God is never displeased with you!
God has provided us everything we need for a day-by-day, moment-by-moment abundant life in Christ. At the instant of our “new birth,” we were fully accepted by God the Father in Christ (Ephesians 1:5-6; Romans 5:1) and He made us complete in Him (Colossians 2:9-10). By His grace we were forever saved through faith. It had nothing to do with us and we have nothing within ourselves to claim credit for or boast about. It was the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9). He has clothed us with Christ (Galatians 3:27), adopted us as His own children into His household (Ephesians 1:5), and sealed us with the Holy Spirit as an irrevocable pledge of our inheritance and His claim on us (Ephesians 1:13-14).
All debt for our sins was paid in full by His only begotten Son, on our behalf (John 1:29, 3:16; Ephesians 1:7-8). And where there is forgiveness of sins, there is no longer any offering for sin (Hebrew 10:18). We have an eternal Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:1-2). We have been separated from our sins as far as the East is from the West (Psalm 103:12), and God remembers our sins no more (Hebrews 10:17). Christ became our life (Colossians 3:4). For we have died and our life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).
When the Lord Jesus cried out on the cross, “It is finished,” He meant it. He didn’t say, “Father, I am thankful that Our part is finished,” or, “It is almost finished, except for man’s part,” or “It will be finished in the fullness of time as people come to accept what I’ve done.” No, His exclamation from the cross was absolute and final. It ushered in the New Covenant of Grace: “IT [God's eternal plan] IS [present tense] FINISHED [completed, accomplished, done]. Who better to know whether God’s eternal plan is finished than Almighty God? God accomplished all that was needed to redeem a people, as a family, to Himself. In doing so, He didn’t need our help. As difficult as it is for our pride to accept, there is nothing more for us to do. There is nothing for us to boast in or claim credit for. It is the very person of Christ, as a free gift, to us. This is the life-changing good news of the New Covenant: Grace.
Through His Son’s death, resurrection, and ascension, God ordained that we be completely forgiven, justified, sanctified, and glorified in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30; Romans 8:30). He has made us a new creation in Christ; all the old things are gone and all things are made new (2 Corinthians 5:17). We have passed out of death into life in Christ (1 John 3:14). Before God, we are not in the flesh (our inheritance from the first Adam), but in the Spirit (our inheritance from the last Adam): Christ (1 Corinthians 15:45, 49).
In Galatians 3:3 the Apostle Paul is saying that the entire life of the believer is God caring for us in every way, including growing His faith in us. We are His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). Paul is “confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).
All of this is what scripture declares is God’s grace to us. His loving grace is not a “thing” for us to put a theological label on, but a person to intimately experience. Grace is not just a ticket to get into heaven. Grace is God in us, doing everything for us to transform us into His same image from glory to glory; in His time, and at His pace.
IT IS FINISHED!
From the book, “A Different Place," The peace and freedom that comes from knowing: God has done it all—He is all we need, pages 180-182.
All debt for our sins was paid in full by His only begotten Son, on our behalf (John 1:29, 3:16; Ephesians 1:7-8). And where there is forgiveness of sins, there is no longer any offering for sin (Hebrew 10:18). We have an eternal Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:1-2). We have been separated from our sins as far as the East is from the West (Psalm 103:12), and God remembers our sins no more (Hebrews 10:17). Christ became our life (Colossians 3:4). For we have died and our life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).
When the Lord Jesus cried out on the cross, “It is finished,” He meant it. He didn’t say, “Father, I am thankful that Our part is finished,” or, “It is almost finished, except for man’s part,” or “It will be finished in the fullness of time as people come to accept what I’ve done.” No, His exclamation from the cross was absolute and final. It ushered in the New Covenant of Grace: “IT [God's eternal plan] IS [present tense] FINISHED [completed, accomplished, done]. Who better to know whether God’s eternal plan is finished than Almighty God? God accomplished all that was needed to redeem a people, as a family, to Himself. In doing so, He didn’t need our help. As difficult as it is for our pride to accept, there is nothing more for us to do. There is nothing for us to boast in or claim credit for. It is the very person of Christ, as a free gift, to us. This is the life-changing good news of the New Covenant: Grace.
Through His Son’s death, resurrection, and ascension, God ordained that we be completely forgiven, justified, sanctified, and glorified in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30; Romans 8:30). He has made us a new creation in Christ; all the old things are gone and all things are made new (2 Corinthians 5:17). We have passed out of death into life in Christ (1 John 3:14). Before God, we are not in the flesh (our inheritance from the first Adam), but in the Spirit (our inheritance from the last Adam): Christ (1 Corinthians 15:45, 49).
In Galatians 3:3 the Apostle Paul is saying that the entire life of the believer is God caring for us in every way, including growing His faith in us. We are His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). Paul is “confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).
All of this is what scripture declares is God’s grace to us. His loving grace is not a “thing” for us to put a theological label on, but a person to intimately experience. Grace is not just a ticket to get into heaven. Grace is God in us, doing everything for us to transform us into His same image from glory to glory; in His time, and at His pace.
IT IS FINISHED!
From the book, “A Different Place," The peace and freedom that comes from knowing: God has done it all—He is all we need, pages 180-182.