What Is God Working On?

As you read the bible or listen to a minister or preacher, do you ever ask yourself the question, "What is God's overall plan in all this"? Oh, we can see the individual events in history; the people God has used mightily; but, what's the overall agenda that God is working to? Is there anywhere where God says, "This is what I'm doing. This is what I'm working on"?

There was a period in Jesus' life where he performed miracles which fed thousands of people. And as a result he got a following - of people who wanted more of the same! The miracles were meant to bring them to God but what the people wanted was more ordinary food, and they would travel quite far to find Jesus hoping to get it!

Jesus said to them..
Joh 6:26-27 "Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

They got this message quite quickly and asked Jesus...
Joh 6:28 "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God"?

Joh 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, "This is the work of God, that you believe on him whom he has sent".

Here Jesus explains quite simply what work God is doing. God is calling people to "believe on" or "have faith in" Jesus Christ! That is the summation of "God's work"! God's work is to bring people to belief in Jesus Christ.

Of course belief in Jesus leads to a whole host of other thing for our benefit! Faith in Jesus leads to trust in him. Trust in him leads to our accepting his sacrifice for the remission of our sins. It leads to our acceptance of his resurrection as proof that God will give us new spiritual bodies also. It leads to us recognising that on acceptance of his death and resurection Christ gives us his Holy spirit as our guide and helper, empowering us to live lives worthy of him. It leads to our understanding that he gives us eternal life. It leads to our starting to understanding 'the grace of God' which makes our 'godly' lives possible.

All of this stems from the work God is doing! When we look at the activties of God through Paul we can see how the whole emphasis was on faith - faith in Jesus unto salvation.

Act 14:21-24 And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed. And after they had passed throughout Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.

Act 14:25-27 And when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down into Attalia: And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled. And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.

In the second letter to the Thessolonians, Paul prays that God will use them in fulfilling his work of faith...
2 The 1:11-12 Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of the calling and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

From this it can be seen that our work is to teach people about belief in Jesus Christ. To use modern terminology, "To bring people to Christ".

Jesus put it this way in Matthew's gospel, chapter 28..
Mat 28:19-20 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

So our role as Christ's disciples is to make others disciples of Jesus! A disciple is one who follows the teachings of another. In this case it's the teachings of Jesus Christ, as he espoused them during his life and as he inspired the apostles and others to write, filled with the Holy Spirit. In this way Christ gives us instruction for eternal life in the books of the New Covenant which is the covenant under which Christians live.

All in all, Christ IS the answer. Faith in Him. Trust in Him. To love Him and follow Him. To live for Him and by Him.

Paul is quite clear about what Christ showed him was his part in God's work...
1 Cor 2:2 "For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified".

If we want a part in God's work, so that Christ will say, "Well done you good and faithful servant", we need to ask him to lead us to where He is working. To enable us to do the work of making disciples. And we only do this by bringing people to understand the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for us on the cross.

As the apostle Paul said...
Gal 6:14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

We are workers in God's fields, and the fields are ripe with harvest. The harvest is all those people God is bringing to Christ. Our job is to introduce them to Him whom God has sent (Jesus Christ), so that in coming to an understanding of what he has done for them, they also can 'believe on Jesus Christ' and be saved!

Best wishes for Grace and the Peace of Jesus.

Attlee.