Focus: God At Work

Text: Jh.5:17

"But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work."

The first words of the sacred Scripture are, "In the beginning God created…" That means that the first thing God reveals about Himself is work. God's being is known by His doing. That is to say that who God is, is known by what He does. God is a worker; He is industrious. He is intelligent and creative. He works wonders. The Lord Jesus Christ makes it clear that His Father is still working, and He is also working along with Him. He tells us, according to Luke, that He must be about His Father's business. God is forever involved with creative and redemptive works, and He works in diverse or different ways.

Interestingly, man is at the center of all that God does. God is always busy for the good of man. I see Him as God who is ever at work. Let us look at a few examples from the Bible.

I. God is at work in us

Paul writes, "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh IN us" (Eph.3:20). God's creative, redemptive and transforming power works in us. God has power to do whatever He wants to do whenever and wherever He wants to do it, and the wonder of it all is that His power is working in us. 

Interestingly too, in all that God does, He achieves His intended results. He labors not in vain. Never!

Paul writes, "For it is God which worketh IN you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Phil.2:13). The believer desires, decides and determines to do God's good pleasure only because God is already at work in him. The believer finds himself working out from himself what God is already working into him. That is divine input and human output. Paul goes on to say, "Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh IN me mightily" (Col.1:29). In Thessalonians he talks about "the word of God, which effectually worketh also IN you that believe" (1Thes.2:13). Divine energy surges in us and through us. The Word works in us. The writer of Hebrews prays for God to "make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working IN you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen" (Heb.13:21). O yes! God is at work in us, and surely, His work in us must bear fruit for all to see and benefit from.

II. God is at work with us

Paul writes, "We then, as workers together WITH him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain" (2Cor.6:1). God created man in His own image to partner with him. Man is God's co-worker. God owns all the fields of human endeavors; He is man's employer. Whatever field of work you find yourself in, God is your employer. You are working for and with God. You are God's assigned, designated and delegated worker. Paul says, "For we are labourers together WITH God…" (1Cor.3:9). After Christ's resurrection and ascension to heaven, we read that the disciples "went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working WITH them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen" (Mk.16:20). We are Christ's co-workers. We do His bidding and carry out His work.

III. God is at work through us

God is not only working with us; He is working through us. We are God's means and His medium of manifestation. He uses us to fulfill holy tasks. We are His instruments of illumination. Nicodemus says to Christ, "No man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be WITH him" (Jh.3:2). Christ was doing miracles everywhere, and Nicodemus is acknowledging the fact that those miracles are proofs of God's presence and active involvement in his life. In simple terms, he is saying that Christ does the kind of things he does because God is with him. It is impossible to do these miracles without the operative power of God's presence. 

Moses boldly and confidently says to his challengers, "Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind" (Num.16:28). Moses is only a vessel; God is doing the works through him. Men are God's mediums and means. The real doer of the works is God Himself. Luke writes, "And God wrought special miracles BY the hands of Paul" (Act.19:11). By means of Paul's hands God worked outstanding miracles. God was inside Paul, using him to showcase Himself. 

God wants to manifest Himself to others through you. He wants to use you to demonstrate His power and touch lives in tangible and visible ways.

IV. God is at work for us

In Joshua it is written, "And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done FOR Israel" (Josh.24:31). Jonathan declares that "it may be that the LORD will work FOR us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few" (1Sam.14:6). God is at work in us, with us, through us, and for us. 

God works for us because He is for us. He is our maker and owner. In Romans, Paul tells us that "the Spirit itself maketh intercession FOR US with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Rom.8:25). He repeats it in verse 27 that "he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (Rom.8:27). Then in verse 31, he says, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom.8:31). He also says in the following verse, "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up FOR US all…" (Rom.8:32). Finally in verse 34, Paul tells us about Christ "who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession FOR US" (Rom.8:34). Get the picture. The Spirit is making intercession for us. Christ Himself is also making intercessions for us in heaven. God who gave Christ up for us is indeed for us. The triune God is working for us. 

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are ever busy on our behalf. In all that God does, man is the direct beneficiary. God is our eternal benefactor.

Our God is at work. Worry not! Fret not! Be not anxious about anything! Trust God! Let God have His way with you! Let Him use you to do as He pleases, and let me assure you, you will never regret it. Be a worker under God. Cooperate and collaborate with Him. Do nothing on your own. Make your work a witness for Christ. Your God is the main and ultimate worker. Even now, your God is at work.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter