As I read through the Immerse–Messiah New Testament, I’ve stumbled upon amazing jewels of words, like walking into an alpine meadow, far up on the side of a mountain, and coming upon a dewdrop jewel glistening in the sun, resting in the palm of a Lupine leafy cluster as seen in the nature photo above. I was there when our son, Thomas took that photo, and marveled to see that water jewel roll around over those Lupine leaves, shining in the morning sun.
God’s Word is truly a treasure trove of wonders. I love when Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven like treasure hidden in a field.
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.” ~Matthew 13:44.
One of our joys in life is going on treasure hunts, looking for the wonders and treasures of the Kingdom, sometimes hidden right under our feet. A little digging will unearth these rare hidden treasures.
In this blog, under the title, “Hidden Treasures,” I will unearth some of God’s rare kingdom treasures found in words tucked in the field of scripture.
A few weeks ago, after a week of hiking about 50 miles around South Sister, in the Three Sisters Wilderness in Central Cascades, I sat in camp overlooking Moraine Lake and enjoyed the morning by reading the entire Book of Acts in one sitting.
A hidden treasure kept falling out of my Bible, out of the Book of Acts, into my lap: wonders!
The word wonders shows up a dozen times in the Book of Acts, often joined by the word signs as in “signs and wonders.” Here are some examples:
A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.
“Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade.
“And by means of many wonders and miraculous signs, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness for forty years.”
But the apostles stayed there a long time, preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord. And the Lord proved their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders.
Everyone listened quietly as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.
But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.
In Greek, τέρατα, terata, is plural for teras, which is a wonder or a marvel. Terata is translated into our English word, “wonders.” Terata are unusual God events, or miraculous occurences that cause people to be amazed, evoking a reaction of amazement or curiosity among those who witness the wonder. To have our life filled with God’s wonders is to live a wonder-ful life!
I believe in a God of wonders, as the Marc Byrd and Steve Hindalong song lyrics declare:
Lord of all creation / Of the water, earth and sky / The Heavens are Your Tabernacle / Glory to the Lord on high / God of wonders, beyond our galaxy / You are holy, holy / The universe declares Your majesty / You are holy, holyLord of Heaven and Earth
Lord of Heaven and Earth!