What More Is There For God To Do?
by Chris Simmons
In Mark 12:1-12 we read of the parable of the vine growers who rented a vineyard from a land owner. The land owner looked to receive his agreed upon portion of the produce of the land and therefore sent several servants to collect such. The vine growers responded by beating, wounding, or killing the servants the land owner sent to receive his portion. Finally, the land owner sent his own son whom they likewise killed. Jesus answers his own question as to what the owner of the vineyard would do by stating the owner would come and destroy the vine growers and give the vineyard to others. Jesus spoke of the Jews’ rejection of Himself as king and the gospel as the means of salvation and that the blessings of the kingdom would be given to the Gentiles.
Paul asks the question in Romans 3:1, “Then what advantage has the Jew?” In this parable, it is pointed out that God had blessed the Jewish nation tremendously. Notice what is said in Mark 12:1 about what the land owner had done for the vine growers. First, there was a newly planted vineyard. Second, he set it apart by building a wall around it. Third, he dug a vat under the wine press in order to make their efforts productive. Forth, he built a tower so the vine growers could provide the protection they needed. The vine grower had every advantage and the owner had seen to every need so that both land owner and vine grower could be blessed. What more could the land owner have done? The question is, what more could God have done for the Jews to receive His gracious blessings?
There is a similar account in the Old Testament book of Isaiah. We read in Isaiah 5:1-4, “Let me sing now for my well-beloved a song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill. And He dug it all around, removed its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; then He expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only worthless ones. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between Me and My vineyard. What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?” God through Isaiah pointedly asks, what more could God have done that He did not do? If the Jews were to honestly answer that question, the only possible response could be “nothing”! The Israelites had failed to produce the fruit God desired and expected. Their failure was not because of anything that God failed to do.
What about us today? Do we not also have to answer that question? If we today fail to bear fruit (cf. John 15:5-8) as God expects of us, is it because there was something more that God needed to do for us? God forbid! For God has done everything He could possibly do for our sake to make salvation and eternal life possible. Just as we consider all that the land owner did in Mark 12:1 for the vine growers, so we also need to think about all that God has done to make eternal life possible for us.
God planned for man’s salvation and forgiveness. Before the foundation of the world, God planned how that all spiritual blessings would be found in Christ (Ephesians 1:3-7) and that He would save man and show forth His wisdom through the church (Ephesians 3:8-11).
God gave evidence to be believed. The miracles recorded in God’s word give us evidence to be believed and acted upon. John wrote in John 20:30-31, “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” Because of that evidence, we can defend the hope that we have (I Peter 3:15).
God gave us His Son. We see God’s love in His sending His Son. In I John 4:9-10 we read, “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.” If God is willing to send His Son, Paul argues in Romans 8:31-32 that we should never doubt His willingness to provide all we need, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?”
God gave us His word. Man needs light to show us how to live a life pleasing to Him and that’s what His word does for us. Psalms 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.” God sent His word to accomplish what He desired and succeed in the matters for which He sent it (Isaiah 55:10-11). His word has been revealed to us so we can know how to please Him and how to seek forgiveness when we fall short of His will.
God gave us the avenue of prayer to communicate with Him. We have been invited to approach the “throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16) and “let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6) with thanksgiving. God has given us the means to cast our cares and burdens on Him through prayer because He cares for and loves us (I Peter 5:7). God has not only given us prayer, but the promise that we have the requests that are according to His will (I John 5:14-15).
In fact, we can summarize all the many additional points we could make by stating from scripture that God through His “divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness” (II Peter 2:3). What more can He do for us? Like the Israelites, He has given us all we need for a blessed life here and eternal life after our life here is over.
The rest is up to us. There is nothing else God can do for us to be able to enter into the eternal reward. We are therefore individually accountable for what we have done with His spiritual blessings and divine provisions. Just as the land owner held the vine growers accountable for all that had been done for them, so also are we responsible for what we’ve done with His blessings. It’s up to each one of us to be faithful, obedient, reverent, thankful, courageous, and enduring. Whether we worship faithfully, whether we pray unceasingly, whether we study His word diligently, whether we serve humbly, whether we grow steadily – that is up to us to exercise our will and our choice accordingly. Each one of us will answer to God. II Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”