We love to watch a really good magician perform a trick. We know it’s an optical illusion or sleight of hand, but we still exclaim, “How did he do that?!”
Perhaps we’ve all seen the magician’s assistant step into a box on a very flat table. The box is closed, except for the head and the feet. After the magician says a few words – to distract us, I’m sure – he picks up a saw, cuts the box in half and separates the two halves far apart. Of course, the head is still talking and the feet are still moving.
As we loudly applause, we say, “Now, that’s a good trick! How did he do that?”
Were the miracles of Jesus a trick? Some critics say that the miracles are easily explained. For example, when Jesus fed the multitudes on two occasions with a handful of loaves and fish, the people were so moved by the generosity of the little boy who gave all he had that they then opened up their knapsacks and shared their food with everyone else. The result was an abundance of left overs.
Others say that Jesus performed his miracles with supernatural power that was available when he needed it. That’s what most of us would say.
But, how about this explanation? The power behind the miracles of Jesus existed in laws already in place, and Jesus knew how to access those laws. If so, how did he do that?
Here’s how the thinking goes with that explanation. When God created us, and our world, everything was in perfect condition with laws in place that supported perfection. Sin didn’t eliminate these powerful perfect laws; it just distorted reality, because that’s what disobedience to God does. As a result of that distortion, chaos and confusion rules in the soul of man, because he tries one man-made law then another to live life as it was originally intended. But, we are in a state of disrepair, and like the rest of creation, are “subject to frustration.” (Romans 8:20)
Jesus was different. He lived in such seamless union, such perfect “Oneness” with God that he was able to access and utilize at will the natural laws of the original perfect creation. C.S. Lewis says that this “leaves open an intriguing possibility.”
“Perhaps it is not the miracle, but our world – with all its death, decay, and disease – that is the strange and unnatural thing. Perhaps a miracle is not a violation of the laws of nature, but a sublime act during which the Creator, for a brief and glorious moment, restores the original order of his creation.”
“Miracles bring joy, not only because they bring healing, but because they give us a glimpse of what should have been…and what yet may be.”[1]
Well, one might say, that was Jesus. After all, he was perfect. Fair enough. But, Jesus lives in us; is it possible for us to then work towards perfection and, in so doing, have more and more access to those same laws?
Let’s be clear: not one of us will reach the level of perfection sufficient to raise the dead or heal all diseases. There is, however, more power in us and more untapped energy than we realize.
Take the computer, for example. Do you use it for Word processing, maybe even for Excel and Power Point? That’s baseline usage, of course. Have you tried Quantum computing? It can do a “quantum on/off switching time of about a millionth of a millionth second.”[2] As exciting as that may be to some, the fact is that quantum computing is nowhere near the capabilities that you have in your brain. Not to mention the energy and potentiality of power in your heart, mind, soul, and body.
There is more power in us and more untapped energy than we realize.
I once met an older Chinese Christian pastor from Mainland China who said that he didn’t know how many times he has been in prison for his faith. A young woman in his congregation was on her death bed (the family had gathered to be with her when she died, as they had been told by the physicians that there was no hope for her). She was paralyzed, couldn’t move, and wasn’t able to speak to anyone. He walked three hours from his house to pray over her. When he came to the room, her whole family was there. He asked them to leave while he prayed. He told the demon to go away. She was healed and gradually came back to a right mind and strength in her body. When she woke up, she said, “Pastor, when did you get here?” She then got up and walked back with the pastor.
I wondered how this Christian had so developed his spiritual capacity that he could bring healing to someone through prayer, how he could deliver a person from a demon. Was it by his practicing perseverance under persecution, practicing intensity of faith under pressure, practicing the presence of Christ?
To release the spiritual power and energy that is within you, here are two of the things that you must do.
- Believe that your goal in life is to become perfect as Christ was perfect.
We have a new kind of life in Jesus. Associated with that life are powers that we otherwise would not have. Such as, power over evil, power to bring healing to the soul, emotions, mind, and body.
When Jesus said, “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48), he meant that we should aim to attain the full development of innate powers of God’s qualities.
- Practice the spiritual exercises that Jesus did that made him into the person that he became.
An exercise that we practice is not for its own sake, but, rather for another activity. A baseball pitcher, for example, practices pitching. But, he practices so that in the game he can pitch the ball perfectly without thinking about it.
What did Jesus practice? Things like, being alone with God in solitude and in prayer, serving God in his mission of seeking the lost, doing his work as a craftsman with excellence.
Practice what Jesus practiced in order to become what he became. The power of God and the untapped energy within you will be released as you serve the people you were sent to serve.
[1] Quoted in http://www.exploregod.com/do-miracles-break-the-laws-of-nature
[2] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150320091307.htm
Joe Henriques 