This morning we continue our series entitled, “Refined Focus”, with an emphasis on “Focusing on God’s Finished Work”. I trust this series is blessing you. I know it’s blessing me as I teach it. Even after teaching on God’s grace and goodness for years now, I still have to constantly remind myself that God is not looking for my performance. Religion teaches us to perform. A relationship with Jesus teaches us to rest in His love.
God does not want to bless me because I am so good. He is not looking for me to earn, work for, or deserve His divine assignment on my life. He is simply looking for me to die to self, to die to my humanity, to die to my ability to perform, and to allow Him to live through me. Like Paul, God chose me before the world began and He assigned me to a specific purpose.
With that in mind, let’s go back to what Paul said about himself as we seek to glean a few more golden nuggets from his statement. After dying to his identity as Saul of Tarsus and accepting his divine identity as the Apostle Paul, Paul said, “But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles.” (Gal 1:15,16).
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. Many believers work very hard attempting to obtain things God has already given them.
a) While the Apostle Paul was living as Saul of Tarsus it is clear that he was a driven man. He worked hard on becoming part of the religious Jewish elite. He worked hard on persecuting Christians. He worked hard on obtaining the approval of God. However, what he did not know was that Jesus had already made him approved. Jesus had already made him pleasing in God’s sight. Jesus had already provided everything he was working hard to earn, and since he was doing it with his human ability and strength, which is flawed, he spent years doing the wrong thing. He thought he was working FOR God, but he was actually working AGAINST God. It was not until he died to self that he truly began to live for Christ. And at that point, it was not about what he did, it was about what God had already planned for him to do.
b) Don’t work on gaining God’s approval. Your work will never be good enough. Jesus already provided your approval. The only way to be pleasing in God’s sight is by accepting Jesus as Lord and embracing the righteousness He died to give you.
c) You can’t work to be holy. The only way to be holy is to rest in the holiness provided by Jesus.
d) You can’t work to be righteous. The only way to be righteous is to rest in the righteousness provided by Jesus.
e) Stop trying so hard to work for things Jesus already provided. Rest in His finished work.
2. Your life will change forever the day you die to self and you learn to rest in God’s finished work.
a) When you know you are not working to attain anything in God, you are then in position to live the life of faith you are called to live. Faith believes, receives and pursues everything God has already provided by grace.
b) Don’t mistake the message of grace to mean that you don’t have to do anything. While you cannot work FOR grace, you are most-definitely called to work BY grace. The difference is that when you know you are working BY God’s grace and not by human effort, you will work harder than you ever have, but it won’t be you doing it. It will be the Father, living in you; He will give you the words and He will perform the work.
c) The Apostle Paul understood the grace of God. He knew he was not worthy to be an Apostle, but Jesus was worthy for him. He knew he worked harder than all the other Apostles, but he also knew it was not him doing the work. He said, “I worked harder than all the other apostles. But I was not really the one working. It was God’s grace working through me” (1 Cor 15:10). When you understand what Paul understood you can work and rest at the same time.
Closing Confession: Father, this is a season of refined focus for me. I bring my life into focus in 2016. There was a time in my life when I worked hard on obtaining Your approval. I worked hard on being holy. I did all I could to be righteous. But nothing I could ever do, could ever be good enough. Jesus was good enough for me. So I now rest in His finished work. I am holy, because Jesus made me holy. I am righteous, because You imputed Jesus’ righteousness on me. I now don’t work FOR grace, I work BY grace. I work harder than I ever have, but I don’t get tired, stressed, or burned-out. Because I am not the one doing the work. It is You Father, living through me. So now I am able to work and rest at the same time! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
