Faithful to the One Who Appointed Us
“Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all the house of God. For this One is counted worthy of so much greater glory than Moses, as he who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone; but He who built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all the house of God, as a servant, for a testimony of those things that were to be spoken; but Christ as a Son over His house, whose house we are, if we hold fast firm to the end the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope” – Hebrews 3:1-6 R60
The writer of the epistle calls us to be faithful to the holy calling. We have a commitment to be faithful to the One who called us and appointed us. If we take the illustration from the passage in Hebrews, a household is made up of the father, the children, the servants, and the hired hands. The hired hands have no bond with the owner of the house or with the house itself. They only work for a wage. The house of God is the church. We, as Christians, are not hired hands, but servants. Therefore we must be found faithful.
The author of Hebrews contrasts Moses with Jesus, drawing at the same time an analogy between the Old Testament and the New, in order to explain that the New Testament is superior. Moses was found faithful in all the house of God, as a servant. But let us consider Jesus, then, mediator of the new covenant, as Son, also as apostle (sent by the Father) and as high priest, who passed through the heavens and presented Himself before the Father. We, like them, have two offices: as servants and as sons; in both we must be found faithful.
Everyone who has believed in grace feels indebted, feels gratitude for what God has done in their lives. We used to serve sin; now we have been dignified to be offerings to God and called to present offerings before Him. Therefore, if we feel indebted, we will be faithful stewards of the Lord. Sin made us enemies of God, but the apostle Paul became a double sinner because he persecuted the church; yet upon receiving grace, the one who was first in unworthiness was first in grace, so that He might show His mercy and send him to the Gentiles.
The love of God cannot be repaid, nor can grace, but the latter can be reciprocated. Glory reveals who God is, His greatness, but it also reveals who man is: a vile sinner. Many times we look at who God is, but we do not consider who we are. All the men who beheld the glory of God felt unworthy, indebted, deserving nothing, yet God has given everything. That is what makes us debtors and instills in us a desire to please Him. A person who has had a genuine encounter with God and meditates on it feels a sense of debt and commitment to God.
Such is the case of Joseph, who came to the house of Potiphar, who made him steward over all his house. At the moment of testing, Joseph considered two things: the honor his master had given him and the honor he owed to God, whom he served. And later, when God promoted Joseph and took him from the prison to the kingdom, Pharaoh set everything aside and placed the kingdom in Joseph’s hands. Joseph was faithful to the one who appointed him, delivering all of Egypt to Pharaoh. Yet the attitude of Joseph at the moment when his family came to Egypt for help is interesting. He did not take advantage of his position to grab the best part, but left it in Pharaoh’s hands. That is the same thing God asks of us: that we use everything God gives us to honor the One who appointed us.
Let us consider Jesus and take His example. We believe in apostleship because it was one of the five ministries that Christ gave to men to be sent out. Apostle means sent one. There are those who call themselves apostles, but they have neither the calling nor the signs. Jesus said: “As the Father sent Me, so I also send you” (John 20:21 R60). That is, we have an apostleship. When Adam and Eve were created, the woman was created as a helper comparable to him, which means his own presence. So the church must represent the Lord as if we were He Himself, being a help as His own presence. The church, as a helper comparable to Him, must never act independently of submission to Christ.
Jesus, being one with the Father, submitted Himself in everything to the Father. Even in Gethsemane He denied Himself, in order to obey the command He had received from the Father. And if Jesus, being who He is, as an apostle sent by the Father, faithfully submitted to the Father, we, as the church, are an extension of the ministry of Christ, ambassadors of the Kingdom of God. That is why we must live according to that kingdom. Jesus, even though honored at the right hand of God, continued to intercede on our behalf. Let us look at Jesus and acknowledge that we have a commitment to the One who appointed us. Just as the woman is the glory of man and man is the glory of God, as image and likeness, the church is the bride of the Lamb. The church proceeds from Christ, flesh of His flesh, bone of His bones; that is why it is His body. The church has been entrusted to represent Him.
We, as the church, cannot confuse the world by speaking about ourselves. He who speaks of himself seeks his own glory. Daniel in Babylon was faithful to the one who appointed him, and at the risk of losing his own life he decided to obey God rather than men. Jesus laid out for us a path of how to serve God, through His life and His ministry. Christ did not only take our place to redeem us, but so that we might follow in His steps. Christ pleased the Father in all His functions, as Son and as servant. When Joshua was charged with distributing the land to the twelve tribes of Israel, he gave no inheritance to the Levites, because the priesthood of Jehovah was their inheritance. That is our reward also, to serve God; therefore we cannot seek prestige, fame, and so on, but must understand that the service itself is our wealth.
In the same way that Moses breathed on the 70 elders to impart his dignity to them, so Jesus breathed on the twelve disciples, and on us, since we are Christians because we come from Christ. But just as the 70 elders were not substitutes for Moses, so the church does not replace Jesus, but represents Him. Jesus steps aside from Himself so that the church may represent Him.
From the parable of the unfaithful steward, in Luke 16:1-6, we can say that all of us are stewards of God. The unfaithful servant in this account is praised for his shrewdness, so that the believer may take his example and use what he has in the present to receive the heavenly things. The unfaithful steward was a squanderer, but he was ashamed to beg; he was ashamed of dishonor, yet he was not ashamed of losing honor. To be unfaithful to God is to fall into dishonor. Also, he took advantage of what he administered in order to win friends, so that they would receive him into their houses. Using the ministry to win friends, to invite those who invite us, and so on, is not honoring the ministry. God commands us to act differently from the way this steward acted. Christ is our example and our testimony; let us be faithful to the One who appointed us.
Notes taken from the study series “Faithful to the One Who Appointed Us” 1-5 by Pastor Juan Radhamés Fernández. For the complete messages visit: https://vimeo.com/album/2917398
