He worked miracles.
He healed all kinds of diseases.
He healed the blind and the deaf.
He brought corpses back to life.
He fed great crowds with a little bread.
He walked on water.
“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.
You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. John 14:12–13 NLT
You read the Bible and you believe Jesus did all that. But where do you find greater works?
Moses struck a rock with his staff. Fresh water flowed from the rock, and two million Hebrews and their cattle had enough fresh water.
As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by.
Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed. Acts 5:15–16 NLT
Jesus said whoever believes in Him should continue his ministry in this way, and the apostles did, but not only the apostles. I am 72 and in my lifetime there are faithful Christians who have brought corpses back to life.
About 55 years ago, there was a great revival in West Timor in Indonesia. Local missionaries without theological training were raising dead bodies.
One day, two of these itinerant preachers were standing by a river that was in flood due to tropical rainstorms. They had to cross the river to preach in the village opposite, but they saw no way to get to the other side.
God gave them the spiritual gifts of faith so that they could perform a miracle that surpassed their own faith.
They put their feet in the river and walked on the water.
Like many other Christians, I am expecting the end-time revival where such miracles will happen all over the world, but I don't want to be just a spectator.
If Jesus has called us to follow in his footsteps, how can we start, right here and now?
First, we must recognise that Jesus did not use his own divine omnipotence to perform miracles.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. Philippians 2:5–7 NIV84
Jesus renounced his divine omnipotence and omniscience so that he could be our example as a human being.
Moses and Elijah were also human. Moses released God's great power through his faith, and so did Elijah.
Jesus acted in the same way as the great prophets who were ordinary human beings who, with the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit, released God's miraculous power through faith.
So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. John 5:19 NLT
So how can we begin to function in this supernatural realm?
If you want to climb a huge mountain, you should start with a hill.
If you have a headache, you can put your hand on your forehead and release God's peace and healing.
Jesus himself taught that we can start small.
Here is another illustration Jesus used: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field.
It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.” Matthew 13:31–32 NLT
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