Created for Good Works

Created for Good Works. 

[this article is in process, so it is unfinished at this point. Please don’t read until completion]

“For we are His handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to accomplish good works that were planned beforehand by God, so that we could live out our lives by doing them.” (Ephesians 2:10).

“Handiwork” – (from the Greek word for “poem” or “poetry”) Each of us is a work of art composed by Creator God; a product of His artistic craftsmanship; a heavenly masterpiece designed by God and composed from His creative genius; a living example of God’s divine workmanship.

“Created in Christ Jesus” – We are all made in God’s image, which means we were all created in the image of Jesus since He is the exact image of God. So we are re-created back into His complete image when we accept Him into our lives and follow him. Being “in” Christ means we are joined in union with Him in a way in which we are hidden within Christ who is inside the Father. So being “in Christ” means we are covered by His character, we have “put on” Jesus, as we grow into Him. We are becoming people who are able to demonstrate His character, and what He did we will do; where Jesus went, we will go; who Jesus ws/is, we will become. “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went all around doing good…” (Acts 10:38). So if He went about doing good, He is enabling us through His Spirit to do the same, living a lifestyle of doing good works.

“Good Works” – Any and all good deeds originate in God and are thus authentically, intrinsically good, genuine acts of goodness because their source is God.  Good works reveal the loving character of God and point directly to His goodness. A good deed is one that is carried out so God gets the credit. A good work is one that is completes an inner desire to please God by caring for others.

Destiny – Evidently, God has already assigned which good works we are to accomplish. In His unsearchable wisdom, God has a plan for each believer, His individualized program of good works for each of us. Each believer has a pre-planned life of good deeds that are ready to go, a pre-arranged, God-ordained good life. Since this divinely arranged program is basically an avenue of obedience for us in doing His will, our job is to ask His help in discovering the street maps for those avenues, finding what good deeds that the Lord seems to have ready for us to do. We all have a destiny for good deeds, God’s individual plan for each of us. We can get a head start on discovering our destiny of good works by considering what has been historically called the Physical Works of mercy and the Spiritual Works of Mercy…

“Continue bearing each other’s heavy burdens. In this way you will be fulfilling the Torah’s true meaning, which is upheld by the Messiah Christ. Keep carrying one another’s overwhelming loads, and you will be truly obeying Christ’s Royal Law of Love. By your ongoing offer to stoop down and help shoulder one another’s crushing burdens, you will be completely submitting to the way Christ expects us to live.” (Galatians 6:2).

Works of Mercy. Both the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox have “Works of Mercy” in their Church Catechisms, both the Physical Works of Mercy and the Spiritual Works of Mercy. Since Biblical times there have been six Physical Works of Mercy expected of Christian believers, with the 7^th Work, to bury the dead, not added to the list until medieval times. So, I’ll be referring to the first, original six Physical Works and then the seven Spiritual Works.

“Truly, I say to you, as you did it to the very least of these, you did it to Me.” (Matthew 25:31-46).   

Physical Works of Mercy. These good works are outlining acts of mercy that relieve physical suffering. They are accepted as revealing love-in-action, a model for how to treat others in the name of Jesus, and tangible ways of loving your neighbor who has physical needs. These Physical Works are practical ways of making Jesus visible in your corner of the world. These merciful acts are not necessarily what is needed to be a Christian, but instead reveal if one is a Christian in the first place:

1. Feed the Hungry;
2. Give Drink to the Thirsty;
3. Clothe the Naked;
4. Give Shelter to the Homeless;
5. Visit the Sick;
6. Visit those in Prison.

The Final Judgment. This ancient list of Physical Works of Mercy is based on the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25:31-46. Jesus offers this eye-opening story as His final words before the Passion, the closing chapter in His public ministry. It appears He wanted to close His teaching ministry with a visceral punch to the gut, and He was successful in that.

Start with the Least Nearest You. Caring for others reflects the heart of God, and is grounded in the Biblical fact that all human life is sacred. There is a shared human dignity between all people, regardless of race, health, age, faith, status, station in life, the country of origin. Burden-bearing begins with those closest to us… our spouse, our children, our extended family, our church community, our neighbors in need, in that order. Any father or mother who, through a personal distance, or indifference, or overwork, or arrogant disdain, doesn’t bear the burdens of those closest to him/her in a personal and profound way, then that person is disobeying Christ. That person will not fulfill the expectations of Christ. That person does not reflect the heart of God.

The Spiritual Burdens of the Least. Burden-bearing can be applied to any excessive weight on a believer’s shoulders, including physical difficulties which call out for “Physical Acts of Mercy.” But caring for Jesus in the least of these can also apply to spiritual burdens… guilt from a particular sin; a difficult time of temptation; sorrow over spiritual failure; being overtaken by the weight of an unexpected sin or wrongdoing; the expressed need for forgiveness; a time of doubt; an obvious need for sound Christian teaching; the need for a fellow believer to be warned about the path one is traveling. Whatever this spiritual burden might be, fellow believers are expected to be aware of the spiritual well-being of others around them, whether fellow believers or not. Caring for the least may involve bearing his burden, by helping to shoulder the weight of it. Christ-followers are expected to tend to matters that are spiritual in nature, something that is weighing excessively on a brother/sister’s spirit. Bearing someone’s burden is putting God’s agape love into action for neighbors who are weighted down, including those with spiritual and emotional needs. Spiritual Acts of Mercy, parallel to the Physical Acts of Mercy, are intended to spell out a model on how to treat others in a way that makes Jesus visible.

The Spiritual Life of the Least. The traditional Spiritual Acts of Mercy listed below are works of kindness that are oriented towards a neighbor’s inner life of the spirit. They have been accepted, along with the Physical Works of Mercy, in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Both of these Works of Mercy have been popularized by what is known as Catholic Social Teaching, and are also included in Orthodox Catechisms as essential to the Faith.

1. Admonishing those who have sinned;
2. Teaching those who are untrained;
3. Counseling those who have doubts;
4. Comforting those who are sorrowful;
5. Forgiving those who have been hurtful;
6. Bearing patiently with others who wish you ill.
7. Praying for those who are living and who are dead.

Is It Okay to Be a Do-Gooder? Maybe this introductory glimpse of various New Testament saints will be convincing that it is indeed acceptable, actually preferable, to be a Christ-following do-gooder:

1. Jesus =
2. John the Baptist =
3. Paul =
4. Peter =
5. James =
6. John =
7. The Author of Hebrews =

“The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Jesus Messiah… All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a unique and vital part of it with his own place and function.” (1 Corinthians 12:12, 27).

Body (Greek, “soma”); St. Paul used this term figuratively to illustrate the organized whole of assembled Christ-followers that are more of a growing organism than a static organization; the collective group of the Christian church, both local and universal; the fellowship of believers in Jesus who are united in purpose and focus; the assembled group of those who are dedicated to Christ and thus joined together and constantly connected in God’s Oneness; just as Christ’s human body was raised to new life in His resurrection, the body of Christ in His community is animated by His life-giving Holy Spirit; just as the human body is directed by a person’s mind, the body of Christ is directed, guided and held together by the Christian body’s Head, who is Jesus; the Christian body is the church, His followers who are called out and set apart to worship and grow together into God’s image; the church body is joined together to Christ as mutually dependent members who are being renewed as individual believers as well as a community of lovers of God; the body of Christ continues to exist on earth to represent Him to the world and do what Christ did in His human body during His ministry here.

Exercise Daily. There are too many of us who are spiritually overfed. We don’t get outside and flesh out the Scripture. We need to put the Word into action, using the energy and insight that has been absorbed into our soul. Live out the Word. We cannot afford to be spiritual couch potatoes. Exercise the truth every day. Put some effort into letting the Word form your character and integrity and life purpose. Let the Bible affect your outlook on your life, your meaning for existence. Internalize the Word through spiritual digestion, and then externalize the Word by putting it into practice. We need to be doers of the Word, and not readers or hearers only. Maybe it’s time to turn off the religious podcast and love your neighbor. Perhaps we should file away those sermons and put the Scripture to good use. Instead of picking up another Christian self-help book, maybe we should put that book on the shelf and follow the light we’ve been shown. Christians are always in danger of being overfed and under exercised. Spiritual obesity only comes to those believers who gorge themselves on Christian input without practicing the truth that was just digested. Let the spiritual nutrition give you the energy to love the Word and live into the Word.

Christ Has No Body Now But Yours (featuring Josh Garrels)

Christ Has No Body (a prayer written by St. Teresa of Avila, a Carmelite nun born in Spain,1515-1582; the music was composed by David Ogden in 2002).

“Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”