Created In Christ Jesus For Good Works

How often do we consider what a gift it is that we, as believers, while living in a broken world, seemingly far from God, know exactly who we are, where we are going, and why we are here?  I don’t think I appreciate that as much or as often as I should because every day we are surrounded by friends and associates who are searching desperately for purpose and meaning, or wandering aimlessly without it.  

Consider the beautiful words of Isaiah 43, verses 1 and 7:  

“But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who 

formed you, O Israel, do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called

you by name; you are mine!…Everyone who is called by My name, and whom 

I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”

Who am I? I am a woman, lovingly formed by God, bought back when I rejected him.  He knows my name. Why am I here? I am created for His glory. 

Simply living in the beautiful world God created serves as a constant reminder of our relationship, as expressed in Psalm 8:3-5:  

 “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and 

 the stars which You ordained; what is man that You take thought of Him, 

 and the son of man that you care for him? Yet You have made him a little

 lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty!” 

So here I am, reminded of His holiness, His love, His grandeur, and the debt I owe.  I am ready to work to His glory.  Now what?  

Most of us have had, in our Christian journey, a relationship with someone new to Christ.  They are tired of the burden of sin and ready to crucify the flesh to live a new life.  But what does that new life entail?  On a normal Tuesday? At work? At home? What does a Christian do?  

Yes, we serve to His glory. To review a bit, this year, in our articles, we have addressed what we know about Jesus - we have seen His glory.  We have talked about how we feel - how we long for Him and treasure His kingdom. Now, finally, what does a true disciple of Jesus do? 

It’s a fair question - especially if your general Bible knowledge is limited at the beginning of your journey.  I think it’s a relevant question for all of us.  How do I live today to God’s glory and praise?

As always, the answer is in the Word.  Second Timothy 3:16 and 17, while telling us that all scripture is inspired by God, also lets us know it’s intended to make us complete, and to equip us for every good work. Let’s look at how Jesus prepared His disciples for the work ahead of them.

As Jesus was approaching the last few days and hours of His life, He began to prepare His chosen disciples for their future.  Soon He would be leaving them. Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed.  Jesus wanted the disciples to be assured that although He would be gone, and perilous times were coming, that He was still with them, they had work to do, and that He would return one day.

He told them three simple stories, parables, found in Matthew 24 and 25. He talks of a “faithful and sensible” servant whom the master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time.  He tells of ten virgins, five wise and five foolish, who are in place to honor the bridegroom while they wait for him to arrive at the feast.  And He talks of a master who called three servants and “entrusted his possessions to them” giving each of them a different number of talents.

In the first story, when the master returns, if he finds the household servant faithfully doing his job - it says he will bless and reward him.  The wise virgins that are prepared and ready to honor the bridegroom, enter into the wedding feast.  The servants who invested the master’s money, gaining more money for the master, are rewarded with payment of their own.  

The stories are simple, but what is the point? What do we learn? Of course, the master represents Jesus. Length of time doesn’t seem to be the issue.  In the stories of running the household and investing the money, the master is said to be gone for a long time.  In the case of the bridegroom, it’s a matter of a few hours.  

What does matter is the faithfulness and obedience of the servants and virgins ongoing over time.  The servant that mistreats his fellow servants is punished, as is the man who hid the master’s money rather than investing it.  The virgins that were too foolish to be prepared and waiting for the bridegroom without interruption were barred from the feast.

I suggest that, as we look for application in these stories, we consider the task of each of the characters.  The household servant is to care for his fellow servants.  The virgin young ladies are to be ready to honor the bridegroom. And the financial servants are to increase the master’s assets.  

Are we not taught that we are to care for one another, encourage each other, watch for the souls of our brethren, while also seeing to their physical needs?  Like the virgins, shouldn’t we be in constant worship of our Lord and praise Him in our lives without interruption from our own personal distractions?  And are we not to increase the Lord’s Kingdom by spreading the good news and looking to the harvest?

One aspect of these stories that Jesus emphasized and that I think we too often forget is the sense of urgency:  “Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour [when the Lord will return].” We don’t know if there will be years left to work or if this will be the day the Lord returns, or the day He takes us home.  But we do know that there are many lost and suffering in sin and that every day in bondage matters.  We know we have brethren who are doubting or hurting, some of whom need to be “snatched from the fire” (Jude 1:23). The church, as the “bride of Christ” should be ever watching and honoring the Bridegroom.

Reading further in Matthew 25, Jesus talks about the day of judgement.  How will He consider our works? To which of us will He say, “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”? This will be His judgment:

“For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty, 

and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in; 

naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and 

you came to Me.” Matthew 25: 34-36. 

So on any given day, any normal Tuesday, perhaps we open the day by Bible reading and  prayer.  We praise God in our hearts and with our voice.  We fulfill our responsibility to our family, to care for them and provide for them.  We offer our employer an honest and respectful day’s work. We teach our children to worship. We study to increase our own knowledge, and we begin to teach what we know. We check in on our Christian brothers and sisters and offer them what they need.  We talk to our neighbors, remember them?  They are the ones seeking for purpose. Our daily lives reflect the power and the glory and the love of God. 

Our recognition of God’s glory can cause us, like Micah, to search for grandiose ways to please Him. Consider Micah 6:6-8:

 “With what shall I come to the LORD and bow myself before the God 

 on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? 

 Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers 

 of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts; the fruit of my body

 for the sin of my soul?”

The simple response: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Who am I? What is my purpose? What should I be doing?  What an honor that God has granted us the words found in Ephesians 2:16:  “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

As the familiar hymn says, “Just a cup of cold water, in His name given…” makes me the handiwork of God.  Praise God.