The curse of work turned into the blessing of divine works. John 14:12; Gen 3:17-19; 1 Co 15:45

John 14:10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.

 

John 14:11 "Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; otherwise believe on account of the works themselves.

 

John 14:12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [the preposition “eis” shows us that this is not for salvation but post salvation faith in His word], the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father.

 

This seems to state that every believer will produce many works of divine good. However, the belief mentioned is not faith for salvation, but faith in the truth of doctrine after salvation. This is why we go back to the original language.

 

/ “in” - eij[eis] = preposition of direction - into, to, or toward. “Believe towards Me,” - divine good works are a result of PVTowardD and will not be accomplished by negative believers.\

 

The reference is to the production of divine good by the believer in the Church-age who is positive towards the mind of Christ. What is divine good?

 

Before we answer that we must first, let’s look at the word itself.

 

Again: John 14:12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [PV towards My word], the works that I do shall he do also

 

We will establish why they are greater after we define the works themselves.

 

/ “works” - ergon[ergon] = any product, act, deed, or thing done. This applies to what we think, say, or do.\

 

In contrast to the work of the last Adam, to the first Adam, work was a curse.

 

/The first man is called the first Adam. The Lord Jesus Christ is called the Last Adam.\

 

The difference between the divine good work of the last Adam and the cursed work of the first Adam is the independence chosen by the first Adam.

 

When the last Adam worked it was good and when it was finished He rested because all the work was complete.

 

GEN 1:31 And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

 

GEN 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts.

 

GEN 2:2 And by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

 

GEN 2:3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

 

It is the Lord Jesus Christ that is working.

 

/John 1:3

All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. \

 

/COL 1:16

For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities —  all things have been created by Him and for Him.\

 

/At the fall, the first Adam became independent from God, acquiring a sin nature from original sin. Love from God turned to Justice. The man had to work without God.\

 

GEN 3:17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it';

Cursed is the ground because of you;

In toil you shall eat of it

All the days of your life.

 

GEN 3:18 "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;

And you shall eat the plants of the field;

 

GEN 3:19 By the sweat of your face

You shall eat bread,

Till you return to the ground,

Because from it you were taken;

For you are dust,

And to dust you shall return."

 

Yet God did not assent to leaving this as the status quo. He, unbelievably to the watching angels, revealed His plan to bring fallen man into purity, sanctification, redemption, justification, and fellowship again by Himself becoming the payment for sin. After resting on the seventh day, the Lord got to work again to save us. His final work was the cross.

 

GEN 3:21 And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

 

It is interesting to note in Genesis that the first act of creation is light.

 

GEN 1:3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.

 

One would naturally conclude that this is the sun, moon, and stars, but God doesn’t create those until the fourth day.

 

GEN 1:16 And God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.

 

The first light is the humanity of TLJC, making Him the unique one of the universe and the celebrity of the universe. Therefore, He is the first work and at the cross, the last work.

 

/John 19:30

When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit. \

 

The title alpha and omega depict His deity in possessing eternal life, but it also reveals Him as the beginning and the end of God’s work in the Angelic Conflict.

 

So God’s work was glory, then the angels fell and their work became a curse. God’s work was glory and then man fell and his work became a curse. God then worked again, and the curse was turned into a blessing.

/It is the sacrificial work of the cross, which is a result of the love of Christ and the Justice of the Father, that all good work is based, which is now glory again.\

 

So then, the work curse was reversed by Jesus Christ, the Last Adam.

 

/1 Cor 15:45

So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. \

 

/ “living soul” - dichotomous [body and soul only] The spirit was lost. “life giving spirit - trichotomous [body, soul, and spirit]. The spirit is restored.\

 

What once was lost has now been found. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that delivered a wretch like me.

 

Our recovered spirit, which makes us brand new creatures in Christ, is vital in the metabolization process by which our hearts can now be filled with epignosis doctrine by which divine good works are accomplished.

 

[slide: soul/heart/spirit]

 

This is supernatural. It goes way beyond a bunch a nice people doing nice things for others, which is nothing more than human morality that any unbeliever can do.

The issue in the CWL is the glorification of Christ and not the glorification of the creature. Human good glorifies the creature and it is only God that can see the difference between the human and divine. With God’s word metabolized in your heart, you will also be able to discern between them.

 

Without doctrine under the filling of the HS the heart still functions, but in a much different way.

 

/A lack of doctrine creates a vacuum in the soul that sucks in false doctrines and human viewpoint eventually creating a buildup of scar tissue or garbage.\

 

[slide: soul with scar tissue]

 

Therefore, for the believer, the soul becomes the new battlefield in the AC. This is why in the intensified stage of the AC the battles are invisible and the heroes as well as the losers are just as invisible.

 

We have been restored to a perfect position, and in the church, being in union with Christ through the baptism of the HS, we are far above the perfection that the first Adam enjoyed in the Garden.

 

Turn to ROM 5:15 and notice the number of contrasts that the HS gives between the first and last Adam.

 

ROM 5:15 But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died [born physically alive, but spiritually dead], much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.

 

ROM 5:16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.

 

ROM 5:17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

 

ROM 5:18 So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.

 

Justification of life is justification in this life. This means that the day of salvation is now and not in eternity.

 

ROM 5:19 For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.

 

ROM 5:20 And the Law came in that the transgression might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,

 

ROM 5:21 that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

/Therefore, work independent from God is a curse whereas the work of God in union with the positive volition of the new creature is glory.\

 

Through the final work of Christ on the cross the first Adam has been crucified and buried. The wages of the sin nature is spiritual death and Christ accomplished that death on our behalf - as a substitute for us.

 

Therefore, now, through faith for salvation and continued faith in His word we can perform works that are glory under the riches of His grace and are no longer a curse.

 

This is why two works, which on the surface seem identical, are not at all the same. Divine good, which is work from God through the volition of the believer, glorifies God. Human good is work from the creature without God which attempts to bring glory to the creature, but remember, the creature is fallen from God.

 

It is always good to recall the principle that spiritual growth and resultant divine good production does not mean a life without problems or adversities, in fact the truth is pretty much the opposite.

 

/The production of divine good in the believer does not guarantee a life without adversity, in fact, undeserved suffering may well be right around the corner, ECC 8:14.\

 

Eccl 8:14 There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked. On the other hand, there are evil men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I say that this too is futility.