Jesus did great works that
proved He was God. These miracles bore witness to His relationship with His
Father. Jesus said that those who believe in Him would do greater works than He
did (John 14:12). How is that possible?
Jesus was God who came to earth in the flesh. How can we do greater works than
He did? Jesus secured our salvation for us. He paid the debt we owed because of
our sin. The death and resurrection of Jesus makes these greater works
possible. Now, the Holy Spirit infuses us, sanctifies us and anoints us to do
these greater works.
Jesus preached to the multitudes; yet, when He died only 120 people gathered in the upper room. This was the sum total of lives that dedicated themselves to Him after His three years of ministry. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit could not come, if Jesus did not go to the Father. Therefore, when Jesus ascended into heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within the 120 Believers gathered in that upper room (Acts 2). We call this the day of Pentecost. Therefore, when Peter preached his very first sermon, 3000 people got saved from hearing that one sermon (Acts 2:41).
How did Peter do this
greater work? The Holy Spirit, which Jesus sent, gave power to Peter and the
other apostles and disciples, which anointed their ministries. Their mission
was to spread the gospel of Jesus into Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends
of the earth (Acts 1:8). God
anointed the apostles by His Spirit; and the Spirit is still touching lives in
powerful ways today. He enables Believers, who live all over the world and
throughout these last centuries of time, to do greater works.
After Jesus death, the
apostles and disciples continued doing God’s will for their lives. They did not
accomplish works greater in quality than Jesus. Jesus was speaking about the
greater quantity of work that His entire Body can accomplish with the Holy
Spirit dwelling within us. Each of us is the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1
Corinthians 6:19-20). He accomplishes
these greater works in us and through us. No human being is exalted or lifted
up higher than Christ. Instead, our works point people to Christ.
Christ is the “express image
of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3). Jesus’ death opened up the possibility that He could
dwell in the hearts of saved mankind by His Spirit. He brings us to salvation,
which was not possible before the cross. Jesus paid the penalty of our sin and
opened up the way for us to do greater works than He did. Jesus said that the
ultimate work of God is that we believe in Jesus, who was sent by God to bring
salvation to a lost and dying world (John 6:28-29).
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, there is no
greater work than what You did by laying down Your life in payment for our sins. You
opened the way of salvation to the whole world and then You went to prepare a
place for us in Heaven. You did not leave us on this earth helpless and
abandoned, but with comfort and hope. You gave us Your Spirit to teach, guide
and comfort us from within (John 16:7,13).
We have access to the Father in Your Name, because you paved the way on
Calvary’s cross (Ephesians 2:18).
Now, we can come boldly to Your throne of grace in our times of need (Hebrews
4:16).
Thought for the Day:
We do greater works by
taking the gospel of Christ to the whole world. - Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:18; 2 Timothy 1:8; 1 Peter 1:5
