Have you noticed:
Everything which God puts his hand to is of an eternal nature, but everything man puts his hand to is temporal?
Allow me this illustration in order to bring to clarity the difference.
Let say I build a house. I find a nice wooded area, with a variety of different kinds of trees, and purchase a parcel of land adequate for my purposes. I use the finest man made materials available, including the best vinyl siding available, the best shingles which I can purchase at the local lumber yard, and of course the best nails available. I also use wood which, though not man made, has been killed and taken from its natural state. I hire the best professional dry Waller to finish the inside walls and likewise acquire the talents of the best electricians and plumbers to finish those respective areas of my house.
I spare no expense, and make sure, to the best of my ability, that the house is built as perfectly as is possible.
Now I go to the Local Car dealer and purchase a brand new Cadillac (this could be any car, but I’ll say Cadillac because most everyone knows of that particular car).
I drive it home and park it beside my newly built house.
Now as I stand back and look at what I have built and bought, it could make me feel very contented with what I have accomplished.
However, something happens and I have to go away and leave the new car and house to fend for themselves, so to speak.
In order to fully appreciate this illustration, let us say that I could live for five hundred years.
Four hundred and fifty years come and go and I finally, in the waning years of my life find my way back to my house and car. Now looking forward to living out the rest of my years in this fine house and having this fine car to drive, I approach my property with great anticipation.
However, as I pull up the long driveway and the house comes into view, an appalling sight meets my eyes.
The beautiful house which I built many years ago, is now almost unrecognizable.
As I drive up behind the Cadillac which I had purchased so long ago, I can now clearly see that the tires are not only all flat but only barely resemble the rubber with which they were made. There is not even a hint of the true bright red color with which the car had originally been painted. In place of the beautiful red paint was solid rust which in many places had totally rusted all the way through to the interior of the car, which had not faired much better.
Looking back at the house, I was aghast at how the beautiful siding had not only cracked, lost its color, and curled up; but in most places it had actually fell to the ground and lay they in piles of rubble.
Upon trying to enter the house I found that the door knob had long ago seized, and the only way I could enter was to break in the door which took almost no effort whatsoever. As I walked over top of the fallen door with a deep sadness of heart, I realized that if I were to walk through the house I would need to do so with extreme caution, as the floors were in a rotting state with mold and fungus growing not only from it but from the drywall which had fallen from the ceiling and from the walls. Looking around the inside the house, it came to me that I seen nothing which I could in any way consider as being nice to look at.
With my house a total wreck and my Cadillac no better I went outside in a state of depression from realizing that all the work I had done here was for nothing. And even worse than for nothing, because now the entire mess would need to be cleaned up.
After going outside I began to look around, and that was when I realized, there actually was something which had improved on my property.
It was the trees and the shrubbery and the bushes. They Had all grown and increased in both size and number. They were in a word beautiful, and after looking over my house and car they seemed even more beautiful. Some of the bushes and shrubs were flowering and the gentle scent seemed to hang in the air.
The point of this little story is to acclimate us to the truth, that whatever man puts his hand to will come to naught. Not just buildings and cars, but ANYTHING which man does on his own will come to naught, that includes our own good works. But just as the trees and bushes maintained themselves because they are the work of God, so will any work which is of God be maintained by the Spirit of God.
WORKS
Hebrews 4:10, For he who is entered into His (Gods) Rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His.
Colossians 3:17, Whatsoever you do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. 23, And whatsoever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
24, Knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for you serve the Lord Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:15, And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again.
Within the understanding of these verses is an education of which the Church is in dire need.
I have heard and read of Believers who think they need to be doing things in order to be Redeemed. With some clarity these verses shed some light on the truth regarding our works.
1. If we have entered into Gods Rest, then we will have also of necessity ceased from our own works (our works could never bring about our righteousness anyway), as God did from His (the reason God ceased from His own works was that His work was finished (the world was created). This is also the reason we cease from our own works. All works which would create Righteousness were finished by Jesus Christ. Thus, that is a finished work, and we are now at rest concerning what was needed for Salvation, Righteousness, Justification, and Sanctification).
2. Believers will obviously be doing something. These things which we are doing should be done in the name of Jesus and heartily as UNTO THE LORD, and not as unto men.
3. The only works which we are to be about are works which are about our Fathers Business. In other words anytime we do or say anything we should be able to say to ourself: “I do this in the name of Jesus.”
Another way to look at it might be, “whatever I am doing or whatever I am saying, I am doing it or saying it FOR the Lord.”
If we are unsure what things we should be doing for the Lord, then we need to do some serious Bible study. A good place to start would be the 13th chapter of 1 Corintians. Also, Romans 13:8-10, Galatians 5:13-14, and 1 Peter 2:19-25.
I would be remiss if I failed to state at this point as strongly as I can,
“Any and all of these works, whatever they may be (even though we are doing them in the Name of Jesus and as unto the Lord), are not responsible for us being declared Righteous in the sight of God.” Only Jesus Christ can, not only deliver us from sin, but deliver us unto Righteousness. For the Righteousness of Christ becomes our own upon salvation.
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