There are all kinds of miracles, beginning way back with the creation of all things, which is outlined for us in the Biblical book of Genesis.  Then there are the other many miracles found in the Old Testament of the Bible, followed by the miracles in the New Testament of the Bible, primarily focusing on the miracles performed by Jesus Christ.

Since Biblical times, there have been what I refer to as modern miracles over the centuries right up to the present day.  Finally, there are miracles mentioned in the Bible which are yet to take place.

Do you believe in miracles?  Miracles come in all forms and sizes, and most often occur unexpectedly.  Let’s look at the different types of miracles and some of the best-known big miracles as found in the Bible.

But first, as I have said before, when asking A-I (artificial intelligence) for answers to questions, you must use great discernment in separating correct information from possible incorrect answers.  A-I is easily confused and sometimes jumbles true and untrue facts together in its answers to the questions posed to it.  But when it comes to the definition of miracles, I found A-I gave excellent factual answers.  However, I would remind everyone the only place to find totally 100% truthful and correct information, including how to accept Jesus as your Savior and lead a Christian life, is found only in the Holy Bible, which is the ‘infallible’ inspired Word of God.

Now, let’s look in detail at what A-I has to say about miracles.

In the context of the Bible and theology, miracles are typically grouped into four distinct types based on the subject of the miracle or the authority being demonstrated:

1. Miracles Over Nature

These demonstrate absolute authority over the physical world and the laws of science.

• Examples: Calming a storm, walking on water, turning water into wine, or the sun standing still in the Old Testament.
• Significance: They reveal the performer as the Creator or Master of the physical universe.

2. Miracles Over Physical Ailments (Healings)

These involve the supernatural restoration of the human body.

• Examples: Healing leprosy, restoring sight to the blind, making the paralyzed walk, or curing chronic illnesses.
• Significance: They demonstrate compassion and the power to reverse the physical effects of a fallen world.

3. Miracles Over the Spirit Realm (Exorcisms)

These involve authority over demonic forces or spiritual entities.

• Examples: Casting out “Legion” into a herd of pigs or commanding unclean spirits to leave a person.
• Significance: They represent a “clash of kingdoms,” showing that divine power is superior to evil spiritual forces.

4. Miracles Over Death (Resurrections)

Often considered the most powerful type, these involve bringing a dead person back to life.

• Examples: Jesus raising Lazarus (who had been dead four days), the raising of Jairus’ daughter, and the Resurrection of Jesus himself.
• Significance: They prove authority over the “final enemy,” death itself, and provide hope for an afterlife.

Other Common Classifications:

Miracles of Provision: Specifically focused on multiplying resources, like the feeding of the 5,000 or the jar of oil that never ran dry.

Miracles of Judgment: Occurrences where a miracle causes a negative physical result as a sign of divine displeasure, such as the ten plagues of Egypt or the withering of the fig tree.

In theology, philosophy, and linguistics, the definition of a miracle shifts based on whether the focus is on divine power, natural law, or human perception.

1. The Theological Definition (Divine Origin)

Theologians define a miracle as a supernatural intervention by God into the natural world.

• Key Concept: It is a “sign” (semeion) intended to reveal God’s character or confirm a divine message.
• Source: The power comes from outside the physical universe (God), rather than from hidden natural forces.

2. The Philosophical Definition (Violation of Laws)

Philosophers, most notably David Hume, define a miracle as a violation of the laws of nature.

• Key Concept: A law of nature is a regular, observable pattern (like gravity). A miracle is an event where that regularity is broken by a supernatural agent.
• S. Lewis refined this, calling it an “interference” with nature, suggesting that once the miracle happens, nature “absorbs” it and continues following its own laws.

3. The Scholastic Definition (Aquinas’ Three Degrees)

St. Thomas Aquinas provided a more clinical definition, focusing on the relationship between the event and the capability of nature:

• Above Nature: Something nature could never do (e.g., the sun moving backward).
• Against Nature: Something nature can do, but not in that specific order (e.g., a dead body becoming alive).
• Beyond Nature: Something nature usually does, but occurring without the typical natural process (e.g., a sudden, instantaneous healing from a flu).

4. The Linguistic/Etymological Definition (Wonder)

Derived from the Latin miracu/um (“a thing to be wondered at”), this definition focuses on the human reaction.

• Key Concept: Any event that creates a sense of “wonder” or “awe” because of its extraordinary or unexplained nature.

5. The “Providential” Definition (Timing)

Sometimes called “coincidence miracles,” these are events that don’t technically break any physical laws but are so statistically improbable and perfectly timed that they are viewed as miraculous.

• Example: A person running out of gas exactly in front of a gas station when they have no money, only to find a five-dollar bill on the ground.

6. The Modern/lnformal Definition

In everyday speech, the word is used loosely to describe:

• Highly Unlikely Success: A “miracle” sports comeback.
• Natural Beauty: The “miracle” of a sunset or childbirth (which are actually natural, repeatable processes).

The following are some specific examples of Biblical miracles.   I will not go into detail here, but I will list them with the Biblical scripture locations where you can look them up and read in detail.

The creation of all things (Genesis 1:1).  The foundational miracle.

The global flood (Genesis 6-9)

The parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21)

The collapse of Jericho’s walls (Joshua 6)

The sun standing still (Joshua 10:12-14)

Daniel in the lion’s den (Daniel 6)

The Virgin Birth (Luke 1:35) Jesus being born.  God becoming human.

Elijah and the fire on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18)

The feeding of the Five Thousand (Matthew 14:13-21)

Jesus walking on water (Matthew 14:25-33)

Jesus turning water into wine (John 2:1-11)

Lazarus raised from the dead by Jesus after being dead for four days (John 11)

The Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8) Jesus’ divine glory revealed.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ (Luke 24:6-7). The cornerstone of the Christian faith.

Many religious leaders consider the miracle of salvation through the spiritual transformation of a person’s heart as the greatest ‘ongoing’ miracle because of its eternal impact.

Other big-time miracles yet to come include the Rapture (I Corinthians 15:51-53), and the New Heaven and the New Earth (Revelation 21:1-22:5).

Until those huge miracles take place, embrace all the day-to-day miracles that come your way.

 

 

 

 

 

Next time you go outdoors, pause for a moment to stop and smell the roses. Look up, down, and all around, to take in all the miracles of God, which surround us every day in nature. Take time to notice the animals, the birds, the trees, the bushes, the flowers, the grass, and every living thing. God’s miracles abound in all the natural world we take for granted each day in our busy lives.

But you don’t have to look beyond the end of your own nose to see one of God’s greatest miracles. In all of God’s majestic creations in the universe, you are also an amazing miracle. Do not underestimate just how much God loves you. After all, He invested a lot of time in creating you. He knew you before you were born. David stated this fact very well in one of his psalms.

“For You formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well.  My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:13-16).

I will not even begin to try to explain all the miracles within our bodies. You can learn all about body parts just by viewing the diagrams of the human body in a medical book and seeing how they miraculously interact with each other. However, I do know about the billions (at the very least) of moving parts in our physical world that had to come together just right, through God’s perfect timing, for each one of us to be here today. Let us consider some nuts-and-bolts facts to make my point clear.

According to A-I, if you go back 10 generations in your family, which accounts for up to 300 years in the past, approximately back to the year 1726, you have had, on average, nearly 2,050 unique direct ancestors. If you go back 20 generations of direct ancestors, approximately back 600 years to the year 1426, you have had, on average, around 2.1 million direct ancestors. That takes a lot of miraculous, Godly planning and coordination over that span of time to find you and me here today.

Absolutely every little thing in the lives of over 2 million of our direct ancestors had to go exactly right for each of us to be here in the year 2026. Only God could control daily events in that many lives over that long period of time to allow you to be you, and me to be me today. Those one million couples had to have children live long enough to have at least one child of their own over 20 generations of time. If any one of our 2 million individual family members had died prematurely—you and I would not be here today! Just pause and let that sink in for a minute. If any one of our direct ancestors had died from illness, an accident, in war, from an act of God, or for any reason before having children, we would not be here.

This sums up my case for saying it is a true miracle we are here at all. It seems to me it can only be by God’s divine, perfect planning and His grace that each of us is one of the approximate 100 billion humans who have ever lived, whom God has selected to grant us life here on planet Earth up to this time. We are each a miracle of God, despite the circumstances of sin, to be placed in this amazing and awesome but fallen world.

Each one of us is very special in God’s sight, and He does not wish to see even one of His children perish as the result of the sin which entered our world through the first human man, Adam. The first couple, Adam and Eve, spoiled for all of us a perfect earthly environment and perfect human bodies in which to live here on earth as a result of their original sin against God.

Adam and Eve were, you might say, the original Mr. & Mrs. Universe because they were uniquely created by God, in the image of God, as perfect human beings in every way. They represented the perfect couple of mankind, until they sinned against God and shattered the possibility of perfection for the rest of us in our human form. All the problems throughout human history, including our world today, stem from Adam’s original sin. This includes all the wars, corruption, depravity, killing, sicknesses, and physical death experienced by 100 billion people and counting.

Humanity was condemned by God to experience every kind of pain and suffering down through the ages, due to our sin. We should not be surprised, therefore, by our current sad situation in America and around the world. After the original sin, there has never been another perfect, fully human man or woman born.

So, if you feel down on yourself because you suffer from this or that, please do not beat yourself up. We all have felt that way at one time or another in our lives. But even though we are born sinful creatures, God still loves us and made a way for us to live with Him in our future, perfect resurrected bodies in heaven.

God the Father provided the opportunity for a blessed eternal life by means of offering His Son, Jesus Christ, as the perfect sacrificial Lamb of God, to pay the ultimate price for our redemption and righteousness in the sight of God through Jesus voluntarily suffering on a cross, shedding His blood, and dying for us, and then rising again to defeat death and pave the way for us to experience a perfect existence in heaven at the end of our physical life on earth.

However, this is only possible if you believe Jesus Christ lived, died, and lived again to blot out all our past, present, and future sins. Jesus died once for all and then rose again for the benefit of all who believe in Him. Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior today to experience perfection in heaven some fine day to come!

“And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

It’s a miracle that happens every day, when God takes a rebellious sinner like you and me, forgives our sins, grants us the promise of eternal life, lavishes us with grace and mercy, adopts us as a child of God, and seals us for eternity—all because of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection on our behalf. Praise the Lord every day for the miraculous gift of God’s salvation plan for us!

P.S.—Another miracle which could take place any day now is the Rapture of Christians from the earth, which is God’s miraculous plan to spare Christians from the coming terrible seven-year Great Tribulation time on earth, dominated by the anti-Christ. We will meet Jesus Christ in the air and miraculously be taken directly to heaven. We should all want to be part of that miracle!