What Is The Work Of God?

John 6:26-29
26 Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.
27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

Many Christians have prayed this prayer, "Lord, what do You want me to do? What is my destiny? What is my calling? What have You called me to do? What works should I be doing to be rightfully doing the works of God? Lead me to the right place to do the right things to the right people at the right time."

The same question was asked by the disciples of Jesus. They had just witnessed the miracle of feeding the five thousands with five loaves of barley bread and 2 fishes. Not only were they awed by the signs and wonders, they had also eaten the loaves and were filled. In their minds, they were thinking and considering, "Working for Jesus isn't a bad idea after all. Besides having a ministry, we can also have our stomachs filled."

But Jesus told them, "Do not work for the food that perishes but work for the food that lasts for eternal life. This is the food which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has put His mark of approval on Him.”

Thus they asked Jesus, “What can we do in order to do what God wants us to do?”

Jesus answered, “What God wants you to do is to believe in the One He Sent.”

Yes, this is the work of God that we believe in Him whom God has sent!

How can the work of God be done by just believing? Isn't the work of God done by doing this and that? By starting this or that ministry? By going to this or that place? By building this or that church building? By overcoming and breaking through this and that? By becoming the head and not the tail?

The disciples of Jesus said to Him, “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 sent.”

This is the work of God. Not plural "works" but singular "work." There is one work that God desires us to do.

Believing in Jesus is the work of God! This awesome work marks this one act of continuously believing in Him, no matter how we feel or how unfavorable our circumstances and problems can be.

To believe in Jesus includes daily entrusting ourselves to His guidance and guardianship, and surrendering ourselves totally to His Lordship and will.

Believing in Jesus is the highest utmost work. Why? Because by doing so, we give and surrender ourselves completely to God. We can do nothing greater than to give ourselves fully to God.

This type of belief is not a passive or one-time deal. It is an active and consistent believing in Jesus every moment of our lives! It involves faithfulness, persistence, patience, trust and obedience as we walk with Jesus through life.

A good example of believing in God is Abraham.

Romans 4:3
For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

Romans 4:19-22
19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,
21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

Hebrews 11:8-10
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;
10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Hebrews 11:17-19
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,”
19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

The faith of Abraham was a living faith because he believed God and did what He asked him to do.

James 2:26
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Many of us have dead faith. We think we believe God. But our actions prove otherwise. We do not do what He has commanded us to do. Sometimes we camouflage our disobedience by doing and promoting religious activities and programs including fasting and praying. We think that we are doing the work of God. Our faith doesn't become alive when we do not trust and obey Him in doing what He has asked us to do. We just do our own things - things we like and things that we are comfortable with. Thus do we really believe in Him?

Matthew 15:8-9
8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

Suppose God calls us to go out to a faraway country which He has promised to give us. Somewhere but don't know where. However He promises to lead us step by step, and day by day. Will we believe God by faith and leave our own country without knowing where we are going? The promised lands on earth are only temporal. But the Promised Land we should be looking for is the City which God has designed and built, the City with permanent and eternal foundations.

Suppose we are aging and our hairs have turned white. Will our faith in God be weakened as the years have gone by? Will we abandon our faith in God as we begin to doubt the promises of God? Why still haven't fulfill? Why still have to wait? Are we absolutely sure that God is able to do what He had promised? Will our faith become alive and fill us with renewed power and fresh hope as we begin to give Him glory and praise? Will our faith be accepted as righteousness by God?

Suppose we have something or someone very dear and precious to us. If God put us through a test of obedience, will we be ready to surrender and offer our Isaacs to God? Will we pass His test?

Jesus said in John 17:4: "I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do."

What is the work that God have given Jesus to do?

John 4:34
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work."

Jesus ministered to His people, suffered, was crucified, rose again, ascended into heaven and now seated on the right hand of the Father. He obeyed God the Father and did accordingly to what God the Father had willed! Jesus did the will of the Father!

The work of God is to believe in Jesus whom God has sent to us! Eternal life proceeds from nothing else than true faith in Christ.

Jesus told His disciples not to labor for the food which perished, but for the food which endured to everlasting life. They had eaten the loaves of bread but they would go hungry again. Those physical loaves, though came through miracles, would give only temporal satisfaction. Jesus wanted them to work for something eternal. Jesus desired that they would have the Bread of Life so that they would no longer hunger or thirst anymore.

John 6:35
And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."

How do we partake this Bread of Life? By coming to Jesus and believing in Him. And we shall never hunger. And we shall never thirst. This is the work of God for He gives us the true Bread from heaven. For the Bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives everlasting life to the world. And this Bread is eternal!

May we pray, “Lord, give us this Bread always.”

May we work for this Bread that does not perish!

May we do the work of God by believing in Jesus as we walk with Him daily through the journey of life, abiding in Him, trusting and obeying Him in every matter and decision. Whatever He says, we will do it.

May we also remember to share faithfully the Bread of Life with those who have never tasted the goodness of the Lord before!

Written on: 25 September 2017