Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them.1 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.2
What works of the LORD are spoken of by the Psalmist? Further, Paul claims that a good work is ongoing in the life of a disciple.
God created. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.3 He created every living creature.4 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.5 He created man for a purpose.
God blessed. God empowered man by blessing them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”6 After the fall of Adam and Eve and man’s continuous appetite for evil, God determined to make an end of all flesh. But he found Noah to be righteous.7 God flooded the earth but saved Noah and his family. And God makes a covenantal promise to Noah—“I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Seasons were re-introduced.8 God blessed Noah and his sons with the same blessings he had given the first man and woman that he created; further, God declared a covenant with Noah and his offspring after him.9
God called. Those he created and blessed, he likewise called to account.10 He was in constant communication with his chosen people; he guided them. He appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”11 God appeared to Jacob and said to him, “I am God Almighty, be fruitful and multiply. . . . The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.”12 God never waivers. He is constant; and covenant keeping!
God saves. God’s desire is that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of truth.13 That he appointed His Son as Savior. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.14 Anointing Jesus to bring good news to the poor; to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and to free the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor; and the day of God’s vengeance.15
God brings. Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name! The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.16 God takes us from our present and brings us to a future that we are meant to be. Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.17
God gives. The true light which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.18
Notes:
1. Psalm 111:2
2. Philippians 1:6
3. Genesis 1:1
4. Genesis 1:20-25
5. Genesis 1:27, 5:1-2
6. Genesis 1:28
7. Genesis 6:9-13
8. Genesis 8:20-22
9. Genesis 9:1-17
10. Genesis 3:9
11. Genesis 17:1-2
12. Genesis 35:9-12
13. 1 Timothy 2:4
14. 1 Timothy 2:5
15. Isaiah 61:1-11
16. Psalm 142:7
17. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18a
18. John 1:9-12
