Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends on this Thursday,
Have you noticed that most men find their identity wrapped up in what they DO, usually their profession? Listen in when men are introducing their friends to each other and almost always their name is followed by what they DO. Talk to a man who is newly retired and you’ll find that man will often still identify himself by what he did before retirement. Did you know that fairly quickly Jesus became known by what He did? Jesus became known as a Teacher and a miracle worker.
Yesterday, we watched as Jesus healed a man who’d been a cripple 38 years. (John 5:1-13) John tells us what happened next and I find it fascinating that Jesus was being pressed to explain His true identity, and like most men it was linked to what He did! John writes in John 5:16 “So because Jesus was DOING these miracles on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute Him. In His defense Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I too am working.’ For this reason, they tried all the more to kill Jesus; not only was He breaking the Sabbath [by His miracles] but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.” (John 5:16-18)
Now that really fascinates me, what about you, my friends? Do you think of God as a busy God, always at work? Doing what? What does God do every day that would qualify as “work” and how does it relate to you and me and what we do for ‘work’? And when Jesus said, ‘I too am working’ what was Jesus talking about? John writes in John 5:19 that Jesus added one more statement that day which helps clarify this idea of God working: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees the Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son does also.”
Now that’s really interesting! We’ve seen many sons working in businesses with their Dads. My Dad was in the home building business with his Dad for several years. There can be great fulfillment for both father and son when they work together, isn’t that true? So what work is Jesus talking about here, that both Jesus and His Father, Almighty God are doing as they ‘work’ together?
First, did you know God is daily, hourly, moment by moment sustaining the vast universe which He created?
Now think about that. What images come to your mind of galaxies far, far out beyond what even the most sophisticated telescopes can see? Billions and billions of stars, planets and even celestial ‘black holes’! Colossians 1:16,17 declare that God created all things, visible and invisible and “in Him all things hold together.” God is sustaining all that He created! That’s work!!
Second, God is creating life constantly.
Psalm 139 reminds us that we are each “fearfully and wonderfully made” and from the moment of miraculous conception, until birth, God is very busy every second shaping and forming each new life in its mother’s womb! By the way, with more than 250,000 babies born each day around the world, how many women are pregnant right now, with God doing His miraculous life sustaining, body shaping work in each of them? Oh my God is busy!
But wait, thirdly, we know resurrected Jesus is at the right hand of God the Father interceding for humanity both collectively and individually. (Heb. 1:3; Romans 8:34)
Now think about how busy God is sustaining the lives of 8.5 billion human beings, for none of us keeps our heart beating or our lungs breathing; and then Jesus is speaking to God the Father about all that is going on in our busy lives!
But wait, fourthly and perhaps one of the most important things Jesus is doing in found in Hebrews 7:24,25 “…because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore, Jesus is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because Jesus always lives to intercede for them.”
Oh my, that means Jesus is every moment of every day accomplishing Redemption, the rescue of sinful people from their sin bondage and sin condemnation, as they repent of their sin. Current statistics tell us about 100,000 people, every 24 hours, are turning to Jesus Christ for their salvation, all around the world! and that means Jesus is saving each one of them from the grasp of the dark kingdom in their lives!
Oh wait, I have one more! Actually, I have several more, but here’s one. Jesus is the Head of His redeemed people worldwide.
Jesus is King of the Kingdom of God and therefore God the Father and Jesus are apparently continually talking about what God wants accomplished in this world for His glory! And how the Son, Jesus, is going to accomplish God’s desire THROUGH the church, the people of Jesus everywhere in the world. And of course, Jesus will engage the Holy Spirit who lives INSIDE each genuine follower of Jesus, to help each Christian discern their part in accomplishing God’s purposes in our world today!! Oh my!!
Now pause and think about that my friends. Have you had this idea that God is somewhere far, far out there in space doing nothing? Oh, there is so much more I could share about how busy God is and all He’s doing, but for now I wonder if we’ve seen enough today that we need to pause and praise?
We need to praise God the Father for His sovereignty over all things and His plans for our world. We need to praise Jesus, God the Son, for His sustaining power holding the universe together, creating and sustaining human life, and redeeming, rescuing sinners from their bondage! We need to thank God the Holy Spirit for His counsel and guidance of each of God’s people, including you and me; His empowerment of us, so we can accomplish God’s purposes; and His protection of us from the attacks of the dark kingdom!
As always, very important “lessons learned” notes are available at the link below and I hope you print them out and are keeping them in a folder as you pray over them. And of course, a worship song as we bow before our King in worship and I’ll be here ready to continue with you tomorrow…
