Jesus' Activities

9 April 2017

Dear Phyllis,

Recently I have been thinking about the activities of Christ. They are enormous. I have no idea how many things Jesus has done and is presently doing. It is odd that of all the things Jesus has done and is doing the Church seems to mainly center on one – dying on the Cross. Thank God, that was His main objective when He came to this earth and He successfully did that. But His present activities may be just as important. There are several, but in Hebrews 2 the Holy Spirit only mentions three. They are declaring the Name of the Father, singing the the church, and believing God (Heb. 2:11,12).

I have little understanding about declaring the Name of the Father, but I know it is important. In Jesus' final report to His Father the last thing He said was, “I have declared unto them (His own) Thy Name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them and I in them” (Jn. 17:26). This is petty basic. And Hebrews reaffirms that He presently is doing it.

When I first saw that Jesus was singing I was surprised and asked Him what, where, when, and how He was singing. I said, “Lord Jesus, I want to hear You sing.” In answer to my question, the Lord told me His singing was the song in the heart (Eph. 5:18,19). This is one of the proofs of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Music is a very basic part of spiritual life.

But I was greatly surprised when I saw Jesus' third ministry was believing God. I saw a little light on this subject when He showed me the second half of that statement was, “(I will put My trust in Him) I and the children which God has given Me”. This is the faith that Jesus puts in our heart when we get saved. Jesus is believing God and He is also believing God in us.

In thinking about this, recently it came to me that Jesus had to live by faith just as we do. We have no problem accepting that Jesus became a man, but the full extent of that condition is a subject that eludes us. Somehow we think that because Jesus was God He could do anything. We glibly say, “Oh yes, because He was God He could turn water into wine, He could feed 5,000 (plus) with next to nothing, He could raise the dead, He could command the weather, He could walk on water, He could do anything. No problem. But that dismisses the fact that He was a total man. We make Him half man and half God. I believe when Jesus came to this earth He divested Himself of His deity and did not avail to Himself any attribute that was not given in Adam. I believe when Jesus took on the devil, He stripped Himself of all the attributes of deity and faced the devil as a total man with nothing beyond what He avails to any human man. This means that Jesus had to walk by faith just as we do. And Jesus extends to us the possibility of having the same relationship with the Father as He experienced.

When I got on this subject. I asked the question, “How did Jesus walk by faith?”. If He was a man just like we are, obviously He had to trust God the same way we have to trust God. Hebrews strongly argues for this when it says, “I will put My trust in Him, I and the children which God gives me”. How did Jesus walk by faith? Ironically Jesus frequently said, “I speak to the world the things which I have heard of Him” (Jn. 8:26). And “The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do...these also doeth the Son likewise”. “I speak that which I have seen with My Father”.

Jesus lived by faith by the things He HEARD and SAW of the Father. And He clearly applies this hearing and seeing to our spiritual life also. Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice...and they follow Me (Jn. 10:27). He that is of God heareth God's Word” (Jn. 8:47). He that heareth My Word...hath everlasting life” (Jn. 5:24). Faith cometh by hearing” (Rom. 10:17). Obviously faith comes by hearing.

When the Carrol girls we little I was with Joe one day doing errands in town. Elizabeth and Anna were with us. After a while they got tired and started a chorus of “Daddy take us home”. At first Joe ignored them and then explained, “We have two more places to go then we will go home”. They weren't satisfied. While Joe was in the post office Elizabeth sorted out her problem and decided the answer was a confession of faith. She had unsuccessfully made her request, now it was time to make a confession of faith. She said to Anna, “Oh, Daddy is so wonderful. He is going to take us right straight home.” Anna gave the most brilliant reply I ever heard - “Did he say so?” “No, but I believe he will. He is the most wonderful daddy”. Joe didn't. Everything in faith depends on what God has said. You cannot put words in God's mouth and then trust God for it. If God has not said so that faith is pure presumption. Jesus walked by what He heard, and so must we. But that isn't easy as there are many deceptive voices.

I could understand a little bit about Jesus hearing the Voice of the Spirit. But seeing was a little more difficult. Then I saw something that really stunned me. Jesus said to His enemies, “I speak that which I have seen with My Father, and you do that which you have seen with your father” (Jn. 8:38). Jesus later said “You are of your father the devil” (Jn. 8:44). In speaking of seeing this suggests that His way of seeing was the same as theirs. Obviously they weren't having spiritual visions and following it, and neither was Jesus.

There is a seeing by observation. The apostles said, “We cannot but speak of the things we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). In speaking of Jesus, John the Baptist said, “Of the things He hath seen and heard He testifieth” (Jn. 3:32). John said, “That we have seen and heard declare we unto you (1 Jn. 1:3). We learn by example. Paul said to the Philippians, “The things which ye have...heard and seen in me, do...”. The problem today is that young people (old ones too) do what the see on TV. Lot vexed his soul by seeing and hearing (2 Pet. 2:8). Spiritual life is by hearing and seeing.

In 1998 I saw the desperate need of Bibles in Vietnam and other SEA countries. I knew it was the fundamental character of any true missionary to lay down their life to carry the Gospel to others. How could I stay in comfortable Japan when thousands in SEA were desperately crying to God for Bibles? I couldn't. I had to go. Jesus knew the heart of God. In His Spirit He saw the heart of God just as we see it in many instances. That moved Him and that moves us.

Oh my goodness, this subject of Jesus walking by faith is enormous. I don't believe I have ever heard anyone speak on it, but I am greatly challenged and am asking the Lord to teach me more of His life. What little I have seen blows my mind and has given me a new appreciation for the wonder and unspeakable marvel of our wonderful, wonderful, savior.

Let's give it our best shot for Jesus this coming week, bill