Mankind was designed to live a particular lifestyle. The shortest way to describe this lifestyle: mankind was designed to live like Jesus.
Jesus is unique in a number of ways. There were some things only he could do. The Father, Son, and Spirit planned that Jesus would complete his unique purpose and mission. And they intended that he would live a life style to be an example to all of God’s children. When we gave our allegiance to Jesus, we embarked on a life of transformation and cooperation with the Father’s mission and purpose. The process of transformation should bring us back to living as we were designed, in the image of Jesus.
We should live like Jesus lived. We should love like Jesus loved. We should have faith like Jesus. We should serve like Jesus. We should be connected to the Father and the Spirit like Jesus. We should hear him speak to us daily. We should always live in reliance on his grace.
The question that always comes up is: if God intends for use to live like Jesus, does God intend for us to heal the sick, raise the dead, and walk on water?
Some would relegate such acts to Jesus alone. He is God. He is sinless. On the other hand, this does not take into account that the Twelve performed such acts. This does not take into account that Paul performed such acts. This does not take into account modern, current testimonies of cancer disappearing, people getting out of wheelchairs, and the blind seeing.
Scripture says that God has spoken to us and given us promises. God gave these promises, so we could demonstrate the characteristics of his nature. One, that means we will grow to naturally, and habitually, choose honorable, pure, and righteous behavior. It also means we will choose love, and we will choose faith.
Two, Scripture also says: if we ask for anything in Christ’s name, he will give it to us. “Anything” is an awful, big area. The sick, the dead, storms, cities, nations, and cultures are all part of “anything.”
Maybe, as some suggest, God does not respond to our prayers, because of our moral failures. Maybe, as some suggest, God does not respond to our prayers, because responding would interfere with God’s overall strategy in the world. And maybe it is a faith issue. Maybe his children do not take the Father’s promises seriously enough.
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