Conclusion: What if it ain’t workin’?
We are called into a life of learning how to live as Christ did.
As I consider the ministry power and authority that have been entrusted to us, I find myself wondering how I can be more effective in defeating Satan’s plans, and more accomplished in using the weapons handed to me. I wonder why more people are not healed at my touch. Why are so few of my prayers answered in miraculous ways? Why does my life not look more like the life of Jesus, or Paul, or John?
The life of Christ, as tracked in the gospels, is so full and deep that a hundred books, written over a hundred lifetimes, could never reach the depths of what He offered, taught, and accomplished in his three years of ministry. It is interesting to consider the fact that what we read in the written accounts of His life is just a sampling of all the things He did. (John 21:25 “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”) What we see in the gospels is just a sampling! But a specific sampling – a special and deliberate selection of the things He did.
So how did God choose these events out of all the many actions done, words spoken, and miracles performed? Why did He choose these items to hand down to us, and leave out so many others? Surely not just by chance. The stories and events portrayed in the gospels are certainly not just the ones that the apostles happened to recall as they wrote the accounts. I suspect that Almighty God picked the events that He chose for a reason – that those events were included to teach us specific things about what Jesus did, and specific things that He wanted to hand down to us.
Greater things!
Since it is true that Jesus told us that “greater things than these you will do”, and it is true that we are to aim to be like Him, I suggest that we are to learn how to do things like pray, heal, and sow fruitful seed from the way He did these things.
As you consider just how impactful a life lived with this power and authority will be, remember John 14:12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.”
So is this miracle-working life meant for us today, or just for the 12 apostles? Matthew 10:1-8, and Luke 9:1 tell the story of Jesus sending the 12 out endued with this authority. And Luke 10:8-9 shows that it was intended for 72 more. Then we see in James 5:15 that elders in the church, years after Jesus ascended back into heaven, were authorized to function in this way. And I fully believe that the message of Mark 16:17-18 teaches the truth that He intends all believers to be just as authorized to function with miraculous proofs of His power.
The theme of this section is: Never Quit. Never Stop Believing.
This is another excerpt from "The Rest of the Gospel".
If you simply can't wait to read the whole book, you can find The Rest of the Gospel at:
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