Paul also spoke of being a “bondservant” or “bondslave” to Jesus Christ. Unfortunately in our self-centered society of today with our great emphasis on “individual rights” this concept of being a “bondslave” to anybody else is totally foreign to our collective thinking. Yet this is where we must be and the attitude we must have in order to allow God to do His Work in us and through us for our “good” and for His “Glory.” In Philippians 2:5-8 The Holy Spirit spoke through the apostle Paul with this statement, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, (6) who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, (7) but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, {and} being made in the likeness of men. (8) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Before God can do His Work in us or through us we must humble ourselves before Him and become “His bondslave.” I cannot overemphasize this most important point. Until we really take on this same “attitude of humility and submission” found in Christ, all that we do is not from God but rather from our own mind – from ourselves – and these are not the “Works of God!”
We need so much to understand that the “works we do” are not to be our own works but God’s Works that He does in us and through us! I become a bit suspicious of those who speak of “working for Christ.” It is all too easy for us to be doing our own works, the works of our denomination, or even the works of our local church, and calling it “work for Christ.” This does not make it so!! The key element here is for us to “submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ” – to allow Him to truly be Lord in our lives, to allow Him to be free to do HIS WORK in us and through us!
Jesus Himself called attention to this problem of our doing our “own works” and calling them “works for Christ.” In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus states, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of my Father Who is in heaven.” (22) “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord,’ did we not prophesy in Your name and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many miracles?” (23) “And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ ” These words of Jesus are sobering indeed! Notice that He uses the word “many” to describe the number. These, “many” are deceived by the devil into thinking that what they are doing is honoring to God and it is not! In fact it is “SIN” – it is “lawlessness.” We need desperately to grasp this truth, the best “human” works are as “filthly rags” in the sight of God. Those who thought (perhaps very sincerely) they were doing “works for God” in the “name of Jesus” were (and are) wrong—deadly wrong!
Again, the key to “our doing the works of God” is for us to not do our own works but to yield ourselves – to surrender – to submit to “The Lordship of Jesus Christ” within us. This allows Him (Jesus Christ) to do His Works in us and through us! Jesus again emphasizes this important point in John 6:29 when he is asked the question, “What shall we do to do the works of God?” Jesus responds, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” Jesus was asked the question in the plural, “ works.” Jesus answered the question in the singular – just “one work” for us to do – to “believe in Jesus Christ.” This really is our work – to Believe in Jesus Christ! Everything else is “God’s Work” that He does in us and through us.
In Philippians 2:13, we read, “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” In John 14:12 Jesus stated, “Truly, Truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father.” Jesus clearly did only the works of the Father. We too, are to do only the works of the Father! Remember too, that Jesus made this statement only hours before he went to the cross. When He said, “Because I go to the Father,” He was speaking of the immediate future and He was pointing out throughout chapter 14 that He would ask The Father to send “another Comforter” – The Holy Spirit! Jesus knew that “The very Power of God” – The Holy Spirit would come to dwell in the believer and to empower us for service. For this reason, he also said in John 16:7, “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, The Helper (The Holy Spirit) shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to You.” The Holy Spirit is “The Very Power of God” within us to “manifest The Presence of GOD – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in us and through us! Consequently, whenever we are surrendered to God – yielded to The Lordship of Jesus -- following The Holy Spirit, then we are doing the “Works of God” not our own! This point is critical for us to be able to “Walk in The Spirit” and thus “do The Works of Our Father!”
Let’s examine another part of the statement Jesus made in John 14:12. Jesus said, “and greater works than these shall he do, because I go to The Father.” At first this seems like an amazing, even an impossible thing for us to do – to really “do greater works than Jesus Christ Himself.” Careful examination reveals that not only is this a true statement but it is also God’s Plan and His “Desire.” Remember, God’s Plan is to “Demonstrate His Power” – to “Manifest His Works” through us – The Church – “The Body of Christ” during this “Church Age.” The very critical point here is that it is GOD – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that is working in us and through us! In other words, it is GOD doing His Work in us and through us! We can “do greater works” now because as “Spirit” God can (and does) dwell in every believer! When we submit ourselves to God, (The Lordship of Jesus Christ) He can (and does) prepare every believer to be an instrument through which He (God) does “His Work!”
When Jesus walked on this earth, in a human body, he was limited to being in one place at any one point in time. Again, Philippians 2:5-11 explains the “limitations” that Jesus Christ took upon Himself when He became “in the likeness of men.” Carefully read verses 5-8. Jesus “emptied Himself” – He laid aside “His Glory” for a time and “took upon Himself the form of a bond-servant” being made in “the likeness of men.” Jesus “limited” Himself so that during the time he walked on this earth in the “likeness of men” He was limited in time and space to the confinement of a human body – just like you and I are limited today. This explains why Jesus said in John 16:7, “it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you.” The limitations in time and space that Jesus had accepted in the human body were no longer required when He ascended to the Father and once again He took upon Himself His Glory!” Now, (today) as “Spirit,” He can occupy every believer and at the same time be seated at the “Right Hand” of The Father in Heaven interceding for you and me! We cannot comprehend this in any rational sense for we are now “limited beings” in time and space. Yet, we accept this truth by “faith” realizing that God – Our Father is conforming us day by day to the very image of Jesus Christ. One day, perhaps soon, God will be finished His work in us and we will be “just like Christ” – “perfect in every way.” I especially love the statement made through the apostle Peter in I Peter 5:10, “And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal Glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” Also in Philippians 1:6 we read reassuring words of The Holy Spirit penned through the apostle Paul, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” And finally in Romans 8:29 we are assured of God’s principal purpose, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son…” God is about the business of making us as His children just like Jesus – perfect in every way just as Jesus is perfect! This is an astonishing truth! God, Our Father, is about the business of making you and me, as His Children, just like Jesus Christ. Yes, dear One! We shall be like Him! Praise God for His great Love, Mercy and His Wonderful Work!
So, God’s purpose is first to “work on us to make us just like Jesus” and second to “work in us and through us to demonstrate His Power and His Glory!” There is a third very important purpose God has in mind. He desires to “work in us and through us” in order to bless us! God truly wants the very best for us as His children! So much so, that we are assured in Romans 8:28 that, “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Yes, this is one of the best known and most often quoted verses in the Bible and yet, we seem to act as though it is reserved for some elite few. I and convinced that this is a promise for every child of God and it explains God’s great desire to give us His very best! If you are His Child, then you love God and you have responded to His call for you to come to Him in confession, in surrender, in acceptance of his forgiveness and in acceptance of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. In other words, you are “called of God” and “you love Him” therefore this promise is for you! God is at work in you – in your circumstances and in your situation causing all things to work together for your good! This is a statement we need to accept by “faith” since we usually cannot see how God is accomplishing this in our lives. Let’s just rest in the knowledge that God has promised to do it, that God cannot lie, and that He is always faithful to “Perform His Word!”
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Pastor J. Gilbert Hammond