Faith precedes the miracle

The focus of the divine service on 7 June 2015 in Hamburg in Germany was the expectation of many people to be able to experience God in signs and miracles or to be able to understand him from an intellectual perspective only. “Some people think that God has to prove that He loves us by doing a miracle,” the Chief Apostle explained. Others just want to be able to understand Him and think, “We just want to be able to understand and know everything,” he said.

The response by Paul

Already Apostle Paul had to grapple with such disputes, Chief Apostle Schneider said and referred to the Bible text he was using for the divine service, “For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1: 22–24).

Paul’s response to these demands was, “We preach Christ crucified.” The thought that the Son of God was to be crucified was a scandal for the Jews, the Chief Apostle explained to the nearly 3,000 brothers and sisters who had come for the divine service. And the thought that the Son of God would come to earth, die, and resurrect was absolute nonsense for the Greeks.

God is greater than man can conceive

But why should there not be any miracles as proof? When people came to Jesus demanding signs from Him He rejected them. This was the case in the wilderness, and then when the Pharisees came to Him, and finally on the cross. Those who experienced the miracles of Jesus had faith in the Son of God in the first place and often proved this by acting on what Jesus had told them to do. Peter, for example, first had to get out of the boat before he could walk on the water. The centurion from Capernaum first had to go back to his house before he was able to experience the healing of his servant. And the blind man at the Pool of Siloam first had to go and wash in the pool before his vision was restored. “Faith comes first and then the miracle,” Chief Apostle Schneider emphasized.

And why can we not fathom divine truth with the mind alone? The Chief Apostle explained this using a simple example. A little boy that asks a professor to explain everything to him will have to interrupt him after two sentences, “Stop, I don’t understand. That is too complicated.” That is a principle of the Christian faith, “God is always greater than man can conceive.”

The proof is Jesus Christ

“We cannot force God to prove that He is present, that He is powerful, that He loves us,” Chief Apostle Schneider made clear. “Jesus Christ is the proof. He came to earth. That is the sign of God’s presence. Jesus Christ died for us, thereby proving His love for us. Jesus Christ rose from the dead. That proves His power.”

“First of all, we have to believe and then we have to testify of this faith by following Him. And when we do that we will experience God,” the Chief Apostle continued. “God will help those who do this, but what we cannot do is dictate the form this help is going to take,” he pointed out with reference to Paul’s central statement. What does “Christ crucified” mean? During His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, or even at the cross, Jesus submitted to the will of God.

Using what God gave us

“When Paul says that Christ is our wisdom, it does not mean that we are not to use our heads, quite the contrary.” God has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit as well as our intellect. And we are expected to use them. “Let the Holy Spirit work in your heart and let Him set the priorities in your life.”

The priorities are our soul’s salvation, to become like Christ, and eternal fellowship with God. “And then use your head and say, ‘What do I have to do now to reach the goal?’ I guarantee you, you will find the answer,” the Chief Apostle said in conclusion. “You will experience the blessing of God, the miracle of God. You will find that God is there for you, that He will help you reach the goal.”