THE
HANDS OF GOD (Part III)
You are a designer original, so none of the
seven billion people on Earth can possess your unique hands and
fingerprints. Human hands are powerful,
figuratively and literally, but our strength pales in comparison to the omnipotent hands of God! Thus, no human being can honestly boast of
self-actualized success. Ultimately, we
are products of the handiwork of GOD.
(James 1:17)
Arguably, approaching the
end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, HIS HANDS became increasingly significant.
Jesus before Pilate:
“I find in him no fault at all.”
As a matter of fact, Pilate concluded, I am washing my hands of the innocent blood of this man. (John
19:4)
Jesus before Sanhedrin:
“Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the RIGHT HAND of the
power of God.” (Luke 22:69)
Jesus at Calvary:
It
was not insignificant or accidental that the ENEMY sought to pierce THE HANDS
OF JESUS! You see, CHRIST’S HANDS are literal
extensions of CHRIST’S ANOINTING! And
Satan will do everything that he can do to attack our anointing! In the words of Jesus, “The thief does not
come except to steal and to kill and to destroy.” (John 10:10)
Nevertheless, Satan
was unaware of God’s secret plan to undo his world system and to institute His
Kingdom. So while he was plotting and
planning the persecution and pain of Jesus,
he was actually setting up Christ
for the full release of His power!
Likewise, our personal pain is merely a set-up. Our pain and pressure are preludes to the
fulfillment of God’s promise of power, productivity and promotion.
Satan simply did not know
what he was doing when he scammed and schemed to get Jesus on the cross! Scripture confirms this fact. “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,
even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which
none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would NOT
have crucified the Lord of glory.” (I Corinthians 2:7-8)
ONLY GOD could devise
a plan in which the ONLY ONE in the universe who ‘could’ CONDEMN US was the ONLY
ONE who was ready, willing and able to DIE FOR US! So we find Jesus, at His hour of death, fully
at peace, and declaring with power, “Father, INTO THY HANDS I commend my
spirit.” (Luke 23:46) In other words,
‘Satan, you have not taken my life. “I
LAY IT DOWN!” (John 10:18)
Jesus’ pronouncement
was a borrowed plea from the Psalmist David (Psalm 31:5), but on the cross, Jesus
transformed the frantic cry of humanity into a full-fledged statement of faith:
Father…I
am in Your hands!’ My life and times are in Your hands!
I come, Father, both as Priest and Sacrifice, as One-with-God
and as one-with-man!
I come, Father, in the volume of the Book that is written of me,
and I delight to do Thy will!
I come, Father, once and for all, as the unblemished Lamb of
God, who takes away the sin of the world!’
So JESUS experienced
the agony of the cross and bore the awesome burden of humanity’s collective
sins. He took the power and penalty of
sin into HIS HANDS…and He died for us.
HOWEVER…on the third
day morning…JESUS rose with total
victory, saying “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”
(Matthew 28:18) ALL POWER…is IN MY
HANDS! “I am he who lives and was
dead…and behold, I am alive for evermore…and have the keys of hell and of
death.” (Revelation 1:18)
Jesus at His Ascension:
“So then after the
Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the RIGHT
HAND of God.” (Mark 16:19)
Right now, Jesus Christ is our “High Priest, passed into the
heavens,” One who can be “touched with the feeling of our infirmities.” (Hebrews
4:14-15) Right now, Jesus Christ is “the one Mediator between god
and men” who is seated “on the RIGHT HAND OF THE POWER OF GOD.” (I
Timothy 2:5 – Luke 22:69) And now, “he
ever liveth to make intercession” for the people of God! (Hebrews 7:25)
That’s precisely what the writer of the Book
of Hebrews referenced when he said: “God, who at sundry times and in divers
manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his
Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the
worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his
person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by
himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on
high. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning
hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands.” (Hebrews 1:1-3;10)
We are FOREVER IN HIS
HANDS. Therefore, we must give Our
Creator permission to Use His Hands
to Shape Our Hands into “His good
pleasure,” so we can be equipped and empowered “to do His will,” so we can be
effectively USED BY GOD! (Philippians 2:13 – II Thessalonians 11:1 – Hebrews
13:21)
The
Hands of God are at work all
through our lives! Therefore, we should
never become alarmed or fearful due to temporary pain and pressure. Indeed, “we are troubled on every side, yet
not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not
forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed. Always
bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, THAT the life also of Jesus might be made manifest
in our body.” (II Corinthians 4:9-10)
LORD, our very lives are in
Your Hands! Our total
surrender to YOU is the position, place and power of covenantal
blessing. (II Corinthians 1:20)
Therefore, our constant cry is simply this: HAND-LE US LORD! HAND-LE US…so that we might be true
ambassadors who will reflect and reproduce YOUR KINGDOM in the earth! Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed!
