A miracle is a work of power from God that is outside the normal way that things happen in the world. A miracle should stir people to be in awe of Him. There are many miracles reported throughout the Scriptures but they are more frequent during the ministries of Moses, Elijah and Elisha, and Jesus and the Apostles. The Law, the Prophets, Christ and the Apostles all proclaim God’s Word to people, and they are accompanied by many miracles to act as signs, showing their teaching is from the Lord (e.g. Exodus 4:2-8, John 3:2, Hebrews 2:4, Acts 8:6-8). God continues to do miracles today and we should not be surprised when He acts in ways beyond our understanding. However miracles are not the normal way that God communicates with us and therefore should not be thought of as the foundation of Christian ministry, which must be the proclamation of the Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:20, 1 Corinthians 1:22-25). We should also remember that there are evil powers in this world, so not everything which is apparently ‘miraculous’ is from God (Exodus 7:11, Acts 8:9-11). We should treat anyone who claims to have power to perform miracles with caution, and examine them to see if they deny the Gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 12:1-3, 1 John 4:1-3).
