Articles
Word Of The Week: Miracle
For a society that doesn't read the Bible much, Americans sure use the word "miracle" a lot. Or, should we say, misuse it. The word miracle applies to anything extraordinary, unlikely or rare. It is an emotional word, and we employ it to vent our excitement, incredulity or relief.
But this is not what the word meant in the Bible. It refers to the setting aside of natural law, a divine intervention into the earthly realm that involves a clear suspension of the forces that we know to govern this world -- such as the instant healing of a leper, walking on the surface of water or immediately reattaching a severed appendage.
We cheapen the word miracle when we apply it things like airplane crashes ("Miracle on the Hudson!") and sports victories ("Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" -- Al Michaels, 1980 Olympics). This makes people vulnerable to the false claims of "faith healers" who deceive people into believing that they can do the same miracles that were done in the first century.
They cannot. Such acts accompanied the revelation of the covenant of Christ, which is now fixed and available. God continues to work in this world, but miracles are not occurring.
