John 19:30 “It is finished.”
To prosper is a want we all have had in some area of our lives. I believe we all look to prosper in one form of another from day to day. At the moment life is tough regarding income and as a freelance photographer I need to be commissioned in order to make ends meet. I have a want to work and yet it eludes me, times are tough and because of the pressures of life I find that I am uncertain how to react to my current predicament with uncertainty playing its part in my life. Doubt is alive and well and it should have died many years back. So many negative emotions still part of my life and yet when the Lord Jesus hung upon that cruel Roman cross on that hill in Golgotha, He declared which assurance and boldness, “it is finished”. It is this declaration I want us to look at…
After the sin in the garden we (mankind) were all doomed to this one particular fate, we were all born sinners. It was not a choice we were afforded, by default this was our penalty and all because of Adam’s sin. In other words we could do nothing but sin. The Apostle Paul puts it like this; “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” (Romans 7:15): - we needn’t think back very far to understand what is meant by this. The Apostle James speaks about our tongues and how we wield them and this is what he says; “So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.” (James 3:5-6)
When we were born we were all born as sinners and as life progressed we added to that account as sin played it part in all of our lives. All guilty of this one fact, without exception, that we are sinners; “as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one;” (Romans 3:10): - Therefore without exception all deserve hell! Hell a place designed for Lucifer and his angels, all those who opposed God and His rule. Now for mankind, those who do not find forgiveness for their sin in and through the Lord Jesus Christ will end up there. This is the essence of why Christ came to pay the price for sin and free those enslaved by sin and why He was able to declare with boldness; “it is finished”.
I need to find an answer to this question; why then as Christians do we still struggle with sin, if His work is finished?
What is meant by these words; “it is finished”. The devastating accomplishment that Satan had in the Garden of Eden, where sin found life in the lives of the human race had now been reversed. Sin had been defeated by the death of the Lord Jesus on that cross. The reason He was able to defeat death, sin and the grave was because of His life he lived as a man and yet without sin. This then qualified Him for the atonement for all who would believe on Him. God’s plan accomplished in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, His Son, and our Saviour! The shackles of sin broken once and for all; therefore when a sinner (a man or a woman) calls out unto Jesus in sincerity and asks for forgiveness for their own sin, they are forgiven and receive His Spirit and are them numbered amongst Gods elect. No longer Satan as their father but God now accepts them into His kingdom and allows the believer to now address Him as Father.
I realise I am addressing the basic fundamentals of Christianity and we should all understand this. However I am looking to probe the inner circle of our understanding as believers; why do we still wrestle with sin if “it is finished”?
This is what Paul’s gospel has to teach us regarding salvation; “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2Corinthians 5:17): - Why is he able to make this statement? Because Christ declared that, “it is finished”, with His work complete and eternal. If old things have passes away why do they still have such an effect on our lives? “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)
Satan has not been chained, he goes around like a roaring lion seeking to devour. God has so permitted it; he is actually helping in the sanctification process. Even if we succumb to his lures far more often than we should. I honestly hate having failed so often through this process but I know that it is good for me as God is in control. Not that it is good that I fall but that I realise how much I need the Lord Jesus in my life. He is for all of His Children and He knows what is best for us even if we don’t. Let us rest in Him and the finished work of the cross. The day is coming when we too will be able to enter the New Jerusalem where this warfare would have ceased, but until then may we continue to encourage one another and constantly look for forgiveness as we are often lured away by our own wants as we take our eyes of the Lord Jesus and we forget God’s will for our lives.
Thank you for your patience Father God and I pray that you would cause the wind of zeal to sweep across the paths of all your children so that we may find the vigour to glorify your name, not only with words but by our actions. Praise the name of Jesus now and forever more, Amen!
Signing off
Tyrone
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