The Works of Christ

By Roy Loney

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     "The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me" (John 10:25). The Jews had tauntingly asked Christ to tell them plainly if he was the Christ, the Messiah of prophecy; and he had referred them to the works which he had done as proof of his Sonship with God. Nicodemus, perceiving this very fact had stated, "No man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him." On another occasion Christ had referred to the testimony of John, the Baptist, who had declared him to be "The Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world." Christ then declared that he had even greater witness than that of John, "for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me" (John 5:36).

     How great were those works which testified to his divinity! The blind were made to see, the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak. The lame walked, the palsied were healed and all manner of physical disease yielded to the healing touch of the Son of God. The raging tempests were stilled, multitudes were fed and the dead raised to life again. Nothing was beyond his power. Demons were cast out with a word and amid a storm, in the darkness of the night, he calmly walked upon the surging waves of Galilee. No wonder the people cried out in astonishment: "He bath done all things well. He maketh both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak."

     Human bodies, made loathsome with that dread disease, leprosy, were made perfectly whole again. Anyone and every-

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one who came to Christ seeking his healing touch, went away rejoicing in the full recovery of his health. Many times during the months of his Galilean ministry Christ would spend the entire day in healing the sick and all that were oppressed with devils. The sick multitude thronged him till he and the disciples had no leisure even to eat. A blind man who had been healed exclaimed, "If this man were not from God he could do nothing." In other words, they understood that these astounding works of healing were proof that Christ came from God. When he raised Lazarus from the dead, even his enemies were compelled to admit that "this man doeth many miracles" (John 11:47).

     The Jews who so intensely hated Christ, and thirsted for his blood, knew all these facts and yet they kept asking him, "Art thou the Christ?" Christ's answer was, "The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me." The apostle John declared that only a small portion of Christ's mighty deeds were recorded on the pages of inspiration, "but these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, ye might have life through his name" (John 20:30, 31). These miracles are the infallible proofs of his divinity.

     Christ's healing power was given to the apostles, and when they went forth to preach the gospel, they performed the same nature of miracles that Christ did. Multitudes came from other cities to Jerusalem bringing those that were sick and those vexed with unclean spirits, "and they were healed everyone" (Acts 5:16). Thus God bore witness that they were sent of God. However, we must not lose sight of the fact that such physical blessings which came from Christ and his apostles, were not the principle blessings he came to bestow upon mankind. Listen to Christ: "Verily I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do he shall do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father" (John 14:12). Even though the apostolic miracles were great, yet in no wise did they exceed in scope and magnitude those performed by Christ.

     What then were the greater works which Christ had promised? A clear answer to this question will not be difficult to obtain if we keep in mind the fact that Christ's primary purpose in coming into the world was to "seek and to save that which was lost." He came not to save sick bodies but lost souls! Not to save from disease, but to save from sin. He had to die before his gospel, which is the power unto salvation, could be preached. To turn men from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, is a greater work than even angels can do. The human body is unimportant except as a dwelling place for the spirit that comes from God. At death it returns to the ground from whence it came; but the spirit is deathless as far as its existence is concerned, and it is that which Christ came to save from sin. This is the work of every individual child of God.

     Raucous voices of publicity hounds advertise their "healing" services over radio and TV, and make great claims as to the number of people "healed," ignoring the fact that the greatest work of all is to lead a soul to Christ. The greatest miracle of all time is not physical but spiritual and moral, wrought not on human bodies, but in their hearts. Some of the Corinthians had been fornicators, thieves, drunkards, idolators, revilers and extortioners (1 Cor. 6:9-11) but they had been washed, sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus. The regeneration of a soul-snatching it from the foul clutches of Satan, and making it godlike in its purity, that is the greatest work of all. This is the work that will most powerfully testify of Christ as the Son of God, the Saviour and Redeemer of the world. How important that we place the proper value on things! Many complainingly ask, "Why does Christ not heal my afflictions, and restore my health?" They are like those who, while Christ was on the cross, demanded a miracle that they might believe in him. Let us get this straight! Christ can, and is anxious to, do for you something far greater than to

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heal your body. He can transform your life and make it a likeness of his own sinless life. Perhaps never in our generation, has the religious world been more interested in so-called divine healing than at the present time, and this interest reflects no credit on those who profess to love Christ. They place a greater value on the lesser, not the greater. They emphasize the temporal, not the eternal, the physical, not the spiritual.

     Some Jews once asked Christ, "What shall we do that we might work the works of God?" Christ did not tell them to heal the sick, cast out devils and feed the multitudes. His reply was simple in extreme, "This is the work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" (John 6:28, 29). To make believers in Christ, that is the greatest work of all, and nothing will do so much to make believers as a consecrated life. If Christ dwells in your heart by faith, and thus people see Christ through you, and through your righteous influence they are turned from sin unto holiness, from the power of Satan unto God, even the angels in heaven will sing anthems of praise for this great work. Christ in you, the hope of glory, is the Christ the world so greatly needs. How great are the opportunities that are ours to thus bless humanity and glorify God! If you can demonstrate to the world the power of Christ in you to transform a life of selfishness into one of consecration, in the day of judgment many will rise up and call you blessed. Let Christ's spiritual power have free course in your life, and he will work a work that will last throughout eternity.