To the Others’ Advantage and Joy

To the Others’ Advantage and Joy

“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” John 16:7.

Jesus could not do much with His disciples while He was on earth together with them. Thoughts arose in their midst as to who was the greatest among them. These thoughts certainly did not belong among the humble.

However, from the day of Pentecost when Jesus sat by His Father’s throne as our forerunner, advocate, high priest, mediator, and intercessor it was possible for the disciples to be God’s co-workers on high and holy ground in humility and faithfulness, to other people’s advantage and joy. Their thoughts and ways could be united with God’s thoughts and ways in the heavenly places.

“For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Therefore I urge you, follow me! For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.” 1 Cor. 4:15-17.

All these ways in Christ are united in this one way, which is the way, the truth, and the life. It is the way of love and sacrifice, to the advantage and joy of as many people as possible. In this willingness to sacrifice, it is not so easy to find those who are most needy, but there is something that is called “taking a risk in love,” and God sees the heart.

In 2 Chronicles 29:27 we read that “when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord also began, with the trumpets . . . .” God loves a cheerful giver. Thanksgiving and the love to sacrifice belong together. In Ephesians 5:18-20 we read, “But be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In the churches of Macedonia they offered themselves to the great advantage and joy of the others. “That in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing.” 2 Cor. 8:2-3. They gave themselves first to the Lord. V. 5. Here we see God’s blessing over the risk that love is willing to take, in stark contrast to all the demands of the self-life. They had offered themselves, and had lived to the others’ advantage and joy.

“Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself.” Rom. 15:2-3. Many people want to have a share in the life, but they do not want to go on the only true way that leads there.

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father apart from this way. John 14:6. It is the way of the cross, the way of sacrifice, the way of suffering, but also the way of glory united in the one way, Jesus Christ.