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Trust And Entrustments
by John F. Moreland
© SEP 2004
I am on a mission. I have come to realize
that most of the body of Christ does not realize three things. (1) Who we are in
Christ, (2) who Christ is in us, and (3) why we are here. As best I know how, I
am going to spend the rest of my earthly life helping His body come to this
precious knowledge. We will never fulfill our Divine purpose on earth unless we
do. It is hoped this treatise will accomplish this to whatever degree the Lord
will use and bless it.
One morning early as I lay awake and was
meditating on the Word, it occurred to me that everything God has done by His
unfathomable act of reconciliation in making redeemed mankind one with Himself
was done through trust and entrustment. Genesis 1:26 is the first clear
indication of this in the Word.
"Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according
to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the
birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
It was agreed among the God-head that they
would create man and entrust him with their authority over the things mentioned
in this verse. It is also the principle of delegated authority. In other words,
authority is not inherent in the delegated authority but is delegated or
entrusted.
It was the life principle by which Jesus
lived and ministered.
(John 5:19) Jesus therefore answered and was saying to
them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless
it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does,
these things the Son also does in like manner.
And again,
(John 5:30) "I can do nothing on My own initiative. As
I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will,
but the will of Him who sent Me.
Two verses in the book of John lets us see that the Son
knew of the Father’s entrustment to Him.
(John 3:35) "The Father loves the Son, and has given
all things into His hand.
and
(John 13:3 NASB) Jesus, knowing that the Father had
given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God, and
was going back to God,
There was absolutely nothing in God’s plan
of reconciliation that the Father had not entrusted to the Son to fulfill. He
had given all things into His hands. A great part of the reward for His
faithfulness is found in Philippians 2:8-11.
(Phil 2:8 NASB) And being found in appearance as a
man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even
death on a cross.
(9) Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed
on Him the name which is above every name,
(10) that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of
those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth,
(11) NASB) and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
In Revelation 19:11, He is called Faithful
and True, an acknowledgement of His faithfulness to the entrustment of the
Father. Oh, the majesty and wonder of our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ!
Three Astounding Things About God
There are three absolutely astounding
things I have seen as I began to meditate on this subject of trust and
entrustments. First, I have come to see that God has withheld nothing of
Himself in His eternal purpose to share His glory with His sons, His
family. Although His glory and His holiness, His very Person were violated by
man in the Garden of Eden, He was not intimidated in the least. There is nothing
in the Word which may suggest that God ever panicked about anything. There has
never been any question as to whether He would finish what He started. He is
Sovereign, period!!!!!!! This is basically the reason He was not, is not,
and will not be intimidated by anything, anyone, or any circumstance. Therefore,
with absolute foreknowledge and purpose, He could not withhold anything of
Himself in His entrustments. We clearly see this in 2 Corinthians 5:19.
(2 Cor 5:19 NASB) …. namely, that God was in Christ
reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against
them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
There was absolutely nothing He would not
do within the bounds of His glory and Sovereignty to see the fulfillment of His
eternal purpose.
Second, I
marvel at the extravagance (for lack of a better word) of God. One cannot read
the Word without becoming amazed by God’s extravagance. Some of this is seen in
His creation, from the heavens and the earth to mankind. He is extravagant
beyond description in His love. John 3:16 records, for God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever would
believe in Him would be saved. In 2 Corinthians 9:15 this gift of His Son is
called indescribable. Without going into detail, this is seen in His
rewards, His covenant, in His promises, and even in His wrath and judgment upon
ungodliness and sin. Once again we see that He has withheld nothing of Himself.
Third, and most amazing to me, I saw that
God is a God of faith. It is one of the mysteries for me. To the natural mind
foreknowledge and faith cannot exist or function in another, even God. If He is
Sovereign, and He is, if He has all foreknowledge, and He does, why would such a
Sovereign God need to exercise faith, but He did! When the Father gave all
things in the hands of His Son, His trust was an act of faith. True trust not
only came out of a knowledge of the One trusted, but a faith that His trust
would be perfectly, completely fulfilled. Foreknowledge and faith exist in
perfect harmony and unity in God. While there was perfect love and union between
the Father and the Son, Jesus was not a robot without a will. The great struggle
in the Garden of Gethsemane over the horror and pain of the cross was completely
resolved when Christ yielded to the Father and said not My will but Thine be
done. The Father’s foreknowledge of, and faith in the Son was completely
exonerated.
Redemption, salvation, reconciliation are
not words or conditions of some inert or passive state for what God has done for
us. These are words of truth which define a living condition of being for the
Christian. The Word declares;
(1 John 5:12) He that hath
the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
This is not speaking of the natural life
possessed by every living creature, but is a declaration of a new life given
when one receives Christ Jesus as Lord. It is the life from above (Grk.
anothen). One doesn’t just ‘get saved’ and wait around until he goes to
heaven. It doesn’t come as a result of ‘joining the Church’ .
Natural, earthly life is exchanged for eternal life.
We are a new creation.
The phrase, hath sent me is used
nine times by our Lord in the gospels. As previously noted, our heavenly Father
literally entrusted our Lord Jesus Christ with His eternal purpose. Christ was
sent, entrusted with it. It was the Divine strategy set in motion before
the world began. It is a testimony to the complete unity of the Godhead. It was,
and is such an infinite unity of fellowship, love, purpose, trust, compassion
and motivation that man’s mind stands in awe before it.
Our Lord Jesus literally became the
Trustee of the Divine will and eternal purpose of the heavenly father. A Trustee
is defined in law as follows:
The confidence reposed in a trustee when giving the
trustee legal title to property to administer for another, together with the
trustee’s obligation regarding the property and the beneficiary.
When the heavenly Father gave all things
into the hand of the Son, He gave the Son legal title to the heart and purpose
of Himself. It became the Son’s prerogative to fulfill that with which He had
been entrusted. And praise God, He did, When He declared on the cross, it is
finished, He had fulfilled His trust. It was the Son’s trust to manifest the
Father’s life, character and will on earth, and He fulfilled it perfectly, even
to the death on the cross . While the Word declares that He is now living to
make intercession for us before the Father, there is no more He is able to do in
Person on earth. It is finished.
We now come to one of the most startling verses in the New
Testament.
(John 20:21) Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be
unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
Can you hear Him say in these words to the disciples, I
am committing to you a trust even as the as the Father committed to me?
The apostle Paul gives us a more complete picture of this in
2 Corinthians 5:18-19.
{18} Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us
to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
{19} namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world
to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed
to us the word of reconciliation.
A word of clarification here: this
ministry and word of reconciliation has not just been committed to what we
generally consider as ‘ the ministry’. This is for everyone who has been
reconciled to God. No exceptions.
I would like to put this matter of
entrusting in a more simple setting so we may more fully grasp it as it refers
to what has now been entrusted to us by the Son. When one puts money in a bank,
checking or savings, there are certain things implied by this very act, things
of trust. You expect them to honor your checks, as long as there is sufficient
resource in the account. You expect them to hold your savings in trust, pay you
the amount of interest agreed upon, and keep your resource secure. This is a
simple trust. When one entrusts an individual or firm with an estate or
financial resource and set forth the boundaries of commitment, you expect it to
be handled in a faithful manner. This is a trust. When resource, money or
property is set up in trust for a beneficiary, you expect the trustee to see
that it is administered according to your original intent and purpose. When you
trust your child to use your car, you expect it to be returned in the same
condition as when it was taken. This is simple trust. But enough. I know you get
the picture.
I would now have us consider the eternal
trust given us by the Father and Son and administered by the Holy Spirit.
There is a Scripture which gives us this basic understanding,
along with many others.
(Col 3:4) When Christ, who is our life, is revealed,
then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
Christ is our life, our entrustment. God
the Father has entrusted the life of His Son to us who have been born by His
Spirit. Christ has entrusted His life to us as well. Our entire life is foremost
an entrustment of Christ’s life in us to manifest in everything we say, think or
do. There is nothing that may enter into the heart of man more humbling or
motivating than this; that the eternal God and Savior would entrust us with His
life, to work through us and ultimately see His Kingdom come. This is changing
my life! It has given new purpose and meaning to all I am and do. It makes His
yoke lighter, sweeter and more precious day by day. It is the most fulfilling
thing I have ever discovered. It makes the Scripture more alive when I read such
words as,
(Col 1:27 NASB) to whom God willed to make known what
is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is
Christ in you (me – author), the hope of glory.
Or when I read such verses as Ephesians 1:17-19,
(Eph 1:17-19) {17} that the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of
revelation in the knowledge of Him.
{18} I pray that the eyes of your heart may be
enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are
the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
{19} and what is the surpassing greatness of His power
toward us who believe.
Since Christ is the Father’s inheritance
in me, how rich and glorious He must be in me. To realize I have been entrusted
with such riches and glory surpasses the mind and fills my heart, but is also
more sobering than anything else I have ever known.
But I would have us look at some of the
entrustments within the general trust of Christ’s life. These entrustments are
attendant to the Trust.
I would label love as the entrustment of testimony. Our Lord
said,
(John 13:35 NASB) "By this all men will know that you
are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
Love is further called the royal law in James 2:8.
(James 2:8 NASB) If, however, you are fulfilling the
royal law, according to the Scripture, "you shall love your neighbor as
yourself," you are doing well.
Love is the very heart of God Himself.
There can be no greater entrustment within the life of Christ than being
entrusted with His love, and live within its boundaries. Who and what God loves,
we love.
Another of the most evident is the grace
inherent in the Christians’s life. It is the grace of Christ’s life.
(John 1:14) And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among
us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father,
full of grace and truth.
If our Lord came to earth full of grace,
then it should be a hallmark of our lives. Grace as defined in the Word is a
unique characteristic of God Himself. It has its origin in God, and also its
manifestation and fullness. It is the matrix or womb out of which salvation
comes; no grace, no faith, no salvation.
(Eph 2:8) For by grace you have been saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
Our salvation is granted out of this great, boundless,
eternal sea of grace.
While our purpose here is not to try to
define grace in all its facets, there are some things that seem to demand our
attention. I would have us first look at the inherent authority of grace. It
flows from God’s throne.
(Heb 4:16) Let us therefore draw near with confidence
to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help
in time of need.
All that emanates from a throne is couched
or covered in authority, whether mercy, blessing, grace or judgment. Therefore
when grace is given, there is an authority latent within it to produce its
fruit. An example is found in Ephesians 4.
(Eph 4:29) Let no unwholesome word proceed from your
mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need
of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Therefore a word of blessing,
encouragement, hope or even loving rebuke is a word of grace given to produce
its fruit. In Hebrews 4:16 it is evident that mercy is an inherent factor in
grace.
To sum up this matter of trust and
entrustments, God has simply entrusted the life of His Son to us. Into our hands
He has entrusted, committed a great measure of His eternal purpose.
This has become one of the most highly
personal, humbling and sobering revelations I have ever had from the Father. It
became this when I realized it was as if He were saying to me,
"John Moreland, I am entrusting the life of My Son to you."
According to the Word, we are His body, the fullness of Him
who fills all in all.
(Eph 1:22-23) {22} And He put all things in subjection
under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,
{23} which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all
in all.
Dear ones, He is our Trust, our
entrustment. May we live in this glorious light. May we be faithful to the
Father’s entrustment of His Son to us, that we may see His kingdom come, His
will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven. Christ our Lord is our precious
treasure, our Trust. May we so steward our Trust that the world may see Him and
come to know Him.
1 Corinthians 6:17
2
Hebrews 2:10
3 God’s eternal purpose.
C.f. Hebrews 2:10
4 Luke 22:42
5 John 3:3
6
2 Corinthians 5:17
7
Hebrews 7:25
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