Christ’s Work Plan Was a Gift in Himself
So that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:7–10 ESV Read More
There are many times in the Gospels when Jesus is teaching all kinds of things that seem confusing until you look at what He is doing while He is teaching. Jesus is always presenting a Show & Tell Gospel. As He teaches the disciples about loving their enemies, He heals many who would despise Him later. As He teaches them that He obeys the Father no matter what, He sets His face toward Jerusalem.
Every activity or characteristic that Paul commands or describes about a Christian is a bazillion times truer for Christ. Jesus talks about doing only what He saw the Father doing and only speaking what He heard the Father saying. Just as we were all created to do good works for God, Christ’s purpose was to do works prepared in advance by God. The gift of God was all at once the gift of Himself to those that were His own by the power He Himself supplied. In Revelation it says He is the Lamb that was Slain before the foundations of the world. Good Friday was not a surprise to Him, it was the work that was prepared beforehand so that Christ could walk into it.
It’s one thing to look at CityServe and see good works that God has prepared in advance for us, but it’s another to walk in things that are less exciting. Showing mercy to a drug-addicted daughter, not retaliating against someone that has betrayed us, and releasing bitterness we held towards a failure of a man are all works that God has also prepared for us too. God has prepared us, in advance, to walk in Christ through the bad things that happen in this world. Jesus directly prepared the disciples for His crucifixion by telling them. He prepares us by surrounding us with people to tell us about His goodness and faithfulness. He has put His Holy Spirit in us to speak to us when we can’t hear anyone else.
Good Friday was awful. No measure of suffering has ever happened before nor will ever come again. Thank the Lord today that when He had the chance, He did not boast, but submitted to the will of God. He did not even go to the cross, endure it, and rise again as a result of His own works, but by the grace and power of God. How perfect it is that the greatest act of all time is not even a boast, but also a gift from God!
On this Holy weekend, praise God for the gift of obedience that He displayed in Christ — something Adam, Moses, David, Daniel, nor any of the prophets could ever accomplish for us. Jesus had a love for us that none of those guys could fathom. He considered us worth it, because the Father said it was so, and submitted Himself to the punishment of our sin to prove it.
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