Jesus made a statement which alludes to the fact that every believer has the ability to do the very same works that He did, and even do greater works. In the gospel of John 14:12, Jesus said, '12“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; AND GREATER WORKS THAN THESE HE WILL DO, because I go to My Father. '
It is important for believers to know the greater works that they are called to do, and the word of God can help us along this line. In order to know what these greater works are, we must first lay a foundation by looking at the works that Jesus did as this will provide us with a premise for understanding the greater works.
Healing
In the Acts of the Apostles, we read of the account of Peter speaking at the house of a centurion called Cornelius. Cornelius was a devout man who feared God. One day as he was praying, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and asked him to send men to a place called Joppa where Peter was residing. Peter, being instructed by the Holy Spirit went back with these men to the house of Cornelius where he preached the gospel.
In his address, Peter begun by pointing out the works that Jesus did during His earthly ministry in Acts 10:38, '38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, WHO WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD AND HEALING ALL WHO WERE OPPRESSED BY THE DEVIL, for God was with Him. '
This verse tells us the works that Jesus did. It says that He went about doing good. Which good did Jesus do? Why He healed all those who were oppressed by the devil. The bible calls sickness ‘Satanic oppression,’ and Jesus did the good work of healing all who were oppressed by the devil. Healing the sick is therefore one of the works that believers can do, because healing is what Jesus did.
Preaching
We find more of the works that Jesus did in His own words when He read the prophecy made by Isaiah in Luke 4:16-19, '16So He[Jesus] came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 18“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me TO PREACH THE GOSPEL to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord .”'
Notice that Jesus said that He was anointed '...To preach the gospel to the poor...' Preaching is one of the works that Jesus did and therefore preaching is a work that all believers can do.
Teaching
By the same token, Jesus was also anointed to teach just as He was anointed to preach. Matthew 4:23 says, '23And Jesus went about all Galilee, TEACHING in their synagogues, PREACHING the gospel of the kingdom, and HEALING all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. '
From this verse, we can see that the works Jesus did include teaching, preaching and healing. These three, would therefore be the same works that the believing ones can do, because Jesus said '...he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also... ' (John 14:12).
The works that Jesus did provide us with a basis for doing greater works. There is no doubt that teaching, preaching and healing are great works, but God’s word promises us that we can do even greater works than what Jesus did while He was on this earth. John 14:12 says, '... and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. '
Let us examine some more scriptures in the word of God to understand what the greater works are.
A Good Work In You
When Jesus said in John 14:12 '... and greater works than these he will do… ' He intimates that believers can accomplish more than He did while on earth. We have been able to see that the works Jesus did included preaching, teaching and healing. One might wonder, what other work could possibly be greater than what Jesus did while on this earth?
Paul, when writing to the Philippian church, said in Philippians 1:6, '6being confident of this very thing, that He who has BEGUN A GOOD WORK IN YOU will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ… ' Notice in this letter Paul says that God has begun a good work in you, the believer.
In the same letter, Paul also says in Philippians 2:12-13, '12…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13FOR IT IS GOD WHO WORKS IN YOU both to will and to do for His good pleasure.'
From these two portions of scripture in the book of Philippians, Paul intimates that there is a twofold work that God does in the life of every believer. This twofold work comprises first of all the new birth experience and secondly the spiritual development of the believer’s born-again human spirit.
The New Birth
What we need to realize is that during Jesus’ three-and-a-half-year ministry on earth, nobody could receive the new birth or in other words, no one could become born again. The gift of salvation was purchased for humanity when Jesus died on the cross. This therefore means that while Jesus was on this earth, He ministered to people that were spiritually dead because the new birth could only be received after Jesus went to the cross and rose from the dead.
After Jesus’ death and resurrection, man’s eternal redemption was purchased, making it possible for everyone who believes in Him to receive eternal life in their human spirits. While Jesus walked on the earth and did all the works that He did in His ministry, no one received eternal life in their human spirit. People had their sins forgiven, received miracles and heard the word, but no one received the new birth.
The new birth is a work that God does in the heart or in the spirit of the believer. Speaking to Nichodemus about the new birth, Jesus said in John 3:3 '3… “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”'
Nichodemus being natural in his thinking and therefore only able to reason from a human standpoint, thought Jesus was referring to a physical birth. But notice what Jesus said to him again in John 3:6, '6That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit[the Holy Spirit] is spirit[the human spirit]. '
Jesus brought out the fact in these verses in John’s gospel that at the new birth it is the Spirit of God that rebirths or recreates the human spirit of the believer. This new born-again spirit is the new man who is created in Christ. II Corinthians 5:17 says, '17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.' The old things spoken of here refer to the nature of sin in the old human spirit. The things that have become new refer to the nature of Christ that now resides in the ‘newly created man,’ that is the born-again human spirit.
During His earthly ministry, Jesus did not Himself impart eternal life into anyone’s spirit. However, in His present-day heavenly ministry as Savior, He imparts His life into us through the Holy Spirit as we hear and believe the gospel. The gospel is preached by men and women who are called by God, and as these preachers preach the life giving message, the eternal life of Christ is received in the spirits of those who believe the gospel. Therefore, men on earth do the greater work of preaching the life giving message of salvation, and Jesus through the Holy Spirit gives eternal life to those that believe in Him.
By preaching the life-giving message of salvation, believers work together with Christ to do the greater work of helping people to receive eternal life into their spirits and become born-again.
Spiritual Development
When our spirits become born-again, God expects us to develop our spirits by feeding upon His word. I Peter 2:2 says, '2as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby… ' Peter intimates in this verse that at the new birth, the believer’s human spirit is a babe in Christ and needs to become mature through feeding it with the word of God.
We have already seen that the new birth is the good work that God began in every believer. Paul affirmed this fact by saying in Philippians 1:6, '6… He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ… '
Now notice that in connection to the good work, Paul says that God '...will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ… ' Paul is in effect saying that the work that God began by recreating the believer’s spirit at the new birth will be brought to completion through the maturity of the born-again human spirit.
This spiritual development could only take place in this new covenant dispensation. The new covenant dispensation came into effect after the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross. Hebrews 9:16-17 says, '16For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17FOR A TESTAMENT IS IN FORCE AFTER MEN ARE DEAD, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. ' By the shedding of His own blood on the cross for the sin of all humanity, Jesus ushered in a new covenant.
Before the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, it was impossible for both the new birth and the subsequent development of the born-again spirit to take place in anyone's life. For spiritual development to take place, the spirit of that individual must first be born again and have the nature of God in it.
Once a person has become born-again, the good work that began at the new birth continues as the believer’s born again spirit is developed in the things of God. This spiritual development comes as a result of feeding upon the word of God.
In the initial stages of spiritual development, all believers must be helped by someone who is more mature in faith by being taught the things of God. Paul intimates this fact in II Corinthians 3:3 when he says, '3clearly you are an epistle of Christ, MINISTERED BY US, written not with ink but by the SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.'
Paul is telling the Church at Corinth that now that they have become born-again, their hearts have been made into an epistle of Christ as a result of the Holy Spirit putting God’s law within them. But notice that Paul intimates the Holy Spirit was able to put God’s law in the hearts of these believers as Paul ministered the gospel to them.
The spiritual development of the Corinthians was therefore the result of the Holy Spirit putting God’s word into their hearts, but for the Holy Ghost to be able to do that, Paul had to minister or teach the word of God to these Corinthian believers.
Mature believers are called upon by God to help raise up younger believers in spiritual things. As we have seen, spiritual development was not possible before the age of the new covenant, because the blood of Jesus Christ was not yet shed for humanity. When mature believers help those who are younger or who the scriptures refer to as babes in Christ to grow in the things of God, they are doing the greater work.
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