Recently I updated the Media Page on this blog to include the first in a series of video messages on the Kingdom of God, by Dr. Gordon Fee. As of the date of this post, I only have one video uploaded, but the others will follow soon.
If you are not familiar with Dr. Fee, he is an American-Canadian Christian theologian and ordained minister with the Assemblies of God. He currently serves as Professor Emeritus of New Testament Studies at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The following short video is an excerpt from one of Dr. Fee's lectures back in the 70's or 80's in which he addresses the question, "Did Jesus perform miracles because he was God?".
To my knowledge, since Dr Fee is still affiliated with the Assemblies of God, I assume he is Trinitarian with respect to his doctrine of God, although he does have some disagreement with article 7 of the Assemblies of God Statement of Fundamental Truths regarding the traditional understanding of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
That said, Dr. Fee's teaching on the Kingdom of God, as well as the power that drove Jesus miracles, are right on point. Christian pastors and church goers would do well to take a lesson from Dr. Fee, and the Bible on these two important topics. Consider the following few verses...
"There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord." -- Isaiah 11:1-3
"And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." -- Luke 4:17-21
"For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he (God) gives the Spirit without measure." -- John 3:34
"Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." -- Acts 2:33
"...how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him." -- Acts 2:38
"The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus..." -- Acts 3:13
"Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel'." -- Mark 1:14-15
"I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose." -- Luke 4:43 (ESV - emphasis mine)Jesus was empowered by the Spirit of God to announce the coming Kingdom of God, his primary focus in ministry. And his miracles were proof, not of his Deity, but that he was the long awaited Messiah of Israel! I only wish we would hear more of this kind of preaching in our churches, and be more careful to use the language of the Bible when we speak of Jesus and the gospel!
I hope you enjoyed the video. And I encourage you to visit my Media Page for Dr. Fee's excellent video presentations on The Kingdom of God.
