When we observe the world around us, we see miracles happening everywhere. Each time a baby is born, a bodily injury heals itself, or our eyes focus—a truly amazing thing has happened.
But as amazing as these occurrences are—and literally millions like them are happening as we speak—they are not only common but have natural explanations for why and how they happen.
On the other hand, when inexplicable happenstances that defy natural explanation occur, such as instantaneous healing of the sick, immediate restoration of sight to the blind, resurrection from the dead, etc — we are now talking about supernatural miracles, miracles that defy natural explanation.
Which brings us to our topic today. Whenever (in this article) we speak of miracles, we are talking about the supernatural kind—rather than the amazing, albeit natural, everyday occurrences of our world.
That said, the reason for writing this article is that some in our modern Christian world believe that miracles—the kind that occurred commonly in the first century church, such as instantaneous healing of the sick, raising of the dead, bringing sight to the blind, miraculously speaking in unstudied foreign languages (“tongue speaking”), receiving prophecies from God of future events, etc—still actively take place in our modern world.
The problem with this is that the Bible—and common sense—plainly suggest the opposite.
So, here are three reasons which together prove that miracles (the kind we read about in the New Testament) are no longer active, and that God’s natural laws—which He created in the beginning to govern the earth and our universe—dominate.
FACT #1—Because—according to the Bible—ONLY the first century Apostles had the power to transmit miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit to others
To prove that only the Apostles could impart miraculous spiritual gifts to others, please consider Acts 8, which basically deals a death-blow to the doctrine that first-century-type miracles are still active today.
In Acts chapter 8, please notice that Philip—who was not an Apostle, but had had direct contact with the Apostles (since they’d appointed him and six others to organize the feeding of poor widows in Jerusalem – see Acts 6.1-6)—-Philip had received the ability to perform miracles, and went down to Samaria to proclaim Christ, where he demonstrated God’s power through the Holy Spirit in casting out demons, healing paralytics, and the like.
The Bible says that (Acts 8.6) ”…the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did…” (they “heeded” presumably because they realized that Philip, because of the miracles, was from God, see Heb 2.2-4). “…For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed…” (v. 7). PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE HEALINGS WERE IMMEDIATE. THEY WERE PUBLIC. AND THEY WERE NUMEROUS. (This will be noticed in more detail in REASON #3).
Verse 12 explains the results of all of Philip’s hard work:
”…when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.”
(On a side note, some claim that the baptisms of Acts are simply “Holy Spirit baptisms” rather than actual water-baptisms. But in fact there were only two “baptisms of the Holy Spirit” described in Scripture: the first in Acts 2—when the gospel was first preached to the Jews, and the last in Acts 10—when it was first preached to the Gentiles. In these two instances, God’s presence via the Holy Spirit was to show the world that He was endorsing these occurrences, see Hebrews 2.3-4. However, here in Acts 8, and everywhere else in Scripture, water-baptism is described. [There is a difference between the baptism of the Holy Spirit and “baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus” (v. 12, 16), which is what happened here. In fact, “baptism” means “immersion.” The former is immersion in the Holy Spirit’s power; the latter is immersion in water for the forgiveness of sins, Acts 2.38]. Of course, being the Church’s infancy, and the age of first century miracles, the Holy Spirit was frequently imparted to newly baptized Christians, but only via transmission by Jesus’ chosen Apostles. In the absence of Apostles, such miraculous instances would obviously no longer occur, as this article is in the process of pointing out. For example, in this passage of Acts 8, notice that the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon them, v. 15, AND WOULDN’T COME UPON THEM UNTIL THE APOSTLES PETER AND JOHN CAME DOWN FROM JERUSALEM SO AS TO IMPART HIS GIFTS TO THEM, see again v. 15).
Then the Bible says this:
Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money…[which was a bad idea, as Peter pointed out in v. 20.]
(Acts 8.14-18 NKJV)
Please notice that Peter and John had to take time from their important ministry of spreading the Word (Acts 6.2), and had to travel all the way down from Jerusalem to Samaria (a 35 mile inconvenience) in order to lay hands on the new Samaritan Christians so that they they could receive (probably, in this case, a couple of days after being water-baptized) the gifts of the Holy Spirit. (By the way, there were 9 miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit that could be imparted to Christians in the church’s infancy. For more, please read The 9 Miraculous Spiritual Gifts of the First Century Church.)
What all this means is that after the Apostles died (historians think John was the last, and died ~AD 100)—and after those whom they had conferred gifts to died—then such miracles ceased, just as God said would happen in 1 Cor 13.8 (discussed soon).
Lastly, it’s vitally important to realize that the Apostles possessed special powers from God’s Holy Spirit that no on else possessed. And the most important power that they possessed may have been the ability to impart miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit to faithful followers of Jesus Christ. Paul, an Apostle, writing to the Romans (whom he’d evidently never met) said this: ”For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established in the faith…” (Rom 1.11).
This helps us better explain why they could confer spiritual gifts to others, but non-Apostles–even if they were able by the Holy Spirit to perform miracles (like Philip)–could not.
So, wrapping up our first point…
Again—the only way Christians could receive miraculous spiritual gifts was if an Apostle conferred such gifts to them. The Apostles could not pass along the ABILITY to “impart gifts” to others—just the ability to PERFORM the miracles. Therefore, after all of the Apostles died, and after those to whom they imparted these miraculous gifts died, then miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit were no longer active.
And this was exactly what God ordained to happen (noticed next). God did not intend for these miraculous gifts to continue until the end of the world. They were temporary by design.
NOTES:
By the way, some people argue that first century Apostles each had replacements, which in turn had replacements, and so forth, right down to today. This is called “Apostolic Succession.” To understand why Apostolic Succession is a myth, please read: APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION—Was It Really Ordained by God in the Bible?
FACT #2—Because the Bible prophesied that miracles would cease
God made it clear that—per His intent and design—miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit would cease. Again, He did not intend for them to continue until the end of the world. They were temporary by design.
How do we know this?
Because of what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13 and elsewhere. For example, here’s what 1 Corinthians 13.8 says:
1 Cor 13.8 NKJV—Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail [i.e., cease]; whether there are tongues,* they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away [pass away].
[*”Tongues” refers to the miraculous ability for one to speak in languages never before studied. They were probably used for the rapid expansion of the gospel to foreign nations in the first century. See Mt. 28.18-20]
Here the Bible plainly states that miraculous spiritual gifts—like tongue speaking, prophecies, and miraculous knowledge (and also others as was shown above)—were simply not intended to last. They would be passing away. Meanwhile, faith, hope, and love (see verse 13, five verses later) would remain. In other words, since faith and hope look forward to the future (specifically, heaven), therefore the miraculous gifts would be passing away prior to heaven (i.e., prior to the end of the world).
But a deeper look at the context will reveal more. First, please remember that the Corinthians to whom Paul wrote were struggling with several extremely serious problems. Without making a long story longer—first and foremost was their internal church division (1 Cor 1.10-13), which plainly demonstrates that a church doesn’t have to physically split into various new locations to be considered divided in the sight of God. But the division was of course merely symptomatic. The diagnosis of this spiritual disease that was causing all of their issues was that they were unspiritual and worldly. Paul wrote:
1 Cor 3.1-3 NKJV—And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual [people] but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.
I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able [to receive it], and even now you are still not able;
for you are still carnal. For where [there are] envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like [mere] men?
Now remember, we’re trying to get some context for what Paul would be saying in chapter 13 about miracles. And what we know so far is that all of their division, jealousy, quarreling, and etc—manifested immature attitudes, leading Paul to compare the Corinthians to helpless infants crying for milk from Mama. And while the yearning for milk from an infant is normal and a sign of good health, acting like a baby in one’s 20’s is cause for alarm—which more accurately described the Corinthians’ spiritual status.
But make no mistake: These serious and ongoing problems in the Corinthian church had eternal salvation ramifications (1 Cor 10.1-12), prompting God, through Paul, to warn them to be extremely careful that they don’t become like the disobedient Israelites of old who continually disobeyed God and died as a result. Therefore Paul would warn them in
1 Cor 10.12: “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”
And then in chapter 12, God through Paul laid out a spiritual flow chart for correcting the numerous issues of the Corinthian church. There Paul described the Body of Christ—and how each of us as members of Christ’s Church should learn how to conduct ourselves. And—since in the early Christian Church miraculous gifts were necessary during the infancy stage—Paul starts by talking about the nine miraculous spiritual gifts of the first century church (12.4-11), and what they were for (“the common good”, see v. 7).
In the first century Corinthian church, some Christians had the ability to receive miraculous knowledge (I believe because they had no Bibles yet, explained later), to prophesy (reveal future events that are now written down in the Bible), to speak in human foreign languages they hadn’t studied (for the purpose of spreading the truth of God’s Word to foreign nations), to heal the sick, to perform other miracles, etc—all of which is listed in 1 Corinthians 12.4-11. But, again, God made it clear that the purpose of these gifts was to BENEFIT people, not to show off or entertain (see 1 Cor 12.7; 14.5,13,27,28). Then Paul said this to close chapter 12:
1 Cor 12.29-31 NKJV—Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? [Foreign languages for the spreading of the Word to other nations, see Mt 28.18-20.] Do all interpret [foreign tongues]?
[The answer to these rhetorical questions is, of course, “no.”]
But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.
And what was that “more excellent way”? What could be greater than miraculously speaking in foreign languages, miraculously receiving prophecies and all (spiritual) knowledge directly from God’s Holy Spirit—or greater than miraculous faith permitting performance of miracles?
The answer is: LOVE, the largely missing ingredient in the childish and bickering Corinthian church.
And here is how God defines love (1 Cor 13.4-8): Love is defined as being patient and kind—but not envious, boastful, proud, rude, self-seeking, easily angered, or grudge bearing. Love is also expressed in our bearing with others’ imperfections. And last but not least, love never fails. It should always be on display, whether we are tired, hungry, worried, sick, or anything else.
So—more than anything else—Biblically defined “love” was the medicine the Corinthians needed.
Which brings us back to 1 Corinthians 13.8, which says:
1 Corinthians 13.8—Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
Again, miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit would be passing. But the million dollar question is: When?
And perhaps even more importantly: Why?
Well—REASON #1 above proved that miraculous spiritual gifts would be ending after the death of the Apostles (and the last person who’d received spiritual gifts from an Apostle). That means they probably ceased around the mid-second century AD.
But Paul drops more clues in chapter 13. After saying that prophecies would be ceasing, miraculous tongues would be silenced, and miraculous knowledge would pass away (13.8), Paul answers the reason “why” they would pass:
For we know in part [“part” (Greek)=a part of a whole: partly, in a measure, to some degree…” ] and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect [“perfect” (Greek)=”brought to its end, finished”] has come, then that which is in part will be done away. (1 Cor 13.9-10)
So the question of “why” these miracles would cease is answered. And it is because what they miraculously knew about and prophesied about (through the Holy Spirit) was only a part of the whole, only a measure of the total truth. It was incomplete. So when the “partial” finally became “complete,” then miraculous receiving of knowledge and prophecies, etc, would disappear.
Furthermore, when we combine this statement with what Jesus said to His Apostles in John 16.12-13, things make more sense still. To His Apostles Jesus would say:
John 16.12-13—I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into ALL TRUTH…
[In other words, these Apostles would eventually be given “all knowledge” (i.e., “all truth”)–but currently their knowledge was partial, was incomplete]
…for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come [e.g., reveal prophecies to you].
[In other words they would later be able to prophesy about future events in a complete way, insomuch as what God wanted men to know – see also John 14.26; Rv 10.4]. There are no more prophecies regarding humanity’s future other than what we can currently read in the Bible.
So, combining John 16 with 1 Corinthians 13, the latter should now make much better sense. The “perfection” Paul speaks of is the “completed Word of God,” which would be revealed in the lifetimes of the Apostles, and which we now have in our Bibles (because in the Bible we have the Words of both Christ and several of His Apostles, including Peter, the chief Apostle).
On a side note, it should be pointed out that a few Holy-Spirit-inspired Bible writers weren’t Apostles—but spoke from the same Source as Christ and His Apostles (the Holy Spirit). Mark (companion of the Apostle Paul on his mission journeys), Luke, the Hebrew writer, and James (the half-Brother of Jesus), also wrote New Testament books that early Christians considered valid, and “canonical” (authoritative, i.e., from God). Thus, these writings, –along with those of the Apostle Peter, John, Matthew, and Paul–were therefore included among the early Christian writings that were later to become our modern Bibles. And the fact that non-Apostles would have writings included in the New Testament should come as no surprise, since among the spiritual gifts that first century men (and women) received was the gift of Divine, Holy Spirit inspired knowledge (1 Cor 12.8). Yes, the Apostles had certainly been guided into “all truth” (as the Bible plainly stated in John 16.12-13). But when they imparted gifts to others, some of those others had the gift of knowledge, meaning they could reveal the same truths that had been revealed to the Apostles. Therefore, what they wrote in Scripture was certainly the truth. Paul wrote:
2 Timothy 3.16-17—All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
If what we now read in the Bible, when obeyed, renders us, in God’s eyes, to be a “complete Christian,” and fully ready for “EVERY good work”–then our salvation should not be in doubt. Failure to obey, however, certainly renders our salvation in doubt (Hebrews 5.9).
But the Books that we now call the “New Testament” may not have become wholly available until the second half of the second century. This is interesting, because the earliest known collection of accepted Bible writings was the Muratorian fragment—assigned via internal evidence to around AD 175–200—and contained Luke, John, Acts, the 13 letters of Paul, Jude, 1 John, 2 John, and Revelation (in other words, not totally complete but almost). Again, this list of early Christian writings were those that early Christians considered “canonical” (authoritative, that is to say, from God). Therefore we can hopefully see how very close to completion that the Bible was at that time–and the Muratorian Fragment was just one example. Of course later listings of Bible Books contained what we now see in our modern Bibles, and represent the “complete” Word of God.
So, again, please note that AD 175–200 would correlate with the approximate time that—per REASONS #1 and #2—the “complete Word of God” would be available, and therefore the miraculous gift of knowledge, prophecy, etc, would no longer be needed to teach the truth and reveal humanity’s future in the absence of Bibles, nor would miracles be needed, which were given to confirm that message per Hebrews 2.3-4:
Hebrews 2.3-4: ”…how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation [the Gospel of Christ], which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him [Jesus],
God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will…
Now it has all come together. Hebrews tells us that God confirmed Christ’s message of salvation by means of signs, wonders and various miracles, and various gifts of the Holy Spirit. Miracles were never intended to be used for personal benefit, but as a sign that pointed to the message and said: “This Message is from God.”
Thus, it is logical that God would have spiritual gifts imparted in the infancy of the church, and temporarily until such time as the Word was complete. By the performing of miracles, the Word was repeatedly confirmed to be from God during the early days of the church. Therefore, when the Message was complete, it was no longer necessary that the Word be continually reconfirmed by miracles. And they ceased.
Thus, miraculous gifts ceased, just as REASON #1 proved. They were also prophesied to cease when the Word was in it’s completed state, just as REASON #2 has now shown. Now, 1 Cor 13.11-13 should make more sense:
1 Cor 13.11-13 NKJV—When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Finally, please carefully consider the last verse of chapter 13: “And now abide [remain] faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these [is] love.” (1 Cor 13.13)
Please notice carefully what will REMAIN—and what will PASS AWAY. What will PASS AWAY (per v. 8) are miraculous gifts like tongue speaking and prophecy. And what will NOT pass away are faith, hope and love. But we could ask: What is faith? Hebrews says (Heb 11.1): “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not [yet] seen.” Or we could say, faith is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” And what is hope? Paul elaborates: “For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? ” (Rom 8.24). Obviously, we “hope for” things than haven’t yet happened.
Therefore, per the plan of God, and per His Word, it can be seen that miraculous gifts would be gone well before the end of the world, and mostly likely in the latter part of the second century.
FACT #3—Because the BIBLE was DECLARED COMPLETE in the first century
The Bible itself declares that God’s message was entirely complete IN THE FIRST CENTURY (as noticed above, see again John 14.26; 16.13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Thus, Christians in the first century had access “all truth” and “completeness of Scripture.” It was not all necessarily written down and widely circulated into what we would now call “the Bible,” but via spiritual gifts they had access the the complete truth (John 16.13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 1 Cor 13.8,11-13).
This being the case, anyone beyond the first century claiming that he / she has received new revelation from God or the Holy Spirit that we need to listen to, is a false prophet. God tested the people of Israel by actually sending false prophets among them to see if they would stay true to His plain message, or follow the impostors (Dt. 13.1-5; 18.20-22). Sadly many did the latter, and were destroyed. Today, it will be worse for anyone who ignores the true message of salvation through Christ (Heb 2.3-4), and disaster awaits those who would surround themselves with teachers who will tell them what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear (2 Tim 4.3-4).
So, there would be no need for new revelations beyond the second century, since the Bible was complete. Any addition would represent and addition to the Word of God itself, which—in spite of it’s popularity today—is strongly prohibited in God’s Word.
The above verses demonstrate that the Bible is complete – and this has been the case for almost 2,000 years. Not one thing can be added to the Bible to make it more complete, and if one thing is taken from it, it is no longer complete. Since this is the case, it makes little sense to continue to receive direct, miraculous revelations from the Holy Spirit, to prophesy, or to speak in tongues. What can the Holy Spirit add to make His Word more complete than “complete”? What can He tell you to make you a more complete Christian that is different from what He has already told you in His Word? Therefore, when the complete and perfect revelation of the Holy Spirit had finally arrived, these spiritual gifts would pass away.
Remember, Paul clearly stated that these gifts would indeed pass away–but faith, hope and love would remain (1 Corinthians 13:13).
FACT #4—Because of the total lack of any verifiable evidence of modern miracles in spite of cameras virtually everywhere
Every case of modern miracles that I have ever heard about seems to be unsupportable and therefore lacks credibility.
Today’s version of “miracles” usually consists of healing invisible ailments like back aches, head aches, appendicitis, or the like—or unremarkable and unverifiable “tongue speaking” (which Biblically meant speaking in foreign human languages miraculously – see Acts 2.5-12).
But please notice the vast contrast between the modern version of “miracles” and those of Christ, Peter, and even Philip (not an apostle). They, by contrast, would heal the sick, raise the dead, give sight to the blind, etc—INSTANTANEOUSLY.
Their miraculous activity was not secluded to the privacy of a church, but were public, remarkable, undeniable, beyond reasonable doubt, and viewed by many thousands. They were witnessed or heard about by everyone from the King on the throne to the beggar by the wayside.
The bottom line is:
Modern “miracles” have an appearance of amazement, but are always unverifiable; on the other hand, Biblical miracles were always obvious, irrefutable and instantaneous.
Yet in spite of this, millions today—whether through lack of knowledge, lack of caution, or naivete—cling to rumors about healings having happened here or there, instead of wondering why all those “miracles” are never conclusively verifiable or beyond reasonable doubt.
Which brings us to the so-called “tongue speaking” of modern churches. First, it should be remembered that the Biblical word “tongue” in the Greek just means “language,” and the miraculous ability to speak in the languages of foreigners was almost certainly used for the spreading of the gospel to the nations of earth (which the Apostles were commanded to do in Mt 28.18-20). Never does the Bible indicate that Christians spoke in the languages of angels or of the Holy Spirit. It was always in the languages of men (see Acts 2.4-12). (Some try to use 1 Cor. 13.1 to prove this, but they misunderstand that Paul was simply emphasizing the importance of love. Their is absolutely no purpose to men communicating to other men in the languages of angels or some mysterious language of the Holy Spirit.)
So speaking in languages never studied were vital for the rapid spreading the Word to the first century lost. This ability would enable the Good News Message to be heard in the native languages of foreigners, to whom Jesus had commissioned His Apostles to preach (Mt 28.18-20), and as actually happened (Col. 1.6; 1 Cor 14.18-19). Paul, in 1 Corinthians 14.22-23, said: “ Therefore tongues [again, speaking in unstudied foreign human languages] are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe.
Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?” (see also 1 Cor 14.27-28).
The bottom line is, every spiritual gift, including miraculously speaking in foreign languages, was to bring the lost to Christ, or to edify the church. But speaking in foreign languages (of other nations) in the church was never permitted unless there was an actual interpreter (1 Cor 14.26,31). And since the Bible is complete and has been already translated into the languages of the world, there is absolutely no good purpose whatsoever for anyone to be babbling in so-called tongues. It is showmanship. Anyone today who claims to miraculously speak in foreign languages has been determined by Scripture to be a fraud, as has been discussed above.
CONCLUSION—Let the Facts Lead You
Sometimes when we read the Word it almost seems like miracles were just common, every day experiences in the church. But in fact through time, when we examining Biblical history, they were actually rarities—and instead God created natural laws that governed the universe and men’s lives (which was God’s intent).
Examining Scripture it seems that there were probably around three great spikes of miraculous activity in the history of civilization, and the reasons for those miraculous spikes should be obvious:
- First, the awesome Creation (or “Genesis,” beginning) of the World
- Next, the Genesis of the Law of Moses…
- And finally, the Genesis of Christianity.
(There will also be a final explosion of “miraculous activity” when Jesus returns to earth – see 2 Thess 1.7-9; 1 Cor 15.)
Be we should never lose sight of the fact that miracles were never intended to be the norm, otherwise they wouldn’t be called “miracles.”
A “miracle,” by definition, is “an amazing and typically welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws, and is therefore considered to be the work of a Divine agency.”
In a nutshell, miracles were when God allowed the suspension of His created natural Laws, which He created to govern our physical world (e.g., Laws of gravitation, force, etc…such that if you step off a cliff you can expect to plunge probably to your death, and if you jump out into traffic you can expect to suffer consequences from larger forces, and if you touch a high voltage line and the ground simultaneously, you can expect your body to turn into an oven element, etc).
And humanity has certainly learned, through the incredible minds God has blessed us with, how to harness otherwise dangerous forces for our own benefit (e.g.: Harnessing electricity to work for us, and invention of thousands of devices powered by it; harnessing forces of gravity to power turbines which can produce the electricity by which devices can be operated; harnessing nuclear forces to do the same, etc.).
But regarding miracles of the FIRST CENTURY, such supernatural events were never for men’s showmanship or self-gratification (Mt 4.1-7), nor to produce profit for greedy Christians (see Acts 8.18-24), but to benefit those in need—such as healing the sick, the lame, and the blind—and PRIMARILY, to show the UNMISTAKABLE INVOLVEMENT OF GOD IN WHAT WAS HAPPENING, to Whom all glory must be diverted. (Heb 2.3-4; 1 Cor 10.31)
1 Cor 10.31—Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
So, therefore, the first century spike in miraculous activity was to demonstrate the UNMISTAKABLE INVOLVEMENT OF GOD IN WHAT WAS HAPPENING, for only God can suspend the laws that He has created, and only God can give men the power to do the same (and in some cases even evil men were temporarily given such powers in order to show God’s superiority, because in such instances God gave other [righteous] men the miraculous power to OVERCOME them – see Ex 7.1-13).
But they were ALWAYS for God’s glory. And this rule applies to everything (not just miracles). Again, 1 Cor 10.31—Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Plainly, God created the universe and it’s governing laws, and can suspend them at any time He wishes by miraculous action.
So–according to what we know–there were three great spikes of miraculous activity in history, and each miraculous spike had a good reason for happening. Such sudden increases in miraculous activity were for the purpose of God placing His stamp of approval, His Personal confirmation on the following highly significant events of our human history.
However, it should never be forgotten that God is God, the Great Creator of the Universe—and He can suspend the Laws of nature that He created anytime He so chooses.
NOTE: All verses quoted from the NKJV unless otherwise indicated.
RECOMMENDED READING:
The Nine miraculous spiritual gifts that Apostles could confer to others
2 Reasons Why the Old Testament Law Has Passed Away
Here’s Why the Sabbath Day Isn’t Binding on Christians Today
Here’s why Apostolic Succession is a Myth
List of New Covenant Verses