Cheryl McGrath, February, 2003
"Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, "Your sins are forgiven you,", or to say "Arise, take up your bed and walk"? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying "We never saw anything like this! Mark 2:9-12
For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8b (NKJV)
"Dunamis": ( Strongs 1411): strength power, ability ;inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth ;power for performing miracles; moral power and excellence of soul ; the power and influence which belong to riches and wealth; power and resources arising from numbers; power consisting in or resting upon armies, forces, hosts.
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In the town of Capernaum Jesus was presented with a paralysed man lowered through the roof of a house by friends desperate to see him healed. Jesus' immediate response, however, was not to the man's physical condition, but to his spiritual condition. Though the scriptures do not clarify the reason for his disability, there is good reason for believing this man's illness was a result of his previous lifestyle, for in the Israel of Jesus' time, paralysis of this nature was very often a consequence of a sexually transmitted disease. This would help explain the undisguised outrage of the religious scribes who sat watching nearby. Actually, the gospel of Luke tells us that on this particular occasion, Pharisees and scribes had come out of "every town of Galilee, Judea and Jerusalem" to observe Jesus, no doubt in the hope of finding some serious legal accusation to level at Him. Luke also tells us that "the power, the dunamis, of the Lord was present to heal..." (Luke 5:17)
Not being able to get to Jesus through the crowd, this man had been let down through the roof by his determined friends. His desire was to be healed, to be able to walk and to live a normal life. Yet here was Jesus offering him forgiveness of sins, and making it more than obvious to all who stood by that He considered this to be his greatest need. "Which is easier?" He asked them when the murmuring started. We might paraphrase His words this way: "What? Do you think My Father sent me into this world without authority to change lives as well as heal bodies? What good will this man's physical healing be to him if he dies in his sin?" And with the purpose of confirming who He was and why He had come, He then followed His words with action, and the man was physically healed.
Within this story we discover the essential and the paramount basis for what the scriptures call "signs and wonders." Jesus' miracles, signs and wonders, always witnessed to WHO He was and WHY He had come. Consider, for instance, the response of the disciples when He calmed the wind and the sea. "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!" (Mark 4:41). Consider Peter's reaction after Jesus had filled his nets with fish: "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" (Luke 5:8) Or the man blind from birth who Jesus healed and asked "Do you believe in the Son of God?": "Then he said "Lord, I believe! And he worshiped Him." (John 9:38) Jesus had little patience with those who wanted Him to perform signs and wonders for any other reason but as a witness to who He was and why He had come, calling them an evil generation. He said they would receive no sign except the sign of His death and resurrection.
Jesus used signs and wonders for something else too - to destroy the works of the devil. Whether he was healing, casting out demons, or speaking peace to dispel fear, like every true warrior He was intent on annihilating the enemy wherever and whenever He had opportunity. He met the evil one head on, carving a straight path of destruction through his dark kingdom, yet without ever turning or being drawn away from His final destination. Gethsemane became His ultimate battleground, the Cross His ultimate death blow to Satan, and the resurrection His ultimate and eternal triumph. He was the original and best Liquidator, because as J.B. Phillips puts it: "Now the Son of God came to earth with the express purpose of liquidating the devil's activities." 1 John 3:8 (Phillips Translation)
So if signs and wonders were utilised by Jesus for the twofold purpose of firstly witnessing to Who He is, and secondly for destroying the enemy's works, doesn't it follow that his church should be utilising signs and wonders for the same purposes? In His final words to the newly born church before ascending to the Father, Jesus gave two specific instructions: "receive power" and "be witnesses to me" (Acts 1:8) Immediately after the infilling of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, we find Peter and John going up to the temple, encountering a man born crippled, and administering the SIGN of total healing in Jesus' Name. Empowered by the Spirit, they used a miraculous sign to both testify who Jesus was and simultaneously destroy the enemy's work. Acts 5:12 tells us that "through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people." When brought before the Jewish leaders to give an explanation, Peter testified "we are His witnesses." The church Jesus established could not help but speak the things that they had seen and heard. Nor could they help destroying the works of the enemy. Signs and wonders were an essential ingredient of the gospel they proclaimed, yet they were not distracted from their mandate, which was to "be filled" and "be witnesses". This mandate incorporated both their ministry and their warfare.
Over the last several years the modern-day church has spent untold resources, time and money on books, tapes, videos and conferences designed to better equip us to deal with principalities, powers and evil strongholds over cities, regions and nations. Unknown time and energy has gone into warfare strategies such as spiritual mapping, understanding lay lines and global strategic assignments. Countless numbers of prayer meetings have been held where intercessors have come against every imaginable principality loudly and zealously. Now, before you hit that delete button, let me add that I do not discount these methods and strategies, nor do I discount those who believe in them. I believe we can learn from the Holy Spirit how to utilise these insights and strategies at the appropriate times and in the appropriate manner.
However, I just as strongly believe the enemy has succeeded to some degree in distracting us from our mandate, through engaging us with principalities and powers above our heads while blinding us to the destroyed lives in front of our eyes. He has focused us on methods, strategies and knowledge to a point where the simplicity of the gospel has been lost in our spiritual warfare encounters.
Jesus had only one strategy - he destroyed the works of the enemy. He authorised seventy of His disciples and sent them out to do what they had been watching HIM do. And when they returned saying "Lord even the demons are subject to us in Your Name." He replied with joy "I SAW Satan fall like lightning from heaven." You see, He knew about principalities and powers, and He knew His enemy, but He worked at ground level to undermine them - not the other way around.
I believe many involved in spiritual warfare (which is all of us), have been looking at things upside down. And I strongly believe there is coming a much deeper revelation of spiritual warfare - one that is founded on Holy Spirit empowered believers corporately and regularly destroying the works of the enemy through radically holy lives bringing forth a ministry of "signs following." It is a warfare that is fought primarily on the ground, not solely in the air, but which will result in the serious undermining of evil strongholds over cities, nations and regions.
In the final analysis, just ONE simple miracle invariably impacts lives, towns and nations far more greatly than all our conferences, books, strategies and shouting combined. The enemy will engage us at whatever level we wish, as long as we are NOT witnessing to the power of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ with signs and wonders that destroy his work in the lives of individual, ordinary, every day people.
Which is easier? To continue binding and shouting against the enemy from inside our conference halls and prayer meetings, or to walk out into the street and heal a crippled body or open a pair of blind eyes so that the world might know "that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins?"
Sound too simple? But then, it always was, wasn't it?
Cheryl McGrath
Great South Land Ministries, Australia
Website: www.greatsouthland.org
Email: southland@greatsouthland.org
Copyright Cheryl McGrath, Great South Land Ministries, 2003 May be distributed freely with copyright intact. Permission is needed for reproducing this article or any part of it on a website.