We are His Workmanship, Part 4

Welcome Prayer Song Silence Sunday Schooled Principles of Perfection “We are His Workmanship” Part III January 25th 2026 So we have been talking about the Meaning of Life and surmised that to love and be loved might be a great definition and then we talked about love in the highest sense of the word being synonymous with work, labor, effort or the extension of ones own life (or packages of life like time, resources, influence meaning “energy”) to the well being of another and or the same being toward the detriment of another.” The first might be seen as good deeds and the later evil deeds. We then talked about how God, right out the gate of the biblical narrative , frankly the first book and the first passage of the book speaking of God working (creating) out of broken resources heaven and earth and then we entered into a discussion about how God works, and through what means and according to His overall intentions. I want to start out today by reading through John chapter 5 which speaks, albeit indirectly to this subject in ways that bring it even closer to home. Let’s begin at verse 1 John 5:1 After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Yeshua went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. By the way, this entire verse is lacking in the oldest and best manuscripts like Aleph B C D W 33 Old Syriac, Coptic versions, Latin Vulgate. It is undoubtedly added, like the clause in verse Joh 5:3, to make clearer the statement in verse Joh 5:7. Tertullian is the earliest writer to mention it. Apparently the Jews explained the healing virtues of the intermittent spring through the ministry of angels. 5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. We have other stories like the woman with the issue of blood for twelve years – with all of them typifying suffering, right? 6 When Yeshua saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? That is akin to asking him, would you like to get healthy from the Greek. How about that for a question? From God with us? 7 The impotent man answered him, “Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.” In this story all Yeshua does is ask if the man would like to be made healthy and from the mans response it seems like he though Yeshua was referring to helping him get into the water first. Then verse 8 8 Yeshua saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. 9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath. This theme of making things healthy, better, renewed and alive is repeated over and over and over again in the scripture through models of repentance, restoration, healings and actually raising dead elements back to life. We have stories of loss then restoration like in Job. The prodigal son being restored to his former ways once he came to himself, Peter’s denial only to be forgiven, evil done to Joseph by brothers intending evil but God using it for good, Naomi returning to Bethlehem embittered after loss but Ruth’s loyalty and Boaz kindness leading to new life, of course there is Israel going into Egyptian bondage, being emancipated, returning to bondage then being promised a redeemer. There are repeated stories and tales of new beginnings, exodus from the former and entrance into the new, and then there are literal stories of actual healings like Naaman the Leper in 2nd Kings, Elijah raising a widows dead son back to life, and King Hezekiah being granted 15 years more of living after praying to be healed. In most of the healing stories of the Apostolic Record, faith is mentioned as the operative force that brought about new life – From the woman with an issue of blood, Yeshua healing a dying boy from a distance, the ten lepers and Jairus’s daughter, and then we have pictures and types of the Life Christ brings presented through the material miracles like Lazarus, Elijah, Elisha and of course Ezekiels vision of the valley of dried bones. All of this is played out in full in the life, death, resurrection of Christ followed by His ascension, and His victorious return where he even collected those that died by raising them up from the grave and in a twinkling of an eye making them fit for an eternal heavenly existence. His apostles continued on this ilk when Peter raise Tabitha from the dead, Paul healed Eutychus when he fell our of a window due to his long preaching and innumerable stories of people choosing to belief, then grow then mature in their walk with Him in spirit and truth. If we were going to narrow the work of God in this world down to a general realm we might be so bold as His work is to bring broken, diseased, ruined dying things back to life and that He embarks on this through labors of selfless, sacrificial unconditional love (meaning He is always willing so long as someone desires it). Perhaps we too, in this life might summarize our labors of love in this way and from there begin to break down ways in which these labors really truly lend to lasting vitality and life and ways where their shelf-life is not so long. Automatically, and according to this story in John 5 there is a conflict present from the religious culture in that day verses the Lord doing the work of God. Back to the story of Yeshua in John 5, we discover Yeshua laboring to make a man healthy and in so doing broke the established tradition on not laboring on the sabbath as we read at verse 10 10 The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, “It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.” And here we see a direct conflict between Yeshua doing the work of God verses religious man operating by tradition and condemning Him for it. There is a similar story in Matthew 12:1 where it says 1 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. 3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; 4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? 6 But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. 7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. 9 And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue: 10 And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. 11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? 12 How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. 13 Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other. 14 Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. 15 But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; 16 And charged them that they should not make him known: 17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. 19 He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. 21 And in his name shall the Gentiles trust. Yeshua was repeatedly accused by the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders of breaking the Sabbath, particularly for healing people and allowing his disciples to pluck grain on the Sabbath, though Yeshua maintained he wasn't breaking God's law but rather challenging their man-made, legalistic interpretations of it by fulfilling the true intent of the Sabbath as a day for good works and rest. Plucking Grain: On the Sabbath, Jesus' disciples plucked heads of grain to eat as they walked through a field, which the Pharisees claimed was unlawful work. Jesus responded by highlighting that David ate consecrated showbread, showing that God's law (which allowed gleaning) superseded Pharisaic traditions. Healing on the Sabbath: Jesus performed numerous healings on the Sabbath, such as curing a man with a withered hand or a paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda. These acts led to accusations because the leaders considered healing (unless life-threatening) as "work" prohibited on the Sabbath. Claiming Authority: Jesus declared himself the "Lord of the Sabbath" (Mark 2:28) and stated, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). He asserted it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath, which further angered his opponents, who understood this as making himself equal with God. YESHUAS STANCE ON WORK ON THE SABBATH WAS He never violated the core Mosaic Law but challenged the oral traditions and human rules that nullified God's word. He emphasized that the Sabbath was intended for mercy, restoration, and doing good, not as a rigid set of prohibitions. He fulfilled the law by demonstrating its true purpose, contrasting it with the Pharisees' legalism. Moving back to the Story in John 5 when the pharisees asked him why he bore his bed about on that sacred day and the man said at verse 11 11 He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. 12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? 13 And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Yeshua had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. 14 Afterward Yeshua findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, you have been healed (made whole): sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. There is the idea that our sin, our defects, our ill will, neurosis, guilt and shame eat us alive and make us unhealthy. Many leading psychologists and psychiatrists have written extensively on the interrelatedness of illness and sin, tying them to forces, so to speak, that deal with shame, guilt, anger, depression to acts and actions incongruent with the soul of a person. I find nothing lacking in Yeshua’s words here and sincerely believe that finding Him as a solution can lead to a marked improvement in health. Speaking of human weakness, verse 15 always astounds me as it says, 15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Yeshua, which had made him whole. They were on him about carrying his bed and breaking the sabbath and he essentially passed the buck back to the very being that healed him. Its uncanny how weak we are as human beings, and how much we will pass the buck instead of choosing to let the buck stop with us. Adam and Eve passed the buck. Peter passed the buck to not knowing Him – want to develop personal integrity – own everything, implicate nobody – be courageous. The result of this mans identifying His Savior? 16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Yeshua, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. This is where we start to encounter God’s work and His ways of doing it outside the work of Man and their need for religious control. Listen to the wisdom of the Christ captured in one line – verse 17 17 But Yeshua answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. The Greek terms used twice is er-gad-zomahee, which come from the root work ergo, which is derived from the Greek word for energy – energeia. So, the logic flows like this: We have been given life. Life is made of increments of time and thrives on energia – as these bodies and our physical make up seems to begin at conception with a bright white bang and we individually began to operate by spark impulses, nerve transmission, mental activity, beating hearts, thoughts, cogitation, desires, communications and actions – in the end we are all choosing where and how to direct our energies, or our lives, in the time we have been allotted by our Maker. Allow yourselves to think of your personal stewardship over this personal energy, these thoughts, these desires, and the choice on how you elect to use them – because, again, this is the sum of our lives, is it not – how we elect to distribute our energy supply. Of course, the natural man expends most of their energy on themselves to the point they may even barbarically impose their might in the world to make things right. While typically more advanced than the animal kingdom, this operational level is truly animalistic, even predatory. Modern man has made advances, however and in these ways we have learned the shared energies, while more difficult, lead to better results and so as a means to survive we collect our power and energy and focus them on areas we feel are important. Again, no God is necessary here either as the collective human efforts were seen as enormous going all the way back to Babel. But here is the thing – and this is a reason we get together and learn from the wisdom of scripture – the work of God, adopted by those who seek to love Him and to do His will, deviates from honoring collective human aims and power AND it also focuses on things that really truly matter in the human realm which are VERY different from what many humans collectively and individually seek to obtain. In terms of the collective power of Man, the scripture is replete with stories and instructions against such a focus. Jeremiah 17:5: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from YAHAVAH." Psalm 146:3: "Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help". Proverbs 29:25: "The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in YAHAVAH is kept safe". Paul plainly says starting in 1st Corinthians 2:1 1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Back in Zechariah, and angel of YAHAVAH showed him a bunch of different items and we read at verse 4 4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of YAHAVAH unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith YAHAVAH of hosts. Going all the way back to Deuteronomy, before the Nation entered the promised land, YAHAVAH through Moses tells them the following, even though He never wanted them to have a King. As I read this, listen and compare what the people of God today have looked to as their representative on earth today as YAHAVAH SAYS Deuteronomy 17:14 When thou art come unto the land which YAHAVAH thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; 15 Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom YAHAVAH thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. 16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as YAHAVAH hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. 17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. 18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear YAHAVAH his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: 20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel. The principles are there in scripture for the Nation but knowing the heart of man, especially the cowardice of man when self-interest is involved, God took His collective approach to human governance and through the Spirit of His Son given at Pentecost, brought relationship with Him down to the face to face, the one on one, and with respect to Him and His will and each individual. So, from David being punished for taking a census, to Gideon paring back his human army from thousands to 300, to God saving the world through one little Jewish man who possessed nothing that men would desire, one of the first things we as believers today might elect to do is to think like God, and not like natural men – and that means to Trust in the Lord, with all our hearts, and lean not to our own understanding, in all our ways submit to Him and He (not man, not religion, not government, not academia, not collective human power, but HE will direct our path. The second way that we can learn and adopt the ways and will of using our life’s energy the way God uses His life’s energy is to help others heal in ways that will lend to improvements in their own lives. To seriously take our life’s time and energy and sacrificially and selflessly and unconditionally to better not only our lot in life (which is a form of personal worship bringing glory to His name) but to even-moreso devote our energy and time to bettering others. For me personally, what to focus on in this way has been a lifelong quest as I dove headlong into philosophy (the love of wisdom) or the love of knowledge applied. Our aims can be based in carnal knowledge applied, meaning in and through the wisdom of the Spirit of Man and the Spirit of this world which God has given us, and to better the physical conditions of others is always a good thing. To devote oneself to the betterment of our physical world is nobel, needed and in our domain as human being made in His image. To care for, tend the garden God has placed us in, to care for animals, the environment, improving nutrition, healthcare, dentistry, and all of the other facets of being human – nothing wrong with it – and frankly these are the things people who want to devote their energies to others focus on. Obviously, these respective realms of endeavor are far more beneficial and loving that when we elect to give our sacred energy to darkness, evil, depravity and all the rest. Admittedly, God appears to have given some people immense capacity to use their respective energies to the betterment of the physical realm – but we cannot lose sight of the fact – if we care at all – that this was never the primary focus of His ultimate aims toward man. I distinctly remember sitting in my twenties on a park bench talking with an old friend about life and its highest aims and having Narcissus and Goldman on the table in front of me and emphasizing to this man the importance of the eternal view. He pushed back on the need to live in the hear and now – giving me his best case for a material focus rather than the immaterial and I distinctly remember trying to argue my point most rationally as his stance was it was most reasonable and rational to focus on this life, this world, and the things about it because we can prove that lacking food, shelter and money means suffering for those we love. I conceded to the point – and we cannot get around it even admitting that if there is a God her certainly had a reason to make us to exist in a realm dripping with demands. “But,” I said, “it seems to me that the best place to go all in on in terms of a philosophy on how to live would be to pursue the spiritual, the metaphysical, the immaterial.” “Why?” he demanded. I said, “think about it. If there is a God, a life after this, a purpose in trying to live well and die a good death, and since we do know that all of us are here in the material for only a short while, then all of us disappear into a realm where we are never seen again, and that that realm is therefore from this point of view, that our focus would be on what is eternal and not to buy lock stock and barrel into what is only and obviously temporary.” So, looking at the work of God Himself, and His Son, we know that to do the same as souls sold-out to the eternal while living here in the imposing material, we too deviates from honoring collective human aims and power and might AND we also focuses on things that really truly matter in the human realm which are VERY different from what many humans collectively and individually seek to give their time and attention. In the days of the Mortal Messiah, the collective said, no bearing tasks on the Sabbath – serve the Sabbath – observe the Sabbath, make God love you more and conform. But Yeshua, seeing a man, lacking health for 38 years, stepped beyond the collective breath, and restored Him, healed Him, gave Him the power to utilize his own life energy in a more complete way. Hard as it is for people to see and admit, the Christ’s physical healings were not the focus – as we note when he ascended into the heavens he left many suffering, poor, unhealthy souls behind – with His words of “you will always have the poor” ringing out to our present advanced age where we send rockets into space while malnutrition deaths in the US went from 9000 in 2018 to 22000 in 2022. God has given us His skills to govern this world and I frankly believe in the material world He is almost an absentee manager among the unbelieving. But in those of faith, those seeking to live for the eternal and not the temporal, I maintain that He is alive and well, and bringing all who desire His aid into personal enrichment, enlightenment and advancement in all pertinent realms of existence. Notice something about what Yeshua said to the Jews condemning Him for healing the man on the Sabbath. In his defense He said, 17My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. In other words, what He tells them is God has not ceased to work on the Sabbath. His rest was only relative to recreating the heavens and earth and all that in them is. He continues to make the sun to rise; he rolls the stars; he causes the grass, the tree, the flower to grow. He didn’t suspended all of His operations on a human day of the week – that obligation to rest on the Sabbath didn’t extend to him. He works. Through His energy and power, re-creating, saving, restoring, lifting, repairing, infusing light and life into places and people dark and dead. Then Yeshua drops the BOMB on them, and after saying, My father is still working,” He adds, “ and so do I.” In other words, just as my Father (who is God) does good on that day; as he is not bound by the law which requires his mortal humans under the law to rest on that day, I do the same. In other words, Yeshua plainly, directly told them, I am God’s Son. God works and so do I irrespective of the Laws he gave the Nation. Essentially, Yeshua was saying that the law of the Sabbath did not bind him nor his Father and to them there He was directly saying that he had a right to impose and repeal laws made for man in the same manner as God Himself. (verse 18) 18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. So, let’s wrap this up for our group today. Everyday we choose immumerable ways to live, to spend our energy - some seeking out the best meaning of life and others electing to pursue paths that defy these definitions entirely. As a biblical philosopher, I suggest that one of the best definitions of the real meaning of life is to love and to be loved and this naturally ties the energy of such love given and received to action. Because love is defined by the through line of scripture as selfless, sacrificial and unconditional, we elect to develop this type of transfer of energy to others or energy that is selfish, greedy and conditional. But taking it out even further, we ask ourselves, how did God love, through what means, and by what metric and where was His love focused upon. Sure, Yeshua fed the masses who hungered before He taught them, and yes, they had a bag for the poor, but this type of love – again while good and operative in this world – is not the go-to type of love that creates lasting change. It merely gives a man a fish instead of teaching her how. From what I can tell, the focus of both God, and His Son in mortality, and those who are His in this life, our aims are exactly the same - to heal, repair, save, restore, enable, equip, give, support or essentially love as He loved us. And here is the cincher - since God was not under the Law of Religion, and since neither was Christ, and since Paul told believers in His day that they were to be dead to the Law and its restrictions and for believers to walk by the power of the Risen Victorious Lord, we too, today, are able – even expected – to love outside of religious law, demands, and conformities. This says to me that I am free, even expected as His Child, to love outside of the boundaries of all religious law. And that means I will sit and eat with every sinner I meet. I will drink with the drunkard, laugh with the vile, love the morally corrupt, the predators, the worst of the worst BECAUSE I have the best of the best in me and greater is He in me than that (religion) that is in the world. Let me conclude with citing Paul’s words in Romans8:38-39: "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Let it reign, my friends, let it reign. Questions/Comments Prayer Remember, this afternoon 2PM Mtn.