23 NKJV).
The miracles, for the most part, were signs that God indeed was with His people instead of being a disinterested God who stays in Heaven to the neglect of the problems happening on earth.
the sacrifice made by Jesus to be with us is wonderful and incomprehensible to our mortal minds. when as a baby on Mary's laps... He was God with us. When as a baby He started crawling and eating dust.. He was God with us. When He was learning His first 'words' from a teenage mother... He was God with us. When as a man he carried wood to make furniture... He was God with us.
And fully aware of who He is and what lies ahead, every day of His life became a challenge.
Indeed it was such a great sacrifice for God to be with/among us.
We all need to remember that JESUS came to us as man not GOD!
His miracles and control of the natural laws wasn't his doings but that of the FATHER who sent Him. The disciples did miracles also. They were not counted as gods but the Power from the Father was given to those who believed. Moses didnt part the Red Sea!, Joshua didnt cause the walls of Jericho to fall down. These we all act of GOD commanded by men who were not gods themselves but men who believed and did the will of GOD. Thus was the man Christ Jesus. Not of himself but doing the will of the FATHER who sent Him.