Greetings!
One of the greatest sentences in scripture must surely be the
line Jesus said on the Cross, "It is Finished." (tetelestai).
He had now completed all that he had been sent to do by the
Father. Nothing was left unfinished. Everything was complete. Right? "Tetelestai"
literally means the work in complete.
To the Father, Jesus even said this out loud just before his
Crucifixion just in case anyone wasn't sure, He said, "I have finished the
work you gave me to do" (John 17:4), and part of that work was that
the WORLD would be judged (a decision was to be made).
Jesus announces this plainly, shortly before the Cross.
He said, "Now is the time for this WORLD to be judged..."
and then in the very next verse he describes exactly when and how this will
happen: "When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to
me." (John 12:32)
So, a decision (Judgement) was made over the WORLD -
that's everyone - when Jesus was "lifted up" (when he was Crucified
on the Cross).
This was the very reason why Jesus came - To reconcile ALL
THINGS to God.
Col 1:19-20 "For it was the good pleasure of the Father
that in him should all the fullness dwell; and through him to reconcile all
things unto himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross; "
Question: When were you
judged and reconciled to God?
Wrong Answer: When you gave
your life to Jesus and become a Christian..
Wrong Answer: When you had
built up enough faith to believe the Gospel
Wrong Answer: When you
started going to church regularly
Correct Answer: It
happened at the Cross!
God demonstrated his opinion of you (and the whole world) by
declaring, "all things" to be Reconciled to Himself.
This was ALWAYS Gods opinion of us. There was never any
separation from Gods side. It was man who's mind needed to be renewed back to
this reality.
Note: He draws (or drags) us all back to him... not Himself back
to us. He never left us in the first place. It was always our religious garbage
that caused us to separate ourselves from Him. He even said it like this in the
Old Testament - "I will never leave you or forsake you"
We must see past the nonsense of Religion that always invents a
separation between you and God that you need to close by doing a variety of
weird and wonderful things. The Cross didn't change Gods mind towards man - He
is the same yesterday, today and forever.
To add to this, Scripture says that the Lamb was slain before
the foundation of the world and that the cross was merely manifest in our times as a display for mankind to believe again. (1 Pet 1:20)
Religion wants you to believe in a works based Salvation. This
is NOT the Good News of "peace on earth for all mankind" that the
angels declared at the birth of Jesus.
You could never earn your Salvation because Salvation is not
some external thing, like a badge or a certificate. Salvation is the experience
of knowing you are fully loved and accepted by your creator. Its living in the
knowledge that you are created in the image and likeness of Love. You never
lost this from Gods point of view. He knows exactly who you are what you are
capable of being to the world should you realize the freedom you have. The
Gospel Shouts out this freedom to you, and the rest of the World.
A free gift that announces - You are Complete! You are Loved
unconditionally! Your are a light in the darkness! You are a lover of the
Hated! You are Free!
But Mankind is mostly like the prodigal son. In his mind he had
become a failure and useless to his Father but Jesus tells us this story to
show what the Father is really like. The Father in his story NEVER EVER thinks
this of his son. He only loves him fully and completely, regardless of his
"sin". This is the Gospel. The Good News. This is the true revelation
of God.
Religion will always only ever point out your sin for you.
The Gospel wants to point out Gods love for you (and mankind).
Religion wants you to earn Gods acceptance (like the Prodigal
son thought he needed to grovel to earn his fathers acceptance)
The Gospel renews your thinking so that you know that God always
finds you perfectly acceptable and declares you a target for his embrace!
Question: When did God
make Peace with you (and mankind)
Wrong Answer: When you put your faith in Jesus.
Correct Answer: It
did not happen when you put faith in Jesus. It happened at the Cross, long
before you had any say in the matter: Col 1:19-20 "For it was the
good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fullness dwell; and
through him to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace through the
blood of his cross;
Question: But that leaves
nothing for me to do to complete my Salvation.
Correct Answer:
That's correct! Jesus already said that the work he was sent to do was
completed. It is Finished.
Scripture says that Jesus is the Saviour of world! One died for
All, Therefore ALL Died (2 Cor 5:14)
Do you remember dying in Christ on the Cross? Did you put your
faith in him back then? Did you earn the right to live out Salvation?
No, you did not. Yours and the worlds reconciliation had nothing
to do with you, but everything to do with God.
Scripture, in fact, says that at that time, you were Dead in
sin, but He made you alive with Christ (Eph
2:5)
Question: It says that you
were dead, but you were made alive WITH Christ. When were you "with
Christ"?
Correct Answer: At
the cross! When he drew you and the rest of the cosmos into himself. We died
with him and we were Judged. Then we were all declared to be Alive (Alive =
Salvation: Sozo ) with Christ.
Question: when were you
made alive?
wrong Answer: when I went to church and gave my life during the alter call.
Correct Answer: When
you were crucified with Christ. when he drew the whole world unto himself on the
cross. (Col 2:14) (Gal 2:20)
But Andrew!!! You making this all about Jesus, and nothing about
me!! Surely i have to do something to show that i have faith. Surely I have to
produce fruit to prove that I am saved....
Let me tell you plainly: that line of thinking is NOT a result
of the Good News. It is a result of Religious garbage and it denies the
finished work of Christ. it is "Anti-Christ".
It is NOT noble or noteworthy to feel the need to add to the
completed work of Christ with your "Evidence of Salvation". The need
to produce evidence or "fruit" shows clearly that one has not grasped
the finished work of the cross.
This is a free gift to humanity. When your mind is renewed by
the Gospel you will never feel the need to prove it.
As Paul writes, "we are compelled by Love". True Fruit
can never be forced or coerced to produce itself. It is an UN-containable
reaction, fueled by the revelation of God love for you presented in the Gospel.
If you are in an environment where you feel obligated to have to
earn and produce fruit as evidence of "salvation", then without
doubt, the environment you are in is not Gospel flavoured.
It is for the sake of Freedom that Christ has set us free - do
not go back to a yolk of bondage.
Stay Free in the Gospel!
Cheers
