THE COMPLETED WORK OF CHRIST
“I have glorified You on the earth by completing the work You gave Me to do.” John 17:4 (HCSB)
The completed work of Christ in the life of every believer begins with the Savior seeking us and ultimately culminating with our being presented faultless before the throne of God after our sojourn on this earth is finished. Every aspect, from His seeking us to our ultimate glory, is a work of divine grace. We have no difficulty testifying to this because we are quite aware that our salvation is not of our works but of His amazing grace. We will let the Scriptures take us from our sinful and unbelieving past to our future glory when we shall be like Him (I John 3:2).
I. HE SEEKS AND SAVES US!
"for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:10 (NKJV)
“Then Jesus told them this parable: ‘Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home.’” Luke 15:3-6a (NIV)
"Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12
II. HE SECURES US!
"And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” John 10:28
“Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:12-14
“Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” 2 Corinthians 1:21-22
III. HE SANCTIFIES US!
“By whose will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all.” Hebrews 10:10 (Greek translation)
Sanctify means “set apart”. It appears in the Bible in three aspects:
1. Positional sanctification is received at the moment of salvation and given to us solely and completely by the grace of God. All born-again believers are seen as totally sanctified in Christ. It is this positional sanctification that Paul referred to I Corinthians 6:11, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” Paul clearly taught that those who were saved (washed) were also sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus.
2. Experiential sanctification is the moment by moment seeking of His will in our life. We are instructed in 2 Peter 3:18 to “grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” It is in the experiential aspect of sanctification that Paul wrote to the church at Philippi. “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12-13
3. Ultimate sanctification will occur at the resurrection or translation of our mortal bodies. This aspect of sanctification cannot be more perfectly expressed than in the pastoral benediction of Jude (verses 24-25). “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”
IV. HE SUPPLIES US!
“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
No one was more qualified to proclaim such assurance. One only has to read his testimony.
“Are they servants of Christ? (I am talking like I am out of my mind!) I am even more so: with much greater labors, with far more imprisonments, with more severe beatings, facing death many times. Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with a rod. Once I received a stoning. Three times I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I spent adrift in the open sea. I have been on journeys many times; in dangers from rivers, in dangers from robbers, in dangers from my own countrymen, in dangers from Gen-tiles, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, in dangers at sea, in dangers from false brothers, in hard work and toil, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, many times without food, in cold and without enough clothing.” 2 Corinthians 11:23-27. (New English Translation)
Paul’s life was anything but a cakewalk but he testified to the Corinthians that God saw him through the trials and difficulties he experienced. None of us, I am sure, have experienced anything near what Paul did, but we can testify that God will supply our every need and see us through every trial because He has never failed us over our lifetimes. How wonderful is the God we serve!
