Greater Works than Jesus?
You, the reader, can do greater works than Jesus.
I’m not being blasphemous, and I’m not out of my mind.
I’m quoting Jesus Himself: “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. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!” (John 14:12-14)
One big question now: how? By the Holy Spirit.
You see, when Jesus came down to earth, He was still God, but laid aside certain rights. As God, He’s omnipresent – He can be everywhere at once. As a man, He could only be at one place at one time. As God, He’s omniscient – He knows everything. But as a man, when the woman with the bleeding issue touched His robe, He asked around to find out who it was (Mark 5:30-32). As God, He’s omnipotent – all powerful. As a man, there were no recorded miracles in His early years – before His baptism in the Holy Spirit. It is by the Holy Spirit that His miracles happened.
When Jesus ascended to Heaven, we weren’t abandoned. He sent the Holy Spirit to give us the same power He had, and by His name we have His authority. This isn’t crazy talk, these are all concepts from Jesus’ mouth.
So what does this mean to us, how do we act on it? We start with why we have this power and this authority. It’s to bring God’s Kingdom down here; to bring people back to God. Jesus told us to go and make disciples, spread the Gospel, baptize those who come to Christ, cast out demons, and heal the sick. If Jesus tells you to go and do something, GO DO IT! No, you’re not going to be perfect. You’re going to be scared, and it’s going to be hard. But He knows us and our limitations, yet He still said “you will do the same works I have done, and even greater works”. So you know your mission, you have power through the Holy Spirit, and you have authority through His name. What can you, or should you, do with it? Jesus said it – spread the Gospel, make disciples, heal the sick, baptize, cast out demons.
I’ll lay it out really simple, in plain terms. Spread the Gospel means to tell others about Jesus – about their sin and need for a savior, then about how Jesus came and died to take their place, and wants to have a relationship with them. Baptism in water is not a part of salvation – make no mistake of that. But it’s a public display of the death of your old life and your rebirth in Christ – and if you won’t do that, then you would never “take up [Jesus’] cross and follow [Him]”. Make disciples means to take these new believers, and teach them more. Tell them all the aspects of their salvation – how they are forgiven, how they can be healed in their mind and body, and how they are to share what they know, making more believers. They need to be taught just like kids need to be taught in school. Casting out demons sounds scary, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s not talking about personality problems or lame stuff like that – demons are literal, real, evil, and trying to mess up lives. People are not always demon possessed – they can be influenced by demons. Paul, the author of a huge part of the New Testament, said he had a messenger of satan (a demon) tormenting him (2 Corinthians 12:7). If he had a demon trying to torment him, don’t you think they would be tormenting people who are bound by things like alcohol, drugs, pornography, greed, and other habits that lead away from God? I’m not saying demons cause people to do all their bad things. I am saying that we are in a battle, that demons are real, and can have a very real impact in people’s lives. But to cast out demons, all we literally have to do is tell them in Jesus’ name to go. Jesus’ name acts like a restraining order – we don’t have any power over demons, but Jesus has all power. Healing the sick can be just as simple – not by our power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit and in Jesus’ name. You see, everything is subject to Jesus. Jesus said when we lay hands on sick people and in faith pray for their healing, they will be healed. He didn’t say they might be healed, or could be healed, or will get slightly better – He said healed. This is something I have seen manifested – in my own wife, Courtney. How did we get that healing? We just looked at verses about Jesus healing people and verses where He said we could do the same to build up our faith, and then we commanded in Jesus’ name that she had to be healed. You know what? She was healed immediately. We won’t be healed immediately every time, but don’t doubt that it can and does happen – hold on to God’s promise.
Yes, we can do everything Jesus did. He told us that, and gave us the ability to do it. So use it to bring others to Him, and bring the living Gospel of Jesus to a dead and sick world.
The bottom line: live out Christ’s life – he passed the baton to us.
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