(Basics) 36. Jesus Did God's Will — Zac Poonen

Jesus Christ as Our Example of Holy Living

We want to consider a little more today about how Jesus Christ is our example in living a holy life so that as a Christian your life need not be defeated by sin anymore. He made an amazing statement to his disciples on the night before he was crucified.

Jesus’ Promise About the Works Believers Will Do

He meant what he said. And if we take seriously what he said and we can't understand what he said, we will seek to understand because there must be a depth of meaning here and something important. It is in John 14 and verse 12.

He made two statements. He said, if you believe in me, and that applies to every believer then, the works that I do, he who believes in me applies to every believer. He did not specifically point out to his apostles and say, I give this power to you.

No. It is to he who believes in me. John 14, 12. Who does that apply to? Well, if you are one of those who believe in him, it applies to you. And what did he say? He who believes in me, the works that I do, shall he do also.

In other words, Jesus was saying that you, now listen carefully, you can do the works that Jesus did. Is it true or not? Well, either Jesus was telling the truth or he was telling a lie. I believe he was telling the truth.

He never told a lie. He is not teasing us. He really means it. That the works that he did, we can do. And then he said, greater works than these shall such a person do, because I go to the Father. What does this mean?

The Works Jesus Did Were Acts of Obedience

What were the works that Jesus did? We immediately think of his raising the dead and feeding the five thousand and walking on the water. Well, those were some of the works, but he did a lot of other works too, like putting his arms around a leper and comforting people who were in sin and forgiving the woman caught in adultery and forgiving those who called him Beelzebub, the prince of devils.

Those don't look so spectacular, but those are also works that he did. So what did he mean by the works that he did? Can we use one phrase to sum up all the works that he did? Yes, we can. And that was, he obeyed the will of his father.

He did the will of his father. Those are the works that he did. If his father wanted him to walk on the water, he walked on the water. If his father wanted him to put his arm around a leper, he did that.

If his father wanted him to forgive a woman caught in adultery, he did that. If his father wanted him to wash the disciples' feet, he did that. His works were works of obedience to the Father, not just miracle works.

Doing Everything Within God’s Will

And so, when he said that we can do the same works, what he meant was, we can also obey whatever is the Father's will for us. Now, if it is not the Father's will for you to raise the dead, you can't raise the dead.

That's all. Man has gone to the moon, but when Jesus was on earth, he didn't go to the moon, because it was not the Father's will for him to go to the moon. He didn't even go to Rome, leave alone the moon.

So, we find that it's not a question of accomplishment. If it is the Father's will for you to feed five thousand people with five loaves and two fishes, you can do it. The point is, what is the Father's will?

Whatever was the Father's will for Jesus, he did it. For example, for thirty years, he never fed the five thousand, or walked on the water, or raised any dead person, or even healed a sick person, because it was not the Father's will.

But he still did his Father's will during those thirty years. So, in a nutshell, we could say that the works that Jesus did were works of obedience to his heavenly Father's will. And when he says, the works that I do, you can do also, what it means is, everything, listen carefully, every single thing that is in God's will for your life can be done.

Definitely. And how did Jesus do all that? He did it through the power of the Holy Spirit. And when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, as we read in Acts chapter two, they received power to do what?

They received power to do the same works of obedience that Jesus did. That is, to do the will of the Father. And if the Father wanted them to heal the sick, they could do it. To raise the dead, they could do it.

Greater Works Through the Holy Spirit

When the Holy Spirit came and filled them, they received power to do the works that Jesus did. What does it mean when it says in John 14 ,12, that greater works than these shall he do? That's referring to leading other people into this life.

Because I go to the Father, he said. What would happen when Jesus went to the Father? He would send the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit would now be able to come and dwell in people's hearts after the day of Pentecost, and that would enable people to come into this life.

Let me give you an example. After three and a half years of preaching to the disciples, Jesus could not make even two of them one. He prayed in John 17 that they may be one as the Father and the Son are one, but they were not one.

They were all aiming for the highest seat. They were all wondering who is the greatest. Well, if twelve people are thinking who is the greatest, all twelve of them, they are certainly not one. They are divided.

But today, we find that we are able to preach in such a way that people are becoming one. And even if two people become one today, that's a greater work than Jesus did in his entire lifetime. But it's not because we are greater than Jesus.

Far from it. He said because he went to the Father, he sent the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was on earth, the Holy Spirit could not come into the hearts of those disciples. If he had come into the hearts of those disciples, then they would have become one.

But after the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has come. And so the opportunity to accomplish more, because the Holy Spirit now comes and dwells in people's hearts, is greater. And so we see that the purpose of God filling us with the Spirit is what?

So that we can do the works that Jesus did. Or in other words, the will of God. So this is the life that God offers us through the power of the Holy Spirit in this new agreement that God has made with man.

The Law Cannot Produce Inner Holiness

I want to turn you to Romans chapter 8 and verse 3 and 4, these wonderful words where it tells us what God can do for us. Now, this is intensely practical. See, I believe the whole Bible has been given to us for practical Christian living.

It's not meant for theological study primarily. It is meant for practical Christian living. What do we read in Romans 8, verse 3 and 4? What the law could not do because of the weakness of the flesh, God did.

What was it the law could not do? The law could not make me pure inside. The law could not make me overcome sin in my heart. It could only help me to overcome sin on the outside. God, how did God do this?

He sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. That means like us, but without sin. He came only in the likeness, not in our sinful flesh, but in the likeness of sinful flesh. And as an offering for sin, He gave His body on Calvary as an offering for sin and there God judged our sin in the flesh of Jesus.

We read in Romans 8, verse 3, and why did God do that? So that now that righteous requirement of the law, the law which said, Romans 7, 7, you shall not covet. The opposite of you shall not covet is you shall love.

The opposite of you shall not lust is you shall love. That righteous requirement of the law can now be fulfilled inside us. The requirement of the law of purity, holiness, can now be fulfilled inside us when we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is what Jesus has come to do for us. This is the significance of Jesus coming to earth and dying and giving us the Holy Spirit. Now God hasn't promised to make us sinlessly perfect on this earth.

Pressing On Toward Holiness Without Sinless Perfection

There's nobody on earth who has walked in sinless perfection other than Jesus Christ. Not Paul, nobody. But the Bible says we are to press on to perfection. Jesus came without sin and therefore He lived a sinlessly perfect life.

But in us there is so much of unconscious sin, corruption in our flesh that because we have lived in sin so much, throughout our lifetime on earth we will never be sinlessly perfect. In fact, John says if anyone says he has no sin in him, he's deceiving himself, he's telling a lie.

But we can press on to perfection, like it says in Hebrews 6, 1, and become more and more perfect in holiness. For example, take our speech. Jesus' speech was perfectly pure. No filthy word ever escaped His lips, no idle word, no untruthful word.

He always spoke the truth. There was no deceit in His mouth. You could not engage Jesus in useless conversation. You could not engage Jesus in discussions about evil concerning other people. No, His mind was pure.

He used material things but He didn't love them. His holiness was inward. It was not an outward holiness manifested in food and a special type of dress or associating with holy people. Neither was His holiness that of being a hermit living out like a sannyasi in the desert or the wilderness.

No, He lived in the midst of other people, working like other people, wearing the same type of dress that other people wore, and eating and drinking just like others, enjoying the good things that God has given man to enjoy, and yet in purity.

He was not self-indulgent in the matter of food. He was not fashionable in the way He wore clothes. He did not associate only with religious people. He associated with sinners. This is Jesus' holiness.

It was a life of purity, not just in avoiding sin but also avoiding anything that is unnecessary and wasteful. And there He has given us an example of what true holiness is. And I believe if we look at Jesus' life more and more, the Bible says the Holy Spirit.

This is a wonderful promise in 2 Corinthians 3. Take this in closing. Say, Lord, transform me into the likeness of Christ. Fill me with the Holy Spirit.