Chapter 14: Superpowers (Also Known as Spiritual Gifts)
The Every Day Supernatural
When God chooses to live inside you, don’t expect things to stay ordinary.
Throughout the Bible, God sends His Spirit to fill people and equip them with abilities they didn’t have, before. The Holy Spirit falls on Oholiab and Bezelel to give them the abilities to build the Tabernacle. Saul was a coward until the Spirit fell upon him, after which he not only led a kingdom, but could also prophesy. God loves to take the natural and makes it super, gifting people with powers they didn’t have before.
While we could study this history extensively, our interest in this book is our every day experience. What can we expect from the Holy Spirit in our every day lives?
We can expect all of that and more.
When Paul writes to the churches filled with new Christians, he provides extensive instruction on how to use their newfound super-powers. They were used to the natural, so now Paul had to teach them the ways of the supernatural:
Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. (1 Corinthians 12:1-2 NIV).
Paul emphasizes how different the Christian life is to the natural life. Before, as pagans, these people worshiped mute idols. Their gods had no supernatural power. They couldn’t speak, they couldn’t fill their worshipers, they couldn’t equip their followers with spiritual powers. They were mute, dumb, dead, powerless.
But once they believed in Jesus and God’s Spirit rushed inside them, everything changed.
When God comes to live inside you, He brings His power with Him.
Paul continues:
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. (1 Corinthians 12:7-11 NIV).
So far in this book, we’ve discussed miraculous healing, prophesy, and wisdom. These are not random powers, but manifestations of God’s own Spirit, as Paul says. This is God appearing on earth through us.
In other words, when God manifests, expect His power to flow out, so that God can pursue the purposes dear to God’s own heart.
God isn’t shy in giving these powers. He wants His children to go into the world, wielding supernatural spiritual powers to encourage each other, build up the church, spread the good news of Jesus, and love the people we meet as Jesus Himself loves them.
In Paul’s case, these new Christians were so enamored with their superpowers that Paul had to spend an entire chapter reminding them that love was more important than their powers:
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. […]
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3, 8-10 NIV).
This is the difference between the natural and the supernatural, between dead religions and Christianity. Dead religions worship mute idols, unable to speak or give any power. In Christianity, the Holy Spirit of God is so generous with His power that we have to remind ourselves not to carried away.
If you believe in Jesus, but you feel like you’ve never experienced one of these spiritual gifts, I bring you good news: the same Spirit who manifests these gifts in millions of other Christians is eager to manifest them in you, as well.
Start by drawing nearer to Jesus. Abide in Him. If you want to be filled with His life and power, draw closer to Him.
As you do, ask Jesus for opportunities to use these gifts. Ask Him to highlight people in your life who could use a word of wisdom, or a prayer for healing, or a prophesy. Then take these opportunities. Step into them and let the Holy Spirit do the work.
It might seem scary. But God is with you. He wants you to use His powers to love people.
Don’t worry about being pure enough or perfect enough or faith-filled enough. Just keep drawing near to Jesus. Fill your soul with His words, pray to Him about everything, let praise to Him erupt out of your heart. It’s not about you making yourself perfect. It’s about connecting with the One who already is.
It’s Holy Spirit who is doing the work. He manifests in you, using God’s own power to express God’s heart to the people in need of it.
Don’t be afraid if your natural self seems poorly equipped for this. It is.
Thankfully, the supernatural God who lives inside of you is fully up to the task, and He will be with you every step of the way.
Step out in faith, my friends.
There’s a world full of people who need what you can bring.