Letters to Christ's Beloved Church

John 19:30 NIV
[30] When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.19.30.NIV

At the cross our savior died for the sins of mankind. There are so many things swirling around us, tornadoes that threaten to destroy us and try to steal our faith. We look at the world conditions. We look at the small fact that American debt right now is $105 trillion dollars, but the good news is if everybody chips in 600,000 we should be paid off quickly. There’s a lot of things to cause fear. And if we’re living for comfort and for this life, there will be a day where it will be gone. But it is finished. Every attempt we make to try to gain our own salvation, every human attempt at self rescue and self-righteousness, every blasphemy that we have committed by not sharing the love of God with those around us, every sin of loving the world rather than loving God, every sin of greed and the abomination of pride and lies, trying to justify ourselves instead of God, every Wicked thing was paid for at the cross. There are no more stones to throw. None to receive. God in his Mercy has done what we could not. And so we live in the fear of God knowing that we will stand before him one day and when we stand before truth incarnate Every Lie will be gone. And we worship, not just with words, but with our lives changing our thinking to protect those around us because love always protects. And so the battle is no longer based on what we have done or not done but rather on what he has done and accomplished and so the battle now is simply for faith. Do we believe it? Isaiah 53 who is believed the message? It’s so astounded it’s unbelievable, but it is true. It is finished. Because God loved us and the world so much that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the greedy people who withhold money from the poor my spending it on their extravagances, he did not send his son into the world to condemn the woman at the well who had had five husbands and was currently not married, he did not send his son in the to the world to condemn the Roman soldier that worshiped false gods and pounded the nails into his hands, he did not send his son into the world to condemn those people that cried crucify him! Crucify him! Forgot to not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but rather that through him we might have life. Do you believe this? This extravagant love. Jesus Christ came to bring truth and Grace. And the truth is God is just, and justifies the wicked who look to him. And so the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not everybody let’s stop sinning now. If that is the case everybody give up your Starbucks eating out and all of our frivolous ways and let’s go take care of the poor like we should have been doing all along. Sorry I’m preaching to the person in the mirror. And I’m struggling with it. But in the midst of our greed and our sin, God forgives people who continue to sin. Who continue to do acts of greed even though it’s so clear in the Bible that that is damnable. Yes there is a judgment and God looks at the heart. And yes we are called to grow into mature and a mature Christian looks like Jesus Christ. But an apple seed doesn’t look like an apple yet and it certainly doesn’t look like an apple tree and is not bearing fruit yet. And yes there is wheat and there are tares and the fear of God did not go out at the cross. But do we believe that it is finished? In the new life when we see the word of God we are to live what we are. Not what we are trying to become. The Book of James says that if we sin after reading the word of God it’s like looking in a mirror and then going away and forgetting who you are. We are forgiven. We are not greedy anymore. We are not immoral anymore. We are not self-centered or idolatrous anymore.

I am not saying that we don’t sin, we will be sending in this life until we see Christ. But our identity is in Christ. I am battling with greed. But I am not a greedy Christian. That is not my identity. I am a child of God and I am fully accepted and loved even though I continue acting in the Sin of pride, which the Bible in Proverbs 6 calls an abomination, even though there are times where there are still sin in my life I do not identify with the sin because it is finished. I am a child of God. I am Baptized. And everything that is not in line with God’s word is going to fall away little by little as I walk with God. As I know how much I am loved. For years in my life I battled sexual immorality by God’s grace I overcame but there were times where I lost the battle in my mind and I sinned.

But God didn’t have me on a yo-yo. It’s not like okay you send today now you’re in hell oh you were a good girl today now you’re in heaven. No that is not the way. Works is not the way. Salvation belongs to God Alone. After many years God gave me victory, full and complete over the sexual immorality and then when I was tempted to judge a friend of mine in a different sin, the Lord said okay let’s talk about your pride which I call an abomination, you’re lying and your greed. When we accuse people of not believing in Jesus Christ are we not accusing the one who died for them? And if we demand they stop sinning, have we stopped sinning?

Does this mean we just go around sinning and murdering and doing whatever we want? Of course not that stupid the wages of sin is death. Sin harms ourselves and it harms those around us. And the greatest sin is not to love God or our neighbors, at least that’s my opinion because the greatest command is to love God and to love our neighbors. So we can do certain things right but if we are not actively loving those around us and getting into their pain and suffering then truly we are guilty as well of not walking in the love of God.

And God looks at the heart. But Salvation belongs to God Alone. Faith Works by love and faith without works is dead. And what are the works that God commands us to do? Jesus Christ said the work that God commands is to believe in the one who he sent. Believe it’s finished. It’s mind boggling. You can’t possibly comprehend it. You can only believe.

We are children of the Living God. And all of the lies that have been plowed into our ears over the years are falling away as we look at the word of God and we see who we actually are.

We are forgiven. We are redeemed. It is finished.

We are delivered from the old nature and yes bit by bit it falls off and God in his Mercy brings refining fire.

But it is finished. Christ is the hero and we can love fully and freely because we have been fully and freely loved. The moment that we do works of love in order to prove to God that we can get into heaven, we are doing it for self-centered motives and that is not love. In 1st Corinthians 13 says without love it is nothing. That is why faith in Messiah is so important. If I am taking care of the poor so that I can get into heaven or somehow that I can please God, then my motive is not love for the poor. But it is selfish. It is not until I realize that it’s all paid that I can give freely purely out of love with no strings attached.

It is finished.

The work is done.

The battle is the Lord’s and as it is written, God Alone is savior. There is no other savior. I know not one it is written in Isaiah.

If we ever grasp this? How much we have been loved? And we come into the truth that the things that seek to destroy our lives, the stuff that we feed ourselves with that is spiritual poison, things of the world, those things are temporary and are falling away. They only exist in this life and we are Eternal creatures.

So when I’m battling the sin of losing temper with my children and I have to apologize, again and again and again I am looking at the cross at who I am not who I’m trying to become and as they are looking at me I can point them to the Cross and to the perfect parent, because God Alone is Holy and perfect and that does not give me excuse to sin but rather it enables me to cry with my children when I have wronged them and to ask forgiveness and for them and me to acknowledge that I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. And when they do wrong against me whether they are three or 33, I forgive quickly and freely as I have been forgiven because they are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

It is finished.

💞🙏