John 14:12-14 NLT
[12] “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. [13] You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. [14] Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!
When Jesus was arrested beaten beyond what we can imagine and after that He died on the cross with all the consequences of sin in his body.
When He drank the cup in the garden of getsemany He went through all the pain caused by sin in this world. Sins committed in the past and the present and the future He drank them all when he accepted the cup of suffering. He became sin for us (2 Corinth. 5:21). In Isaiah 52:14 we read that Jesus was completely disfigured. He was hardly recognisable as a man. This speaks so deeply about the severe impact sin has in our lives. It was in the image of God that we were created, but because of sin this image is unrecognisable. I have heard and seen many times that appearances of people changed when they gave their life to God. The reason behind this is that when Jesus died and rose again, he made it possible for us to come into this renewed life. When Jesus became unrecognisable, He did this so that you and I could become recognisable to the Father again. In Christ we are restored to the image that God had in mind when we were created, not corrupted by sin anymore!! The apostle Paul speaks about being clothed in Christ in Galatians 3:27. Like when I put on clothes in the morning my body is covered, when I am clothed in Christ my being is covered in Him. My flaws of the past, that are forgiven in Him, are not visible anymore I am a new person! Restored, recreated, renewed, a new nature.
What does that new nature mean, what will I see different in my day to day life? I think I starts with stepping out in faith because this new life given to us is initiated by faith and sustained by faith. When we start living this faith life, we need to understand that our former way of living is not a part of us anymore. Because now we are living through Christ, through faith. We used to live through the flesh. You can see that our way of thinking needs to change, our minds need to learn to think from a heavenly perspective. This is what apostle Paul says in Romans 12:2 let your minds be renewed. This means that our minds need to start thinking from a heavenly perspective. This heavenly perspective is seen in the way Jesus lived and in the way the apostles lived as well after Holy Spirit was poured out. It is found in the word of God (the bible), and in the rhema word of God (the ongoing spoken word). Do you remember the bible verse I started with? I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. I love this verse and I am not a sensation seeker. You know what the most exciting thing is I ever experienced, no matter how often I have seen this? It is seeing a person laying their life down and accepting Jesus as their Lord. For me, this beats all the signs and wonders.
Jesus is expecting us to live our lives like He did ….. will do the same works I have done,…………., because I am going to be with the Father. I really would settle for doing the things He did, I dream of these days! But Jesus puts it even further we will do greater works. It baffles me to think about this, greater works than Jesus. What does He mean with that? How is that possible? I will continue to write about this. Next Wednesday I will post a new blog continuing about this subject.
But for now, I would like to activate you into this new life! And I would like to finish with praying for you. If you want to be activated in the new nature life in doing the things Jesus did, then I want to invite you to pray with me.
Father, I thank you for the sacrifice of Jesus for the world and for my life. I thank you that in Him I am a new creation.
Thank you, Father that your Son became unrecognizable so that I can be recognized again. I am recognized as your child!
I ask for a fresh outpouring of Holy Spirit on my life. I realize that I can not do anything without you.
Renew my mind, I give you permission to change my thinking into alignment with you.
Show me the moments where I can show you to people around me and where I can do the works of Jesus.
Lord I love you with all that is within me.
Amen