Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

John 1:3

Words change. The history of Christianity has changed and added many words in English. A famous example is the word talent; what was once a unit of currency and weight now refers to a skill or ability, all thanks to a parable of Jesus. Supernatural is a word that has a complex history of change. Struggling with the ideas of the Hellenistic world around them, Middle-Ages Christians’ idea of God’s work in the world was shifted from one in which the Creator dwells within his Creation to one in which he intervenes. The world and God were divided into the natural and the supernatural. The former perspective is what Scripture shows: the supernatural is not a division of the Divine and the mortal, but a mingling. God doesn’t need to visit, he lives here too. The “super” does not merely refer to that which is outside of nature. It speaks to the sublime coexistence we enjoy with Him on top of, covering over the natural and flowing within it. Let’s not wait on miracles to see God at work, but trust in his work in the supernaturally ordinary blessings we have day to day.

Ethan Kirl

Originally published March 24, 2020