FAITH THAT PERFORM THE WORKS OF GOD!! The way to ascend into the supernatural faith of God (Part 3) “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (JOHN 6:28-29 NRSV). The question has been on the lips of men and women for generations: “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Every sincere follower of Jesus Christ wants to know what it takes to accomplish God’s will and to minister like Jesus did in miracles, healing, and deliverance. Jesus’ answer, then and now, leaves many confused and troubled. “This is the work of God,” He said, “that you believe in him whom he has sent” (JOHN 6:29). That seems so simple and too little: that the work of God is to be in Christ…that the work of God is to live in Christ! That you must abide in Christ to bear fruit: “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me…for without Me you can do nothing” (JOHN 15:4-5 NKJV). “And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming” (1 JOHN 2:28 NKJV). The Greek word for “abide” is spoken as a command with an ongoing emphasis of abiding; it is not fulfilled in a single act. Andrew Murray said, “The essential idea of fruit is that it is the silent natural restful produce of our inner life.” By abiding in Christ, you accept His lordship over your life and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. You live in fellowship and have spiritual union with Him. You desire Christ-likeness in word, deed, and character. And, Jesus promises, the “fruit will remain.” Faith comes from a personal relationship with God that is built on trust. This relationship in turn grows our confidence in the Word of God. This confidence gives us assurance that our faith can be put into action. Our faith, then, is based on this relationship, His presence, and the Word of God. Jesus modeled faith for us. As you read the Gospels, you see that faith is like climbing a stepladder. When you get to the top, you can take the leap of faith and soar into the supernatural faith of God. There are five steps on the ladder: 1. You must be convinced that you are in Christ, who is your source of supply. Jesus said the foundational requirement of faith is “that you believe in Him whom God has sent.” God and Jesus are one. You see the Father in Jesus’ attitudes, actions, words, deeds, and commands. In everything He said and did and was, Jesus expressed the will of God. “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). This is the foundation, the rock of faith. “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (MATTHEW 16:18-19). The kingdom of God starts with “Christ in you,” and the Christ in you and the Christ in me will have fellowship. “When I became excited about this question of the kingdom of God, it did two things for my faith,” says E. Stanley Jones in his book Running Toward the Unshakeable Kingdom. “First of all, it made my faith very personal. I was not following a system, nor a movement, an impersonality—I was following a Person. A divine Person. And so I had a personal relationship with a Person. It made my religion personal—but it also made my religion social. For I saw that embodied in this Person was an order. God’s order. It had relationships with everything that concerned man, nature, life, and destiny.” Jesus promised His disciples that after the Holy Spirit comes, “you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you” (JOHN 14:20). That is how you “perform the works of God.” “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (JOHN14:12-14). Let me illustrate this faith that Jesus is talking about. I was talking to a youth group about faith. The group was quite athletic, and I told them I would give anyone here a thousand dollars to jump over this church. They could even start by standing on a stepladder. I might have to borrow the thousand dollars, but I’d give it to anyone who would jump over the church. There were no volunteers! “Why?” I asked them. “Because your promise is meaningless! You’re asking us to do something that no one can do. No human being can jump over this church in his own strength. You would have to be Superman. Your promise is worthless.” Even though my offer was sincere, it was of no value to them because they humanly could not do it. In the same way, when you think that it all depends on you, on your strength and ability, the promises of God are meaningless and worthless. Faith is a gift and a promise from God. If it came by your performance, it would render the promise worthless. But if I am in Christ, as the Bible says, I could do what Christ could do because He is my source of supply. Just as a glove is made in the image and form of a hand, so we were made in the image and form of God to contain Him. As the purpose of the glove is to contain the hand, the purpose of man is to contain the divine image (2 PETER 1:3). You must believe that God can do the impossible and that God is in you. Jesus said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes” (MARK 9:23 NKJV). God’s possibilities are yours! God is only limited by your faith. This is the foundational first step of faith. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (PHILIPPIANS 4:13 NKJV). “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Paul gives us the secret: “the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints…which is Christ in you, the hope of glory…. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me” (Colossians 1:26-29). Abraham, the man of faith, was “fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised” (ROMANS 4:21). God’s Word makes it clear that He is the supply source (DEUTERONOMY 8:18; ISAIAH 48:17). He may use other sources, such as your job or other people, but they are simply His instruments; He is still the source. “Every good and perfect gift is from above” (JAMES 1:17) It is easy to trust God with the things that are completely out of our hands, like our eternal destiny. But it is much harder to trust God with things that we have deceived ourselves into believing we have control over: our children, our careers, our money, our health, and our relationships. But with God as our source, “The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all” (PSALMS 103:19). God is sovereign; His dominion is over all in the heavens—the spiritual, over angels and demons. On earth He rules over nature, all governments and authority, and you. Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar, “Your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules” (Daniel 4:26). God rules over all! Because He rules, He will keep His Word and nothing can stop the completion of His Word (ROMANS 11:36). Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” (MATTHEW 28:18-19). God had commissioned Jesus and gave Him authority; now Jesus is commissioning you and giving you His authority (JOHN 17:18). Jesus again confirms this: “I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are—I in them and you in me, all being perfected into one. Then the world will know that you sent me and will understand that you love them as much as you love me” (JOHN 17:22-23 NLT). The “glory” is a promise to believers. By completing His mission Jesus revealed the Father (JOHN 17:4-6). He revealed and modeled the splendor and the character of God—God’s glory. Now God’s glory can become personally known and we can pass on what we have received to others—the glory of who God is, the great “I AM.” He establishes the relationship; we can be in Christ.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Aug 2013 20:43:16 +0000
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