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“When Jesus therefore
had received the vinegar, he said, IT IS FINISHED: and he bowed his head,
and gave up the ghost.”—John 19:30.
Last Wed. we talked
about “Halfway Blvd.”, and
how many Christians live there, and we gave Bible principles to help us move
to “Active Avenue!”
Well, God has
certainly left none of His work unfinished. In creation He worked
diligently for six days; then the heavens and the earth were finished (Gen.
2:1). God rested then, but only after He had completed the work.
Moses learned this
valuable lesson from God. God had commissioned him to oversee the building
of the huge and elaborate Tabernacle in the wilderness. Thousands of
details were to be carried out. Certain metals were to be used, and
particular colors were important. In a multitude of ways, the Tabernacle
was to be a type of Christ. We read in Exodus 39:32, “Thus was all the work
of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation finished: and the
children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so
did they.”
Aren’t you glad they
did not call a strike and stop short of completing this building?
When Nehemiah built
the wall, he faced insurmountable problems. He fought discouragement, fear,
doubt and much opposition. There were plenty of reasons why it couldn’t be
done, but he did it just the same! We read these words of victory, “So the
wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in
fifty and two days” (Neh. 6:15).
According to the laws
of aviation, the bumblebee can’t fly; but no one has ever bothered to tell
him, so he flies over 8 miles per hour. Someone has said, “The man who says
it can’t be done usually gets run over by the fellows who are doing it.”
Lying on his deathbed,
Paul the apostle gave that testimony that ought to strengthen our
get-up-and-go. He said, “I have finished my course . . .” (II Tim. 4:7).
Jesus gathered His disciples around Him just before His death and prayed His
great intercessory prayer. “I have finished the work which thou
gavest me to do” (John 17:4). Now just a few days later, He is crying out
from the cross, “Tetelestai,” meaning “complete.” It is translated, “It is
finished” (John 19:30).
Let us notice some
things Jesus completed that were not left
unfinished.
I. COMPLETE REDEMPTION
{Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white
as snow.}
No one can
accuse Jesus of unfinished business. He did
not renege or fall
short of His responsibility. He went all
the way to the cross for us, and then all the way to hell
to defeat death and lead captivity captive!
One man boarded a city
bus with what he thought was a transfer ticket. He handed it to the driver,
who sharply called out, “Oh, He did, did He?”
By mistake the man had
given him a tract entitled, “Jesus Paid It All.” Now, Jesus didn’t pay your
bus fare, but He did completely pay your way to Heaven.
Peter emphasizes that,
“ . . .ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and
gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
But with the precious blood of Christ . . .” (I Pet. 1:18,19).
II. COMPLETE REGENERATION
When Jesus Christ
saves us, we are saved all the way. We are
given everlasting life, and that lasts for all eternity.
It is eternal. When He comes into our hearts, we have all of Him.
We are not saved in
stages. We do not need a second work of grace before we can get in. Our
Bible does not say ye must be born again and again and again!
God doesn’t give 10 day or 10 year
life, but everlasting life!
God doesn’t do
things halfway. He makes all things new.
He completely
regenerates.
III. COMPLETE REVELATION
The Bible was not
complete in New Testament days. Paul explained, “For we know in part, and
we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that
which is in part shall be done away” (I Cor. 13:9, 10). He was referring to
the completion of the Bible as we know it.
In the Old Testament,
men were instructed by visions and the voice of God speaking from a bush, a
cloud or an angel. On one occasion, we are told that “there was no open
vision” (I Sam. 3:1). Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
After the book of
Daniel was written, he was instructed, “O Daniel, shut up the words, and
seal the book, even to the time of the end” (12:4). In contrast to this,
the book of Revelation, a parallel to Daniel, was not to be sealed; “for the
time is as hand” (22:10).
A solemn word of
warning was then given about adding anything to the prophecy of this book.
In other words, the Bible is a
complete revelation. It tells us all we need to know about God and
His plan for us.
IV. COMPLETE RAPTURE
There are many views
concerning the return of Christ to the earth. Some hold to a
post-millennial view; others, to an a-millennial view; and still others, a
pre-millennial view.
Among the
premillennial crowd, there are pretribulation, midtribulation and
posttribulation views. Now, there has come forth a group advocating a
partial rapture. These folks believe that only a certain dedicated group of
believers will be taken in the rapture.
Well, there are two
distinct groups of people living today—the lost and the saved. All the
living saved will be “caught up” at the coming of Christ (I Thess. 4:17).
Also the saved dead will be raised and caught up together with the living (I
Thess. 4:13-18). No lost people, living or dead, will be involved.
The rapture…it
will include every born-again, blood-bought child of God. It
will be a complete rapture.
V. COMPLETE REPENTANCE
Here is where the
trouble comes in. This is the unfinished business.
God has done His part. He
has completed redemption, regeneration, revelation and will completely
rapture us; but we have not
completely repented.
Repentance means unconditional surrender.
It suggests wholly submitting to another’s will. There is a vast
difference, too, between penance and repentance. Judas did penance by
giving back the silver. Peter repented and wept bitterly.
Jesus said, “ . .
.except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3).
Peter said, “Repent,
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins . . .” (Acts 2:38).
Paul said, “And the
times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every
where to repent” (Acts 17:30).
John wrote, “ . .
.repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and
will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent” (Rev.
2:5).
To the sinner, without
repentance there is no salvation. To the child of God, without complete,
wholehearted, full repentance, there will be no power to overcome, no peace
that passes all understanding, no joy unspeakable, no cup running over and
no abundant life.
God did His part; let
us do ours. Repent, submit, yield, dedicate, give in, surrender, turn,
sanctify ourselves and commit completely to Him!
If we would all do
this, there’s no limit to what God could achieve here on earth thru us…God
left us here for a reason…there’s unfinished business to do!
