What Shall We Do To Work the Works of God?

Many Christians are focused on the gifts. They are encouraged to find out what their gift is. Then to exercise the gift. In one sense there is nothing wrong with this. But is this what the Lord desires of us?

When we received the Lord Jesus initially and were born again He came into the deep part of our being, our spirit, as life. "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whoever believes in Him should have eternal life." (John 3:16) What we received was eternal life. Now that life in us is Christ Himself. Paul wrote in Col. 2:4, ""When Christ, who is our life, is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory."

It is not God's intention that we should be occupied with our gifts. It is His intention that we be occupied with His son. Since Christ is our life, shouldn't we care more for knowing that life within us rather than considering and worrying about what gift we have? If we cooperate with the life within, whatever gift we have will spontaneously be forthcoming.

What if you have been on a long trip away from your home. Then upon coming home you brought some gifts for your loved one. When you arrived you gave them the gifts. What if they then were so taken with the gifts that they paid no attention to you. Isn't this the case of many of us? Are we so in love with the gifts that they ignore the very One who gave them to us in the first place.

By the time the book of Revelation was written the glorious church that had come into being on the day of Pentecost had fallen away from reality and was becoming a dead religion. The presence and power of the Lord that was with the church had diminished and the church had fallen from being an organism of Christ as the head with His body to a man-developed religion.

So the Lord gave John the Revelation of Jesus Christ. In Revelation chapter 2 the Lord says to the church in Ephesus that He recognizes all the excercise of their gifts. They did many things and no doubt worked hard. But the Lord was not happy with them. Why? He was against them because they had left their first love.

But interestingly enough, He didn't tell them to love Him. What He told them to do was to go back and do the first works. At first glance this seems a little strange when He had just told them that it wasn't works that He was after but their love. So what did He mean?

Let's look back a John's gospel to see what the Lord Jesus has to say about works there. According to John 6:28 the crowd asked Jesus, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." John defines the word "believe" in chapter one verse twelve. He says that believe is to receive.

What the Lord is instructing the church in Ephesus to do is to go back to their beginnings. Jesus wants them to focus on Him and to continually receive Him. To look to Him, enjoy Him and be continually filled with Him. He is the content, energy and riches of our Christian life. God has nothing more to give us. Christ is everything. By experiencing Him we receive everything that we need to live the Christian life. Within this Christ-life is the love of God by which we love Him and others.

I John says that we love Him because He loved us. When His love flows into us by our being filled in spirit, that love reflects back to Him. It is with the love of God we love Him and others.

Day by day we take Him in as our food and drink. (John 6 and 7) Then that life will operate within us and the love that He requires will be supplied to us with which we love Him.