I've heard a lot of believers ponder the question why God performed such
spectacular miracles in the Old Testement but doesn't in the Church Age,
the time in which we abide on the Earth.
Does this mean that Israel, and the believers of that age, were superior
in some way? Was there some other Divine agenda at work among men? What
can we conclude from God's apparent inactivity in our time as compared to
then?
It means that this is the age of fullness, the age of the elite, which
God intended us to be....elite. There are many titles that accompany our
salvation, as individuals and in the aggregate...The Church, The Royal
Family, The Royal Priesthood, The Bride of Christ....we are called
Ambassadors for Christ and we are unique among all dispensations in that
we have the filling of God the Holy Spirit, our Mentor. In fact, we have
the Trinity residing within us, and one very obscure principle, we have
the Righteousness of both Christ and The Father...a double portion.
What does all this mean in relation to our daily lives, and what is the significance
of God's "inactivity"?
Let me kind of sidle up to the answer with a question...take the Jews of the
exodus generation that Moses led our of Egypt. Probably the most spectacular
miracles God ever performed were in that space of 40 years, from the time of the
deliverance from Pharoah, to the Jews inhabiting the land under Joshua.
If you are familiar with that period you know that the generation that wandered
in the desert were absolutely the most pig-headed, uncooperative bunch that ever
bore the seal of salvation. In spite of the many wonders God showed them, they
continued to rebel against Moses and defy God. Beginning with the orgy while Moses
was on Sinai and continuing with the Dathan revolt, when thousands of mutineers
were swallowed by an earthquake, the inundation of the bivouac by cobras, manna
from heaven, the pillar of fire, the Shekiah Glory, the parting of the Red Sea...
time after time after time God showed them his awesome power, yet it did absolutely
no good. The vast majority of them still died in the desert without ever seeing
The Promised Land.
So what gives?
There are many valuable principles we can distill from that period of history,
including the fruitlessness of emotion as a criteria in the spiritual life (a
bad problem in Christianity of our time), but the paramount principle is that
of the function of the soul that deposits and applies Bible doctrine. The
problem with the exodus Jews was this deficiency, they rejected the great
teaching of perhaps the most accomplished teacher of all time, Moses, and
operated exclusively on emotion.
Peter mentioned this same principle when he spoke of the Mount of Transfiguration
toward the end of his life. He was there to witness that glorious event, got in
trouble with The Father in fact, Who told him to shut his big mouth and pay
attention, but it was The Word of God in his soul that gave him the spiritual eyes
to see, and this was infinitely more profound to Peter than what he beheld with
his eyes, but did not have the doctrinal resources at the time to fully understand.
In fact, he was babbling something about building a tent on Moriah where they could
all hang out. That's how impressed he was with the whole affair. He completely missed
the point of the exercise, you see, until much later when The Holy Spirit in his soul
converted the written word (or in his case the inspired word) into "epignosis", which
means "resident knowledge" in the Koine Greek.
This same process is that which edifies us, you and I, or so God intended.
So let's turn our focus to the subject of this section, the manifest power of God. If
not miracles, what evidence of His working is there? How does He reveal Himself to us
in our personal lives? What role does omnipotence play in this violent and corrupt
world?
First of all, the Bible is complete now. With the death of John on the Isle of Patmos
we have the entire message from God in written form. This is but one of the distinctive
charactaristics of our Royal Family. Think of it as a code of conduct. The outworking
of God's power to a corrupt and dying world is more intense now than ever before, but
the manifestation of His power is through a humble source, your soul and mine.
I will have more to say about the impact on us, the "conduits", or earthen vessels,
through which God works in a moment.
Today God has chosen to remain obscure. This strategy is compatible with the utlimate
solution to the Angelic Conflict in that Satan, and his
complex system of inroads that have a devastating effect on humanity, is neutralized
in this time, not by wonderous displays of God's power in natural extravaganzas, but
in the daily lives of The Royal Family, the working of God's Word in our souls.
The capstone to our advance in the angelic conflagration, the success of The Church Age
as a tactical maneuver in God's battle plan, is "Operation Footstool" when Christ will
return in glory and cast the devil into prison for 1,000 years.
That victory is not forged in the Tribulation, but now. The 7 year period of what we
call The Great Tribulation, which immeadately follows the Rapture
of the Church, is merely a last ditch effort by Satan to counter the silent victory
that we in The Church bring to pass, or I should say, God brings it to pass through us.
My pastor calls the Trib, quite appropriately, the period of "the devil's desperation".
God does work miracles, every day, but they are not revealed as His work except to the few
who are even aware of His involvement. One historical example that comes to mind is the
battle of Dunkirk in WWII. For those readers that aren't familiar with that deliverance,
the entire British Army, and thousands of Americans, were stalled with their backs to the
sea. There was no place to retreat from a superior force.
One of Hilter's most brilliant generals, Guderian, the father of the "blitz krieg" (lighting
war), was bearing down on Dunkirk with an army of Panzer tanks and the German airforce was
rallying for a massive strike.
But mysteriously, for no apparent reason, Hitler called a halt to his overwhelming forces.
In the lull that followed the people of Britain, which lay across the English Channel, mounted a huge
fleet of boats, everything from small skiffs to yachts, anything that floated, and staged
perhaps he most magnificent rescue in human history. Thousands of craft began ferrying
their men across the channel, some in groups as small as two or three, until every man
was safe.
Had the Germans trapped our allies at Dunkirk it would have annhialated the entire British Army,
and perhaps lost the war. But the foolish decision we attribute to Adolf Hitler was an act of
God. That most brilliant scoundrel of our time, with a far superior army, who had masterminded
the subjugation of all of Europe in mere months, suddenly committed the most stupid blunder
of all time in a theater of war.
The American Revolution was another phenomenal moment in human history when the power of God
penetrated time to thwart the most powerful military in the world at that time and establish
the greatest monument to human freedom in human history. Anyone familiar with the events and
battles that were involved is aware that our victory was nothing short of miraculous.
And here's one that will really throw most people....those thousands of starving kids in Biafra,
Somalia, all over Africa, are a gracious miracle from God.
If this statement appauls you then you simply don't know much about God, or how He works. Don't
be upset, the vast majority of Christians and nonchristians hold your same misconceptions. Like
the Jews of the exodus, you operate on emotion rather than knowledge. Let me explain;
There is a point in every human being's life when they reach the age of accountability (unless
they die before reaching it). Prior to that critical juncture the person is not culpable in God's
eyes. Remember, God wills that "none should perish", and this is his expression of infinite love.
He is deperately seeking ways, so to speak, to save us, not vise versa!
When a person dies before reaching accountability they are automatically saved, because God
would no more send them to everlasting agony when they don't even grasp the issues than you
or I would. They have never rejected Jesus Christ as their Savior and God gives them the benefit
of the doubt and saves them.
God blesses us on the slimmest possible pretext, It is we who screw things up and suffer for it!
I would imagine that even a hardened criminal, a multiple offender, looks at those pitiful little
waifs and experiences at least a moment of compassion. Who wouldn't? And this is perfectly legitimate.
We are commanded to help the poor and sick. Our hearts ache when we watch those sweet faces, innocent
babies, and we are moved to reach out and ease their suffering. But in their case, God prevents food
from reaching them in time....because if they reach the age of accountablity and subscribe to the
muslim faith, or some other pagan religion, they go to hell when they die.
So it's a matter of a few years of suffering, as opposed to an eternity in agony in the Lake of Fire.
Which would you prefer?
I've known Christian parents who lost a child, and they suffered legitimate grief, which is an outpouring
of love, but if we examine the Divine motive we can arrive at several possible conclusions. Perhaps that
person would have grown up to be an unbeliever, and a source of great constrenation for a family of
believers. So, to bless the family, and simultaneously save another soul, God takes them home before they
are accountable. That's just one possible reason.
God's power is as much at work today as it ever was, but in the "cloak" mode, to paraphrase Star Trek.
Unless we are informed of His Person and strategy we are unaware of His presence, and we are far too
swayed by what we see rather than what really is.
The impact of God's power flowing through us is a life changing experience. As his "earthen vessels" we
are said to be either vessels of honor or dishonor. He is the Master Potter who shapes us. But we
are obviously cognizant of our role, unlike lifeless objects, and that awareness is based upon the Word
of God. The benefits are many...they are spoken of as the "fruit of The Spirit". There are hundreds of
passages that decribe the overflow of blessing to those who are the instruments of God in this age. You
might say that as His power flows through us it creates an ambience, and that environment would be
manifest as happiness and contentment.
Others are also blessed by merely being in our periphery if we are vessels of honor.
For example; say we work for a company, even as a janitor, and we are operational in the plan of God,
we learn and use doctrine. In order to sustain us, provide for our basis needs, God will prosper the
company. Likewsie the organization, the town, the circle opf friends.
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