Wednesday – September 21, 2016
Greetings from The Three Minute Word publication and may Grace and peace be multiplied to you as you grow in the knowledge of Him. Let us now return to our text.
Ephesians 1:11-12 (KJV)
11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
As I have been discussing our inheritance, the purposes of God and the will of God there has been the idea of our capabilities woven into the conversation. There are some who believe that our capabilities are inferior to those of Jesus in the earth. In reality just the opposite is the Truth. Remember that Jesus said we should do the things that He did and that we were to do greater things as well?
John 14:12 (KJV)
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
Jesus explained to us how He did the works He did and how those works were done. He only said what the Father said, He only did what He saw the Father do, and He was careful to say that the Father did the works (John 5:19, 8:28-29, 8:38, 14:10). So Jesus was the vessel or person of authority in the earth through which the power of God could flow in alignment with the purposes and will of God. The purposes and will of God however will not flow contrary to the will of the people. That is why everyone in the Kingdom of God is not rich, healed, and whole in every other way even though that is the purpose and will of God. Okay, so what about the greater works? Remember when Jesus was at the beginning of His ministry and He quoted from the first two verses of Isaiah sixty-one.
Isaiah 61:1-2 (KJV)
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
Luke 4:18-20 (KJV)
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
What about “and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;” and even the rest of Isaiah chapter sixty-one? That was not what Jesus was in the earth to accomplish. He was in the earth to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). So to get some insight to the greater works let’s look at the rest of Isaiah sixty-one.
Isaiah 61:1-11 (KJV)
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
4 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.
5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.
7 For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.
8 For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed.
10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
Think about the items delineated in the preceding passage and the original mandate of God for His people from Genesis chapters one and two. God (Elohim) never intended there would be wastes and desolations to repair or strangers who would be our servants. In Christ Jesus we have the double portion, we are priests unto God for those around us, we are kings in the earth, we have an everlasting covenant, the world is to see that we the sons of God are the giants in the land, and as a result righteousness and praise will spring forth before all the nations. Oh, what a God is our Father, our Savior, and our Power.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
