Eyes Wide Open part 3

What would it look like if our God who is not constrained by space and time found Himself dealing with geographical boundaries and deadlines?  The answer: He would look like Jesus.  Now, let’s discover how God, in space and time managed Himself in the sandals of men.

Here’s a little snack: John’s 9^th Gospel chapter allows us glimpse into God’s ability to adjust in our world of confinement.  Walking in the sandals of men meant dealing with many of the same limitations as you and I do today.  This is seen clearly in the story of the blind man in verses 1-4.  Our example of how God incarnate handled Himself on a deadline is made clear as He addressed the disciples in verse 4, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” Here we see clearly the mind of God in time.

Knowing that His departure time was nearing, Jesus made good use of the time allotted Him by the Father’s will.  God, the Father, did in fact have a will for His Son, Jesus Christ, which was fulfilled by Christ’s spirit of obedience to all that His Father deemed as His to accomplish.  And with all that was His, Christ performed flawlessly as our example.  What is it that we see as being of necessity if ever we are to perform in the same manner?

First, Christ had an understanding that time was of the essence- without losing site of the Father’s will for His life on earth.  Remember, everything about the incarnation of God on earth was purposed to supply His people, both then and now, with His commission for our lives.  And yet, there was a sovereign-filtered urgency that directed the works of God in the flesh.  In other words, while the urgency- due to time- was there, His spirit of composure allowed Him time to both perform miracles on the go- and yet take time with His disciples to teach them along the way. 

It’s important to understand that while time created urgency, the Lord’s teachings would not be constrained by time. In other words, what Christ taught His disciples 2000 years ago is still being learned by His disciples today.  Had Jesus merely hurried about performing miracles- without education, the Great Commission would be limited to 2 measures rather than 3.  We are, in fact, commanded to (1) make disciples, (2) covenant them to the church and (3) disciple them through the teachings of Christ.  This would not be possible had He not taught the disciples along the way.  There needs to be a sense of urgency today due to time, but without the skipping any steps along the way.

Secondly, there was an understanding in the mind of Christ that legacies are built while living in time- but live on in infamy; therefore what is done in time must be done in such a way that what is made of our works (by men) after we are gone is not tainted by those men.  In other words, while time creates our sense urgency it should not create fallacy.  We see this clearly in the words of our Lord in verse 5. “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”  Jesus knew that men would seek to defile the works of His miracles and teachings even long after He went to be with His Father in glory.  Therefore, everything He did on earth was done with a spirit of excellence.  Anything that man may say today about the works and teachings of Christ that are not congruent with what we find in His Gospels is perverted injustice.  Christ was the perfect incarnation of God- without error.  His words were spoken without the possibility of honored perversion.  His miracles were performed without possibility of relapse.  And as we see in this text, every minute of His time on earth was utilized to perfection. 

May we see this as our example of how to live the Christ centered life- in time.  Today, we are the light of the world- through the Spirit of our Lord.  May men see our good works and glorify God- even the way we utilize the time that God has given to every man.