It Is Finished!

It is Finished! Completely Finished. Yet so many seem to struggle to accept the Truth that Jesus Christ actually fulfilled and perfectly executed His Father’s Eternal Plan. Sharing this Truth seems to open a door for many to counter, “Yes, I know it’s finished, but…”. Theirs’ is a self-focused, old covenant mindset, convinced there is still something to do to complete what Jesus did not or could not. Or worse, would not. Why do we not believe God when He declares and proclaims, “It is Finished.”?

When God gives, He gives of Himself entirely! His is a Cruciform, Selfless Life. It is His Pure pleasure to give Himself entirely to you. To be one with you. What He has given us is Himself, not some gift or reward separate from Himself. The Triune God’s dream is your inclusion in Their blissful, ecstatic existence, for you to know Father as Jesus Christ knows Father.

Creation and all of human history has its meaning here. However in Adam, ours became a perverse and delusional mindset thinking, “I can be like Him if I just…” We still think we have something to do to be who we are, or to get what we already possess!

The Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that God was IN Christ Jesus reconciling the world (all) to Himself. It never entered Father’s mind to leave salvation, reconciliation or our inclusion in The Intimate Union of the Triune God in our hands.

We pay lip service to the Finished Work because we have inherited a theology that begins with separation; god is a distant and indifferent deity who is holy and we are dirty sinners who must appease his wrath through spiritual asceticism maintaining a morally excellent life, one Jesus exampled for us.

Jesus is not an example for us…But of us! The image and likeness of God in human form, enjoying perfect union and loving relationship with Father, in Holy Spirit.

If we start with exclusion and separation then the Cross is something that happened for us, where Jesus died to hold back god’s wrath and make a way for us to now somehow get god to change his mind about us, and love and accept us and to see us as he does Jesus.

But Salvation is not the balancing of a legal reckoning! It is not something that Jesus did for us, which we must now ‘appropriate‘ or ‘put on‘, to activate it from its, otherwise, dormant and dispassionate state. Ours is not to ‘cultivate‘ the Christ Life through plastic religiosity and striving. Salvation is way more! It is Jesus Christ. He is Salvation. It is His Life freely given. Likewise, Righteousness is not a legal pronouncement of acquittal for a transgression or evil perpetrated. It is the Eternal Relationship of the Triune God: the Supreme, Love Union of Father and Son in Holy Spirit. Living Light in Communion with Living Light. This is why Jesus said only The Son knows the Father (and that, form all eternity!) No one else does!

He came to introduce you to your Papa. Grace. As He is now, so are you, the Righteousness of God in Christ: a son, face to face with Papa. His Sonship is your sonship. As we have discussed before, we have our being in Him. All creation is in Him, held together by Him, sustained by Him.

The Law was given by Moses, but he was not the Law. But Grace came through Jesus Christ. He is Himself, Grace! He gave Himself, emptied Himself, bringing an end to the old Adamic existence poisoned with a cancerous, fallen and distorted identity, and crucified it, buried it and raised all to new Life in Himself.

The Finished Work of the Cross is not to be disconnected from the Person of Christ. It was not an event where Jesus declared some external work was completed, although it was in part thus. He did not fix a broken machine to then set it on manual mode, ascending unchanged and unaffected to a former existence, becoming a spirit guide for us! More than this, the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is just that. It is the Good News that it was Jesus Christ who died, descended and rose again taking us all with Him. This is why we must grasp and be awakened to who Jesus Christ actually is: Christology. As the eternally Begotten Son of God, and the Creator and Sustainer of all Things and as the anointed one of Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ came to take away our broken humanity, our distorted diabolical mindsets and false identity and redeem Real humanity in Himself. He is the Rock from which we were cut. Jesus is the Image and Likeness of the invisible God in flesh, in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwell. In Him we are made whole. Our innocence restored and redeemed. (Col. 2:9 -12)

As unbelievable as it sounds to our minds’ well trodden path, our humanity is only found in His Humanity: it is called, the vicarious Humanity of Christ. Whatever happened to Him happened to us. This is why Paul was so blown away, why his Hebraic mindset was totally short circuited. He saw it. He saw that the Son of Man was the Son of God. He saw Christ revealed in him and he in Christ. There is an astoundingly good reason why Paul uses in language and co language. Jesus Christ, the Eternally Begotten Son of God, Homoousios to Patre, fully God and fully Man, sits in His humanity in the Trinity and we are in Him. Our human existence is His! Our believing and knowing this Truth, sets us Free.

Co-crucified, co-descended, co-raised, co-seated, all are now new creations in Christ. This is not one of many offers available on the table of the world’s religious banquet for us to pick at and choose what we like. This is Reality. This is Truth. There is no one alive who does not breathe Christological air, who does not live and move and have their very being in Christ. It was ever thus! Holy Spirit is awakening us to the Person of Jesus Christ and to the astounding Gospel of Grace that all are included, and we never had any say in the matter! That’s why it’s Grace. You are not saved by faith. Your belief does not make it real. It does not make the Cross, nor the Life death, resurrection and ascension of Christ more true or ‘now‘ a reality. No! You are saved by Grace. It was a Pure unadulterated Incarnational act of Divine Benevolence and Love that determined and ensured you would be as He always created you to be.

You cannot add to the Finished Work: You cannot make it a Finished Work. There is no single thing for you to do to make it so. Neither is there anything incomplete for the Triune God to one day complete. This event of your co-crucifixion happened 2,000 years ago, before you were born! In a very real yet mystical way, you were redeemed before you were lost. Ha!

Our faith is simply agreeing with Father. Why we would disagree is beyond me, to be honest! Simply agree with Him when He says that He did all and that all is indeed Finished. Our belief will change us, as Holy Spirit awakens us to the Reality of our inclusion and our seamless Union with God in Christ in Holy Spirit.

The Gospel is all about what happened to Him and what became of Him, and all of humanity in Him. It’s about our Identity.

As He Is.

Ger

If this post has blessed you in any way please share with others however you would normally. If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you too, as we awaken together and have our minds rewired to the Gospel of Grace! Thank you for reading!