When We Work with God

GOLDEN TEXT: “For we are laborers together with God”—I Corinthians 3:9

WHAT wondrous grace the Creator of the universe has bestowed upon us that we should be granted the privilege of being co-workers with him! He granted the Logos this high honor in connection with the creation of the universe. This was a genuine partnership, so much so that the Creator addressed his Son familiarly, saying, “Let US make man in our image.” (Gen. 1:26) That was a high honor indeed, yet God has invited us, through his Word, to work with him in bringing forth a new creation, and not only a new creation, but the highest of all creations, involving the exaltation of the church to the divine nature. With this work completed, there will follow the recreation of the entire adamic race to human life, the restoration of that which was lost.

II CORINTHIANS 5:20; 6:10—The present work assigned to Christians as co-laborers with God is that of serving as “ambassadors for Christ,” that is, we represent Christ in the work he is doing in conjunction with the Father. In verses 18 and 19 of this chapter Paul explains the work of God and of Christ, saying that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself; and that he has made us ministers of reconciliation. The work of God, then, is a work of reconciliation. He is carrying out this divine purpose through Christ, and we represent Christ, and this makes us, as Paul shows, “ministers of reconciliation.”

And it is important to notice that it is the “world” that God is reconciling to himself, not merely the church. We know from the divine plan that not many of the world will be reconciled during the present Gospel age, but inasmuch as it is for this great future work that we are now being prepared, God wants us to be interested in the world now, even as he is interested, and has already shown his interest by sending his beloved Son to die for the people. We are not properly qualified for the future work of the kingdom unless we are willing now to lay down our lives in the service of others, a service that will bring them nearer to God by telling them of his great love for them.

Paul admonishes us not to receive the grace of God “in vain.” The grace of God which through Christ justifies us and makes us acceptable as co-laborers in the divine plan, should be esteemed very highly, and we should endeavor to prove worthy of it by faithfulness in the privileges given to us as ambassadors for Christ. This privilege of sacrifice in God’s service is limited to the present age—“Now is the acceptable time,” the apostle writes, and now is the day of this great salvation. If we appreciate the wonderful grace bestowed upon us, and prove faithful in sacrifice, the still more wonderful opportunities of engaging in the future work of reconciliation will be ours in the future, as the prophet shows. Compare Isaiah 49:8-12.

After we have been called into this blessed ministry and have accepted the invitation by presenting ourselves in full consecration to the Lord, it is essential that we be tested and trained. We are to work as God wants us to work, and in harmony with the high standards of righteousness set forth in his Word: We are to strive in all things to approve ourselves before God as his ministers, and it will be by so doing that the ministry will not be blamed.

Paul lists the many things to which attention should be given in order that the ministry be not blamed. We are to be patient, willing to endure afflictions and commending ourselves as ministers of God whether in need or suffering distresses. We are to be faithful “in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings”—that the ministry be not blamed.

We are to be pure, and to attain a correct knowledge of the truth—that the ministry be not blamed. We are to be long-suffering and kind; and to be emptied of self and filled with the Holy Spirit, manifesting love in word and in deed—that the ministry be not blamed. If the ministry is not to be blamed it is necessary to minister the Word of truth, not the whims and speculations of men, either our own or others.

The power of the ministry is to be the power of God through the Gospel—it is “the power of God unto salvation.” (Rom. 1:16) The ministry will be blamed if we resort to the power of wealth, or influence, or numbers, or oratory. And we need to have on the “whole armor of God”—“on the right hand and on the left”—that the ministry be not blamed. It is those who are engaged in the “good fight of faith,” contending earnestly therefore, who need God’s armor of truth. An armor is not needed for a life that is sheltered and at ease.

If we are zealously engaged in an approved ministry of the truth there will be “honor and dishonor, … evil report and good report,” and we will be looked upon as deceivers, yet we will be true—true to our God and to the ministry to which he has called us. Gladly will we lay down our lives in this service—dying with the Master, yet we live by faith in him, and in the resurrection will share the divine, nature with him. Then, together with Christ, it will be our happy privilege of “making many rich” with eternal life.

But that blessed future privilege of scattering blessings will be ours only if, like Jesus, we make ourselves “poor” in this life by sacrificing all in his service. Jesus, who was “rich,” for our sakes became poor, and through his poverty we have been made rich; and now it is our privilege to follow in his steps, inspired with the hope of living and reigning with him.

QUESTIONS:

In what sense are Christians co-workers with God?

How may we receive the grace of God in vain?

How can we approve ourselves as ministers of God?

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