"Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ"
Jude v 1
The first two posts on this subject dealt with what it
means to be a servant of Christ. It is something that has honor and delight in
doing that which we were made to do. What I intend to discuss with this post is
how this verse or idea applies to other verses that are found in scripture.
Verses that actually seem to indicate the opposite. Basically, how is that we
are supposed to serve a God who is incapable of being served.
The
idea comes from a couple of verses. On where Christ is speaking to his disciples
and tells them “The Son of Man came not to be ministered, but to minister”
Matt. 20:28. The other is from a conversation of Paul with the Epicureans and
Stoics on Mars Hill in Acts 17. Paul is walking around and sees a statue with
the title “to the Unknown God”. It is Paul’s objective to explain to them a God
they have never known but He is the only true and living God. Paul explains God
in this manner that He “dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is
worshipped with men’s hands; as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth all
life, and breath and all things” Acts 17:24-25. The terms “minister” in Matthew
and “worshipped” in Acts are the words for serving, and are translated that way
in other versions. The point of those verses should be obvious. We do not serve
God but it is God who serves us. But as you read scripture, it seems to
indicate that we are not only supposed to serve God but are commanded to do so.
And plenty of people, Jude included, would call themselves “servant of Jesus
Christ”.
What
we first need to realize is that God does not need us. He doesn’t need us now,
and He didn’t need us when He created us. There is a teaching that is spread
today that God created us so he could be happy. That simply is not true. God is
self-sufficient and self-happy now and for eternity.
"The creation is nothing else but an
effusion of the goodness of God...The trinity was not solitary. God was happy
enough without us, and had a fulness and sufficiency of happiness within
himself." – Thomas Manton
“God is infinitely happy in the enjoyment of
Himself, in perfectly beholding and infinitely loving, and rejoicing in, His
own essence and perfection” – Jonathan Edwards
The
God you serve created you not out of lack or need but out of abundance. You may
think of a fountain that overflows its edges and gives life to the ground
below. It would be silly to say that the fountain gave water to the ground
because it was lacking. No, it gave water and thus life because of and out of
its abundance. It was the abundant goodness of God, that overflows, that
created us, not a want or need to make Himself happy. And this abundant
self-sufficient, self-happy God does not need us to make Him happy or need us
to help Him run the universe.
But,
there a number of passages that indicate that we are to serve God. Scripture,
in fact, represents us serving God in a most remarkable sense. Think for an
example of Paul speaking in Romans 10 that anyone who calls upon the name of
God will be saved, but he continues to say that they must hear these words and “how
shall they hear without a preacher?” Romans 10:14. I think we are to understand
that verse to mean that no one is going to hear the gospel unless a person
tells it to them. What is amazing about that is the fact that it is not true of
Paul! Paul was saved by Christ Himself speaking directly to him. But Paul tells
us that no one will be saved without a preacher or a witness of the gospel. The
question is then “If Christ can, why doesn’t He?” The answer must be because he
loves us.
We
live most of our lives without even a clue of the marvelous reality that exist.
One of the most incredible ideas is that you are a real person. You actually
exist in reality, in real time, right now. You are not some fairy tale or dream
or story. God has made from nothing an actual reality. You are a reality
because He made you to be! Not only are you real, but more amazingly, the
things you say and do are real and actually matter. We live in a world where it
matters if you feed the hungry, it matters if you help the sick, it matters if
you teach a lost soul about our glorious Redeemer. It matters! You matter! That
should simply astound us! It is no wonder the young Jonathan Edwards was
resolved in himself to “live with all my might, while I do live”. Everything
you do every second of everyday has eternal consequences. Every word, every
action, every thought matters to God and has an impact on another person and therefore is real and important.
God
could have created a world where we did absolutely nothing. One in which we just
sat back and let God do everything and we just watched. But instead the all
sovereign, all wise and all good God has made a world in which you are
important. You have the duty, no, the privilege, to teach a poor, wandering and
damned sinner that Christ has redeemed them. You want a purpose for a life? It
is Christ that saves and the Spirit that regenerates the heart, but it is
through YOUR words when YOU teach someone the gospel! You get to play a part in
the salvation of an immortal soul! That is simply amazing! God in no way or
measure receives any benefit from you working for Him. But you both serve and
are served. We have a part and purpose in this world, you can help the weak,
you feed the hungry, you comfort the sorrowful heart, and you teach the lost
that they need a Savior. You partake in the work of God and the joy of God.
Never think for a moment that you serve a God who is helpless, but you serve a
God who is abundant and has made a world in which we can actually help Him in
His works and purpose. What a marvelous, wonderful and gracious Creator we
have.
"The
creation is nothing else but an effusion of the goodness of God...The trinity
was not solitary. God was happy enough without us, and had a fullness and
sufficiency of happiness within himself, only he would have us to participate
of his goodness. God's great aim was to communicate his goodness to creatures;
and therefore in making the world, he did not only aim at his own glory, but
the benefit of man, that man might have a place for his exercise and a dwelling
for his eternal rest...His love was towards us before the world was, and we
shall reap the fruits of it, when the world shall be no more." –
Thomas Manton
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