Are resurrections and miracles normative today?

Are resurrections and miracles normative today?

The resurrection of Lazarus was an anomaly, as miracles are...they are not normative, if they were normative we wouldn't call them miracles. ~H. Hanegraaff

Let me be very clear miracles still happen today. However healing and resurrection is the province of God, according to His will. We must understand God originally created mankind with with a free will to choose, and sadly mankind chose to sin. We could point the finger of blame to Adam and Eve, but the reality is self evident...we live in a sinful world, we all have partaken of the sin of Adam (there is none righteous, no not one. Romans 3:10). And because of sin, we are ever so aware that we live in a fallen world, bad things happen to good people, good things happen to bad people, good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people…simply put, the rain falls on the just and the unjust.

Even Jesus (God in the flesh) said in John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

As we look at the Bible, eternal resurrection is mentioned in accordance to the Last Day or Jesus taking up His life (His own bodily resurrection) after His crucifixion and burial. There are also accounts of 'temporary resurrections' in the Old and New Testaments.

Old Testament

Widow of Zarephath's son

Shunamite's son

Man tossed into Elisha's tomb

New Testament

Widow of Nain's son

Lazarus

Tabitha also known as Dorcas

Eutychus

People that were raised upon Jesus' death

That being said, we can see that temporary resurrection miracles are not normative even in the Biblical record, and we also know that these people are not still alive today. Why? Because we live in a world with sickness, disease & death, and we all must face our own mortality, as did all of those people recorded in the Bible. However if we have a relationship with Jesus we can surely trust His promise of eternal resurrection on the Last Day.

Some say "miracles are normative", but in reality the evidence speaks otherwise. Many amazing men and women of God get sick or have gotten sick from the common cold, flu...etc.  Some Christians have diseases or are in remission, and many precious Christians have died from various diseases throughout the centuries. Some have even died in accidents, yet some live a long healthy life. However as we all well know, none of us escape death…eventually we all die of our last disease. But as Christians, we have the hope of resurrection and eternity spent with our Heavenly Father.

Here are just a couple of examples of sickness concerning the saints mentioned in the Bible.

Paul left Trophimus sick (and didn’t heal him) 2 Timothy 419-20 "Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus stayed in Corinth, but Trophimus I have left in Miletus sick."

Paul also had an illness according to (Galatians 4:12-14). Would we say Paul didn’t have enough faith to walk in divine health? No.

To say miracles are normative and physical healing was paid for at the cross, begs the question… why are some Christians not healed? (or even die for that matter).

There are a couple of possible answers to this way of thinking.

• One answer is, that God is not able to heal them (and we know that is not true).
• The second answer is that the person didn’t have enough faith to be healed (or their family members didn’t have enough faith). Another way to put it is; if you get sick or die, then you (or your family members) are the prime suspects for not being healed.

It is cruel and un-biblical to say “that a person who is sick (or died) didn’t have enough faith to be healed” or “that their family members didn’t have enough faith.” This excuse is convenient for the ‘word of faith teachers’ because it shifts the blame off of them and their faulty faith formulas. The 'word of faith teachers' and their devotees promise that if you apply the proper faith formula you are guaranteed health and wealth, and these claims over-promise and under-perform… Sadly many desperate & vulnerable people are left hurt emotionally and swindled out of thousands of dollars by this. And some will even blame God and not see the reality of the 'word of faith teachers' false promises, or worse- abandon their faith in Christ Jesus. This totally breaks my heart to see this kind of misuse of God’s Word, to make money off of vulnerable and desperate people. 

If you do some research on 'word of faith teachers' who have previously died, you will find many of them died of various diseases. Also some of today's 'word of faith teachers' like Bill Johnson (of Bethel church) wears glasses and has a son with a hearing disability. I am not being unsympathetic, but we might ask...why isn't their 'faith formula' working for them? As was well said about Lourdes grotto in France, "why is it that you can find piles of crutches and wheelchairs, but never a glass eye or a prosthetic limb?"

Some of the 'word of faith' teachers proclaim physical healing and atonement for sins were simultaneously paid for at the cross and you are guaranteed divine health in life 'now' if you believe hard enough. So now the question is; If a Christian does not get healed in this life… does that communicate that the person is not saved either? 

When Peter quotes Isaiah 53, from context it is clear the healing refers to spiritual healing… “He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross [willingly offering Himself on it, as on an altar of sacrifice], so that we might die to sin [becoming immune from the penalty and power of sin] and live for righteousness; for by His wounds you [who believe] have been healed. ~1 Peter 2:24 AMP

In conclusion...

That is why I believe only Jesus is the healer, He has not changed and the province of Healing is still in His hands. As He walked the earth, He proved He was YHWY (Yahweh, the God of Israel) revealed in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And Jesus is the only one who could have emerged through the doorway of the Old Testament prophets (and did). Only Jesus can lay down His life and take it up again. Jesus demonstrated He was the son of God, and He alone has the power over nature, death and life. 

Should we pray for one another? Absolutely Yes! And as we also must pray as Jesus prayed, not my will but Thy will be done. He may not give the answer we want or the answer to our why's... but we can surely trust Him in the midst of our wants and our why’s, as we look forward to when we are raised immortal incorruptible, and as all of creation groans and travails waiting for the restoration of all things.

You see, even though life has many trials, we should not look to blame God, but realize the condition of our sin-sick world and whatever evil befalls us, know that God can use it for good. Continually seek Jesus (the rescuer from our sin) knowing He has overcome the troubles of this world (ref. John 16:33). 

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose Romans 8:28.