THE
FINISHED WORK
"IT IS FINISHED"! How these words must have ripped
through the halls of sin and the fortresses of condemnation. And how they
must have brought a glorious praise before the throne in the heavens. So
greatly powerful were these words and the work of the Cross that "Jesus,
when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold,
the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the
earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many
bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his
resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Matthew
27:50-53
The earth itself convulsed and was shaken to its very core as
these words rang throughout the universe. So great was this declaration that
death could no longer hold those that were bound. And God moved out of the
Holy of Holies in a natural temple into a new temple which is made without
hands. Now once again God could walk with man and be one with him. But this
time it would be different. This man being born of incorrupitible seed could
not fall from His presence again.
The word FINISHED in the Greek is teleo G5056 and it means to
end, complete, execute, conclude, discharge (a debt):—accomplish, make an
end, expire, fill up, finish, go over, pay, perform. He declaration revealed
any payment that was before us in judgment concerning sin had been
adjudicated and accepted as final and complete, bringing an end of demand for
payment. The flaming sword (message, word) which had kept the way to the
Tree of Life had come and made entrance thereunto. The last Adam (Jesus) had
come to redeem man from the curse of death to walk again with God. 1Corinthians
15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
Many Christians do not know who they are today or who Christ is
in them. They have been deceived into a works religion rather than
understanding, receiving, and walking in the grace that God has given them.
Grace came by way of Jesus Christ and will never come through our own
self-efforts. Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;). Just as
our ability to be good couldn't save us, so our own works won't keep free. It
is by grace and the goodness of God that has been deposited within us that
will help us to walk each day and will keep us from falling. Galatians
5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by
the law; ye are fallen from grace. To walk according to our
own abilities and works is to seek justification through the law and our own
abilities, but do you see the words? YE ARE FALLEN FROM GRACE! Does that mean
that you are not saved??? NO!!! It simply means that you have forgotten what
MANNER OF MAN YOU ARE and when we try to perform the law, then we must keep
all the law.
For if any be a hearer of the word, and not
a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he
beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner
of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and
continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work,
this man shall be blessed in his deed. James 1:23-25
We are to continue in the PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY, not the LAW!
Men ideals of walking with Christ have brought many false doctrines to the
body of Christ which are all MAN CENTERED and not CHRIST CENTERED. And when
the gospel becomes man centered, then the MINISTRY OF CONDEMNATION flourishes
in the house of God! It not only flourishes in our churches but it flourishes
IN US! 1Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that
the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? There was a time that we were under the
law and it was for a purpose. The purpose was to teach us and BRING US TO
CHRIST:
But before faith came, we were kept under
the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might
be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a
schoolmaster. ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as
many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Galatians
3:23-27
Paul brings a clear word to the church at Galatia which speaks
of departing from our liberty in Christ.
O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched
you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath
been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of
you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of
faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect
by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.
He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among
you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Even as
Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye
therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
Galatians 3:1-7
Notice the word BEWITCHED! It speaks of being unwise and
sensual. Sensual refers to the lust of the flesh! I CAN DO IT. It was a
deception that came that said, "Okay, you are saved now, and you need to
make sure that you stay that way"! So do this, and do that, and be sure
to practice this, etc. Forgetting that "For as many as are led by
the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Romans 8:14).
You see, "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could
not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the
righteousness of the law might be fulfilled IN us, who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:2-4). We need to become more
GRACE CONSCIOUS THAN WE ARE SIN CONSCIOUS! For if we are in Christ, then we
are not to have a consciousness of sin! What does this mean then? Paul even
asked this. Does it mean that we can just sin because of this grace that has
been given? He said "GOD FORBID". When we fully recognize the truth
and what has done for us, the acceptance of this work in our hearts will
enable us to walk in the Spirit. Sin will not have dominion over us! Let's
take a look at Hebrews.
For the law having a shadow of good things
to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those
sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers
thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because
that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away
sins (Heb. 10:1-4).
You see, had those sacrifices made those who came they should
have no more conscience of sins. But there was one that was prepared that
could. There was one prepared whose body in offering for sin would bring it
all to an end. Let us take a look at some more in the 10th Chapter of
Hebrews.
Hebrews 10:5 Wherefore when he cometh into
the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but A BODY
HAST THOU PREPARED FOR ME, In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou
hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it
is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and
offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither
hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I
come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may ESTABLISH
THE SECOND. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the
body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take
away sins: BUT this man, after he had offered ONE SACRIFICE FOR SINS FOREVER,
sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies
be made his footstool. For by ONE offering he hath PERFECTED FOREVER them
that are sanctified! Hebrews 10:5-14
Jesus was the complete, final, and full sacrifice for sin! All
the judgment, all the wrath that God had toward sin was poured into ONE MAN
that day that Jesus became SIN FOR US! Oh do we hear it! All that sin was, he
became for us thereby removing its power and control over us. Never again to
have sin as a master but we have been SET FREE!
The day that Jesus hung on the cross, we hung there with Him.
The lamb was slain before the foundation of the world and we were there in
the heart of God when it happened. We didn't kill Jesus as we have been
taught to believe. Sin didn't kill Him! He was the spotless lamb that was
offered FOR sin to exact the payment. In the Old Testament, the father of the
house had to take a lamb and offer it for the sins of the family. He would
lay his hands upon the lamb thereby imputing the sins and then slay it. God,
Our Father, who gave us the pattern for things, provided HIMSELF a Lamb and
offered Him as an offering for us. ONE TIME, FOREVER! The blood was
sufficient enough to touch the halls of eternity.
So Jesus DIED, He was BURIED, He was QUICKENED, He was RAISED,
He ASCENDED and He is SEATED in heavenly places on the right hand of Majesty
on High!
Corinthians II 5:17 Therefore if any man be
in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are PASSED AWAY (dead); behold,
all things are become new.
Colossians 2:13 And you, being DEAD in your
sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he QUICKENED together with
him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the
handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and
took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Colossians 2:12 BURIED with him in baptism,
wherein also ye are RISEN with him through the faith of the operation of God,
who hath raised him from the dead.
Romans 6:4 Therefore we are BURIED with him
by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the
glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were DEAD in
sins, hath QUICKENED us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Ephesians 2:6 And hath RAISED us up together,
and made us SIT IN HEAVENLY PLACES IN Christ Jesus:
Ephesians 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he
ASCENDED up on high, he LED CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE, and gave gifts unto men.
Can you see it? We DIED, we were BURIED, we were QUICKENED, we
were RAISED, we ASCENDED, and we are SEATED in HEAVENLY places IN Christ
Jesus! Why are we trying to GO UP, when we are already there. And the Lord
wants us to take our position and inheritance IN HIM and begin to RULE AND
REIGN from the heavens. That is what He did when He was here! He ruled and
walked in a realm that man could not walk in. He said what He heard spoken in
the heaven and He only did that which He heard the Father say! Jesus said to
pray 'Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, IN earth AS IT IS IN heaven!
God wants to bring heaven to earth. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness
thereof (1Cor. 10:28) and the mandate to man in the Garden of
God has never changed. Genesis 1:27-28 So God created man in his own
image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon
the earth. Now, man is REDEEMED and he can walk in the newness of
life as the body of Christ and be the king-priest that God has called him to
be. We are to be kings and priests unto our God (Rev. 1:6).
The Church has been asleep, in a tomb so to
speak, but it is the THIRD DAY and God is saying: Arise, shine; for thy light
is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the
darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD
shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the
Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together,
they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be
nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart
shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be
converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. Isaiah
60:1-5
Awake O Israel and the TRUTH shall set you free, awaken and put
on strength. Awaken unto righteousness and sin not! It is in the awakening to
righteousness, it is in the power of the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD which has been
imputed to you, that you will overcome, because you will understand that you
have overcome, and you will be able to say, "Satan you can find NOTHING
in me".
Paul said it so eloquently: I AM CRUCIFIED with Christ:
nevertheless I live; YET NOT I, but CHRIST LIVETH IN ME: and the life which I
now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me,
and GAVE himself FOR me (Galatians 2:20). And then Paul told us to
know NO MAN after the flesh but after the Spirit and that includes ourselves.
For if we know man after the flesh, we will only see guilt, sin, and
condemnation. But if we know man after the Spirit, we behold the NEW CREATION
MAN. God grant us the eyes to see TRUTH and behold the CHRIST in ourselves
and in others. And in closing we have this comfort which gives us peace:
Wherefore he is able also to save them to
the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make
intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy,
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first
for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he
offered up himself. Hebrews 7:25-27
Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by
the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not
their lives unto the death. We overcome Satan through the
blood of Jesus, the supreme sacrifice and our TESTIMONY is IT IS FINISHED and
we love not our lives (own wills, mind, emotions) unto death. Meaning we love
HIM more and we let our own self-will, our own self-life die to HIS .
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