Arms Open Wide

Only knowing His arms are open wide for you, can yours be open wide for Him!

He has done it! It is finished!

... He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. (John 19:30)

Have you ever asked yourself this question? If the work is all finished by Jesus Christ on the cross, why then are we still doing all these works as if it is still not finished? Works like plan a whole year events, organize activities to attract more comers, more happening in the house groups, set a target to achieve in the numbers - be it in membership or in tithing or plan for a new Church building. Even writing a blog such as this. The list goes on...

What exactly is finished? Does it mean Christ only finished the work of Salvation and we are to bring the gospel out to the lost? Or does it mean Christ has finished His part and now we have to do our part? Do you seriously think all these works that we do add anything to the finished work of Christ? What do you think Christ has finished?

Hold your horses and hold your stones. What am I saying here? Am I saying not to do the work of the ministries? Am I saying go and live a lazy and unproductive life and just wait for the day of Salvation to come? Certainly not! How shall we who are in Christ live a lazy life?

[Heb 6:10-12] 10 God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

[Heb 4:9-11] There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.

[John 19:28] After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled... [John 19:30] ... He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

From the verses above, we see that God is not unjust. He always remember our good work. And God also wants us to enter into His rest and we too rest from our own work. So now what is our good work that God remembered and what is our own work that He does not want us to do? The answer is found in "It is finished!" - the faith to believe all things have been accomplished in Christ. The work that we do, if we do it thinking that our effort will add something to His Kingdom, thinking that our effort counts for something, it has become dead work and that is disobedience to God. On the other hand the same work that we do but believing that Christ has already accomplished it on the cross, it is considered good work to God. The answer is not in the type of work we do but in the manner we believed.

We can plan a whole year events, but if we think that those events will contribute to the His Kingdom, His Salvation plan because we do it, we have failed. But if we believe that those events are part of His Salvation plan that He has placed in our hearts. And we are just executing His plan according to His timing which He has already accomplished it, we have succeeded. That's called "mixed with faith" (Heb 4:2). That of course if you can believe.

Ever wonder why sometime we find it hard to believe yet sometime it is so easy? In Christ all things have been accomplished including your faith to believe. Set your heart unto Him and He shall lead you in the path of righteousness to execute His plan and give you the faith to believe according to His time. Hear Him!

Read more on "It is finished!"

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Previous posted - 22nd April 2009

A posterity shall serve Him. It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation, They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, That He has done it. (Psa 22:30-31 NIV)

After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!" Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. (John 19:28-30)

What is finished? The will of the Father is finished, is accomplished on the cross. Why He thirst? So that you will never thirst because He gave you a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (John 4:14) Why sour wine? He took your sorrow, your sadness, your suffering, your sour life and gave you His peace and joy, His happiness, His riches and honor, His sweet and beautiful life, His everlasting life... God's kind of life. All that needs to be done is done by Christ on the cross. Therefore He said "It is finished" even your faith. If you can believe is because you are chosen. If you are not, you won't even bother. Always praise God, always thank Him. If not for Jesus... it will be "I am finished!" for you and I. Hear Him!

Who you really are

[Rom 6:9-11] 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The title of this message is "Who you really are". In a normal day when you were asked: "How are you today?" I guess your answer would be: "I am fine, thank you". And if you are a believer like me and you were sick and feeling lousy that day, what would be your answer? My point is how often do we go back to our old selves instead of seeing ourselves a new creation in Christ? Especially in time of troubles. When we are sick, we would say by His stripes we are healed (Isa 53:5). When we have no money, we would say by His grace though He was rich, yet for my sake He became poor, that I through His poverty might become rich (2Co 8:9). But do we say it so that we can be healed or to become rich? Or do we say it because we are already healed and already rich? Do you agree that the answer is not in what we confessed but knowing who we really are in Christ? Most of us who are in Christ know that Christ is the answer to all our problems and we prayed and asked Christ to solve all our problems instead of seeing ourselves healed and prosperous.

[Gal 2:20] I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

[Rom 6:4] Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. [1Co 1:30] But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

Now who is living your life? You or Christ? Are you still in the driver's seat? You probably answered: I have already let go everything of myself and allow Christ to live my life. I know I am nothing in my flesh and I needed Christ and that's why I received Him as my Saviour and my Lord. How could you possibly say that I am still in the driver's seat? Many of us believed in Christ and know that He is living in us through our lives and we are counting on Him to change our lives, our situations yet we still feel the pain, we still are broke. Why? And I understood those verses quoted above and I totally agreed that it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me. Now you tell me why am I still feel the pain? Why am I still broke?

I believe this is the answer...

If you see your pain, you still live your life. If you see your lack, you still of yourself. You may ask how is it possible not to see my pain when I am feeling it in my body? How not to see my lack when I can't pay my bills? Yes, it is possible. You need to know what is the Truth and what is not. The Truth is in the Spirit and not in the flesh and the only way to the Truth is knowing who you really are in Christ. Read on!

Truly truly know Him

Jesus said: "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6) and "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last." (Rev 22:13) . God said: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen 1:1). He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (John 1:2-3)

Truly truly know you

When we say we are in Christ, that is to say we are also in the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth. We were also in the beginning with God and all things were made for you and I who are in Christ Jesus and Christ is the Truth! Hallelujah!

Now do you see who you really are? Do you not see the Truth still? I pray that you do. And if you do you should be very very excited now. You should be the happiest person in the whole world now. Do you see that you already have everything in the heavens and on earth? Everything was made just for you. Everything that is of God is yours! And that's the Truth. And it is real and it is for now and not somethings to come in the future. It is done two thousand years ago when Jesus said "It is finished!" on the cross. God is a Spirit and so is Christ and so are you. So see not the flesh but see and live according to the Spirit, according to the Truth, you shall reign in life.

Now do you still see your pain real? Why still holding on to yourself? Why still walk according to the flesh? For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. (Rom 6:10) Likewise for He died, you died to sin in your flesh and the life you now live, you live unto Christ in the Spirit. Praise God for Christ has done it all and gave us the Spirit of life to live on. So now see yourself who you really are in Christ. Let go of the flesh and walk in the Spirit to live out that abundant life on earth as it is in heaven. Behold unto Christ Jesus our Savior and our Lord for by Him only, we shall be transformed. Hear Him!

The promise of entering His rest still stands

The book of Hebrews was written specifically to the Jews in around AD 65. Though it was addressed to the Jews but I strongly believe it is also applicable to us - the end time Christians. Let us read with an open mind and be led by the Holy Spirit for our understanding.

[Heb 4:1-3] 1 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. 2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. 3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, "So I declared on oath in My anger, "They shall never enter my rest.'" And yet His work has been finished since the creation of the world.

Here what do you see? What do you think God meant by His rest? Do you see that entering into His rest the same as entering His promised land? If they are the same, do you see that a physical event of the past or a physical event to come or something spiritually happening now? What do think is the "faith" mentioned in verse 2? What have we now believed enter that rest in verse 3?

My points of view:

His rest is the day the Lord rested from all His work which He had created over the six days. (Gen 2:2-3) It is the last day of the week - the seventh day, the day of rest and also called the day of Sabbath meaning a Holy day. One day of God is like a thousand years on earth, (2Pe 3:8) and so the last day also indicates the last one thousand years on earth. Since Adam till now six thousands years has come and gone according the time scale recorded in the Bible. Do you agree that we are about to enter into the seventh day, the last one thousand years on earth, the day of His rest?

I see that entering into His rest and entering into the promised land as one. It is an event of the past as well as one to come. In (Jos 1: 1-2) Joshua led the new generation of the children of Israel into the promised land is just a typology of the last day when Jesus will bring the new generation Church into His rest. That's why the author of Hebrews said "since the promise of entering His rest still stands" and warn us not to fall short of it like our forefathers without faith. Not believing in God's way which is by the His Grace and not by the works of men. Now we who have believed enter that rest through the Son of God, our Saviour Jesus Christ and by His Grace that we are redeemed and not by our works of the law. That tells me not everyone will enter into His rest because of unbelief.

I believe it is also an event of something spiritually happening now as it is stated now we who have believed enter that rest and I believe we are already in His rest. Jesus prayed "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Mat 6:10) And in (1Jn 4:17) says "because as He is, so are we in this world". That tells me for those who are in Christ have already entered into His rest spiritually. You may asked "why then am I still struggler in life?" You see all things in the physical world come forth from the spiritual world. You still see lack because you still live according to the flesh. As in (Rom 8:10) says if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Only when we live according to the Spirit knowing who we are in Christ, we can not see lack but only see abundant life.

I know you may think that I'm not being sensible saying "How could I possibly ignore the pain and pretend the bills aren't there?" Or even if what I said is true, you may say "It is easy to say but hard to do". I totally agreed it is not easy but that's what God called faith... the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Heb 11:1) But hang in there and don't give up because Christ is in us our hope of glory (Col 1:27) and we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2Co 3:18) Let us set our eyes unto Jesus for we walk by faith, not by sight. (2Co 5:7) and He shall transform us in due time. Only hear Him!