A friend told me of a hilarious sign posted in an Alaskan bar, “Unattended children will be given five cans of Red Bull and a free puppy.” Another recalled this sobering dirt road warning in the remote reaches of Canada: “Choose your rut carefully. You will be in it for the next 25 miles.” Humorous or not, signs have purpose. Lane arrows lead us toward our destination, while mileage signs inform us about the distance ahead. Others warn us against inaction or indecision, e.g., “last chance gas; next service 100 miles.”
I find it interesting that the apostle John customarily identified Jesus’ miracles as “signs.” Case in point: “A large crowd was following [Jesus], because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.”1 Now, dispelling sickness with a word is clearly miraculous, yet John penned “signs” as if to highlight a higher purpose than physical healing itself, namely the identity of the miracle worker, Jesus the Messiah. Listen to the people’s take: “Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.’ But others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?’”2 Therein lay the ultimate purpose of Jesus’ signs — belief and life. John explains, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”3
So what signs of His authenticity does God provide today? He still performs miracles, and we can look back on a long trail of answered prayers. But let’s not discount the impact of His transforming presence in us, for “By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.”4 And Jesus promises, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”5 In short, people see change in people made new in Christ. Regarding her turn from atheism, for instance, a young friend told of her roommate’s transformation: “She was just mean, always mean to everybody. But when she became a believer, she changed, she actually became sweet. Her change was so great that I had to check out her Bible study.” Months later, our friend also became a new believer in Jesus Christ; she had read the signs and followed them to belief and life in Christ.
Let us likewise give ourselves entirely to the Spirit, that we would live as signs of new life.
Father, thank You for revealing Yourself to us. Use us, in turn, as signs of Your presence and power, that seeing Christ in us, others would also believe and live. In Him we pray. Amen.
1 John 6:2 ESV, emphasis added
2 John 9:16 ESV, emphasis added
3 John 20:30-31 ESV, emphases added
4 1 John 4:13 ESV, emphases added
5 John 13:35 ESV, emphases added
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Paul Nordman—Author 