Our precept class is studying the Gospel of John. It's an amazing book. I could write about a lot of different things, but since this is a blog, not a novel, I just wanted to share some thoughts about one of the key words we've discovered in this particular Gospel.
John graciously tells the reader his purpose in writing in chapter 20, verses 30-31: Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
John carefully chose eight particular miracles (signs) to convince his readers to believe in the name of Jesus. Although we have only covered the first of these signs so far (water turned to wine), I've been thinking about the importance of recognizing the signs of God's activity in my own life. I want to live intentionally - aware of God's presence, and taking note of His work in and around my life. So I've been pondering...is God still performing signs?
"Signs" is from the Greek word sēmeion. It is a mark or token; that by which a person or a thing is distinguished from others and is known; it can be an unusual occurrence, transcending the common course of nature; it also refers to miracles and wonders by which God authenticates the men sent by Him, or by which men prove that the cause they are pleading is God's.
I like this statement from one of my word study dictionaries: A sign is a miracle with a spiritual end and purpose, fingermarks of God, valuable not so much for what they are as for what they indicate of the grace and power of the One who does them; a sign by which the divine power in majesty is made known.
In our modern language, a sign is always representative of something else - for example, a stop sign is not the actual law, it only represents and reminds us of the law. Perhaps in the same way, each time we recognize God's activity in our life, it is a sign ... a sign of our connection to Him, that He is active and moving and sovereign in this world. Also, anytime we bring glory and attention to Christ, we are "living signs" of the gospel. Our transformed lives are the "fingermarks" of God, indicative of the grace and power of the One who transformed us.
A few thoughts about recognizing the "signs" of God's activity in my daily life, and what that means.
In order to recognize the "signs" that God is performing in my life, I must understand and grow in knowledge of the character of God. The more I know who God is, from the study of His Word, the more I will recognize His handiwork. For example, if my job was a curator in an art museum, I would study the works of the artists I represented, so that when I came across a painting, I would immediately recognize the handiwork. Each artist would have a certain pattern and way of producing their work that would be consistent and recognizable; but only with the eyes of one who had studied that artist intently would be able to see it. This also protects me from being "fooled" by false signs - those of the enemy that are designed to lead us astray. A sign of God's work will always bring glory and honor to Himself - not me, not other gods, not other men.
I should be seeking the Giver of the sign, not the sign itself. We should not be seeking "signs" from God to satisfy our desire for the supernatural. We do not seek a "show" to entertain or amaze us. We do not ask for "miracles" to make our life more comfortable. I'm not saying we don't pray for people to be healed, or for God to do what seems impossible. But our faith must be firmly rooted in Christ Himself, not whether or not He performs the miracle we are asking of Him. Jesus told the Pharisees they would not be given any sign, because their attitude in asking was one of unbelief and skepticism. Seeking God Himself is true faith; seeking a sign for God to "prove Himself" is actually unbelief.
Mark 8:11-13 - The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation." And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.
Matthew 12:38-42 - Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Ninevah will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
Did you catch that? Jesus "sighed deeply in His spirit" because they wanted Him to perform for them. They weren't seeking to know Him - they wanted to be amazed and entertained. And Matthew tells us that when we fail to recognize God when He is right in front of us, when He has already performed the greatest miracle we will ever need in His death and resurrection, that we are in danger of judgment!
My goal should be to live an obedient life as a "living sign" of God to my generation. The purpose of signs and miracles performed by the apostles in the book of Acts was simply God's affirmation that they spoke the truth - to give credibility that their message was from God. John wrote his Gospel so that we may believe. In the same way, as I live a transformed life, bringing attention to God's redeeming work in me and observing and calling attention to His activity and leading in my everyday life, I, too, am a living "sign" to others, testifying of the power of God to save.
Perhaps we don't see many "signs" or "miracles" today (by our definition) because we don't know God well enough to recognize His handiwork, or (I hope not) in our heart of hearts, we are people of unbelief - seeking God's activity and supernatural display of power to make us comfortable and successful, rather than a true heart of faith seeking His glory. May that never be!
How about it? What "signs" of God's activity have you recognized in your life? I'd love to read your comments about the ways you are recognizing the fingermarks of God, and how He is using you to display His glory to others.
Love you ladies!
Sheila
Sheila, thanks for sharing this with us. I'm thinking that the fact that Lauren is marrying a guy with the middle name of "Todd" must be a sign of something. I'm just not sure what yet:) I will back on here tomorrow with a fresh mind and hopefully something a little bit more spiritual to share:)
ReplyDeleteSheila,
ReplyDeleteThese words really spoke to me from your post. "A sign is a miracle with a spiritual end and purpose, fingermarks of God, valuable not so much for what they are as for what they indicate of the grace and power of the One who does them; a sign by which the divine power in majesty is made known."
I am going to ditch what I was going to post and share a recent experience that I think goes along with your theme on signs. It is not so much a word study as a real life study.
Actually its kind of personal and I hesitated to post it bc I don't want this to be misread... but I've decided that since this blog is probably only read by tens of people it would be okay to be brave and vunerable.
Grant lost his wedding ring on Valentine's day this year. He lost it at work and after a thorough search by all the employees we were sure it was permanently gone. A sign of our love lost on the very day that is the great "love day" in our culture. I'm not overly sentimental so I was not devasted. It was just the ring lost not the guy. Symbols are just symbols. But I also know that in the busy-ness and stressful days of this chapter of life where it is sometimes easy to put your marriage on the back burner there was an impending message in all of this for me. (maybe for him too)
That was Feb. In March we celebrated a wedding anniversary. Thought about replacing the ring but didn't.
In April through a series of miracles, Grant found the ring. The day was Good Friday. We both were stopped in our tracks over the timing of it and couldn't miss the obvious sign. Though I won't include all the details here it was meaningful for both of us.
The Cross, the very sign of hope, power, possibility and victory overshadowed the ring that was once lost and now found, and reminded us that because of the cross, grace and hope abound in all things...even things thought to be lost.
Marriage is hard. For all the sweet blissful ups there are difficult lows. I suppose even if you were married to the most desirable man there might be times when you wish that he would get lost right along with the ring.
But just when you think you are going to drown in the hardships and feel tempted to lose hope God gently puts the cross before your eyes again and reminds you that He conquered and continues to conquer.
The cross is such a precious reminder of His love... of His power. It's just a symbol...but one that endears me to Him more and more as the years pass by.
I love Him. He makes all things worthwhile.
And possible.
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:5 (NIV)
Wow, Trudy, thank you for being so open and vulnerable with us. You inspire me. And how very cool that you ended with this particular scripture. I've been focusing on it as part of our Life Group's study on biblical love.
ReplyDeleteHave any of you, like me, ever asked God to give you more love for someone? Maybe that challenging husband? Maybe that wayward child? Maybe that co-worker you'd just as soon strangle as sit next to? But we do not need to ask God to give us more love. He has already "poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit." We have all the love we'll ever need to pour out on those He has placed in our lives.
So what keeps me from loving as I should? What keeps me from being a living sign to my generation like Sheila wrote about? Sin. Plain ole ugly self-focused sin.
Oh, Father, please continue to grow me and show me the error of my ways and the perfect hope You provide in Your Word. Help me to be a doer of Your Word. Open my eyes to see wondrous things from Your Word. And may the love that You've already poured out in my heart freely flow to those around me...as a sign, a strong witness of Your grace and Your mercy. Amen.
Yeah that's good Tracey. We have all that we need, but we need to learn to apply it, eh? Like a car with a full tank of gas - ready to fulfill its purpose but the pedal needs to be pushed so the gas can be used as intended.
DeleteThanks for your good insights!