Sermon Tone Analysis

The Greatest Miracle of All

When you think of miracles what comes to mind?

Your thoughts may immediately go to miracles in the Old Testament performed by God such as the parting of the Red Sea or the victory over Jericho.

Maybe your thoughts go to the New Testament and the miracles of Jesus such as healing lepers and raising the dead.

Some Christians would say the greatest miracle in the Scriptures was creation or possibly the birth, death and resurrection of the Christ.

All of these are great answers.

But every single one of these miracles had a motive behind them.

And there we find the greatest miracle of all.

Behind everything God does He has a purpose, and intent or a motive.

To find the greatest miracle of all we have to find the motive behind the miracle.

Genesis 1:1 tells us:

In Genesis, creation is initiated with the spoken Word of God.

But a clue to the motive behind it we find hidden in the first Hebrew letter which is Bet ב representing a house.

From the beginning God intended to build a house, a family of sons and daughters made in His likeness and image.

But what is the motive for this miracle?

In Exodus, God delivers Israel from the enslavement to Pharaoh and Egyptian pagan culture.

Was His intent to have a people of His own who would sing and dance for him?

Or was there a deeper and richer motive for this miracle?

Exodus 3:9 gives a clue:

So often we have relational conflicts because we make assumptions about other people’s motives.

Our motive assumptions cause us to hear and interpret other people’s words and actions through our lens of reference.

Often, this is the result of past traumas, offenses, conflicts and other negative experiences with people.

As a result of this nature, we often make assumptions about God as well.

In fact, when we face difficulties, we often assign our assumed motives of others upon God as well.

But Scripture tells us that the motive of God is the same in all He does.

Even in His judgement, His motive remains the same.

Let me show you.

Wow!

And that is just a few of many examples of God’s motive.

His motive behind every miracle is His great love.

And again, God does not just love as in the noun ahavah אַהֲבָה.

God’s love is the verb le-eho’v לֶאֱהוֹב.

When God loves it has a purpose.

It seeks to accomplish something good and glorifying to His great Name.

His love is never directed towards a thing but a person and that person is you.

What is really interesting, is that in Hebrew the word for “to like” is the same as “to love”.

So, to say you will reluctantly show love to someone, in order to appease God’s commandment to love, but you do not have to like them, really does not stand when it comes to God looking at your heart’s motives.

So, if love is God’s motive, what is the miracle of His love that He has given to us from the miracle of creation to the miracles of a crucified and resurrected Christ?

Thank God we do not get what we deserve as the dirt we are.

For the wages of sin is death.

So, what is the greatest miracle God has ever done for you?

If you never recognized all the miracles of each moment of every day that he has granted, can you remember this the greatest miracle He has ever done for you?

Do you see it?

The greatest miracle God ever did for you is “forgiveness”.

Something you did not earn or deserve.

Something He did not have to give or owe you.

The greatest miracle is that a just and holy God, the God of all creation, intentionally and purposefully, motivated by His great love, chose to forgive you and mark all of history with that great miracle with the death and resurrection of His own Son Jesus Christ.

Now the question is what will you do with this great miracle?

Will you live in it?

Will you receive it for yourself?

Will you let it transform you?

Will you let it heal your soul and mind?

Will you let this miracle make you new?

And finally, will you give that same miracle to others, others as undeserving as you were?