This is Joni Eareckson Tada and you’re listening to "Joni and Friends.”
It’s where you can always hear encouraging thoughts from God's Word and insights into the life of our Savior that inspire and refresh, like this for instance. Let me ask, if you made a list of all the big creation miracles Jesus did before he came to earth, what would be on it? If your list is like mine, it would contain things like galaxies, or black holes, or solar systems, or how about the law of gravity (and, oh my, with the amazing new telescopes they have now, we are seeing things in the universe Galileo never dreamed of). Let’s see what else would be on the list: the creation of the universe and how everything is in complete balance; we could list the law of thermodynamics, the constellations and photosynthesis. All of them are God-sized wonders, large, big, universal-sized wonders, right?! And it was Jesus who did all these grand scale things and much more.
But listen to this. When this same Jesus walked the earth and lived in Palestine, consider all the smaller-scale miracles He performed: Withering a fig tree … turning a few jars of water into wine … the coin in the fish's mouth; then that time Peter healed his mother-in-law of a fever; and how about when Jesus restored a man's shriveled hand? These things were just as miraculous, but they were small … they were personal, tender and up close. Jesus performed them on a smaller scale than when He created the whole universe.
C.S. Lewis said the earthly miracles of Jesus (now get this) are a retelling in small letters of the very same story that is written across the whole universe in letters too large for most of us to see. And just what is that story? Well, it’s personal and it’s tender—whether in the small letters of earthly miracles or the large letters of miracles, that are the size of the universe—it’s the story that God is great and God is very, very good. Jesus showed how great and good God is by the many times He healed people and even raised some from the dead, and I tell you what, you can’t get more personal than that, right? But how exciting it is to look up into the heavens and realize that a personal God created all that we see for our enjoyment … He cares about the pleasure those things give; I mean you’ve seen starry nights; you’ve seen beautiful sunsets: the heavens declare the glory of God, and that glory is meant to touch us personally.
But I think the best of all miracles will be raising us up and transforming our lowly bodies into glorious bodies. Wow! Talk about power that's personal; just think of all the saints of all the ages all rising up to our glorified state. The resurrection of the dead will be written across the whole universe in letters large enough for everyone to see. So, friend, tonight, if you have a minute, step outside and look up into the heavens. It should inspire you to think as David did in the Psalms when he thanked the Lord for being mindful of him even though he was so small in contrast to the heavens. Wow! With our telescopes, we can see so much more than David did.
And remember, friend, you were not small; you were not insignificant. God's grand scale miracles are up there in the universe. Supernovas and asteroids, galaxies and quasars all have a personal message for you: The Lord of the universe left His throne above the heavens to come down and demonstrate His personal concern just for you—so much so, that He left it all to rescue you by His own flesh and blood. And so, when it comes to that list of God's big miracles, perhaps your salvation and mine should top it all.
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