Sounds strange to say
that one must fight to rest in the finished work of Christ; and we must work
whilst resting.
To meditate/pray upon
John 17:4 “I have brought you glory on earth
by finishing the work you gave me to do”.
John 4:34 “My food,” said
Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work”.
John 19:30 ‘When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is
finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit’.
The ‘hour’ has come; this gospel has been leading up to the cross. Jesus
has not wavered in His perfect obedience; He will go to death. Thank God that
Jesus has finished the work for our salvation, we contribute nothing and never
will. But how are you doing at trusting in Jesus’ finished work?
The author to the Hebrews warns us to enter into the rest of the gospel.
We must refuse to give in to feelings of guilt and condemnation.
‘Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us
be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it’. (Hebrews 4:1)
C. J. Mahaney, said it well,
‘On a daily basis, the luggage
of condemnation will show up on our doorstep, begging us to load it onto our
backs. In opposition to God, our pride will tell us that Jesus’ sacrifice
couldn’t possibly be enough to secure the Father’s favour completely, unreservedly,
and forever’.
As we rest in Jesus’ work for our justification and reconciliation to
God, it is from this place of grace that we approach the work He has for us to
do.
Just like Jesus, God has work He wants to give us. How are you doing at
finishing things? Do you talk and do?
If Christians followed through on a fraction of our good intentions, the church
and our community would be very different. As our Saviour, Jesus has finished
the work for us; as our example, let us, like Christ, finish the work He has
for us to do.
You can catch up on all the messages in the
John series at:
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