Colin S. Smith's Blog, page 50

Why Jesus Finished His Work on The Cross for You

In the previous article, I addressed what Jesus finished on the cross. Jesus finished the long night of his suffering, the full course of obedience, the decisive battle with his enemy, and the complete work of his atonement.  

Maybe you know these things. But do you know why you need Jesus Christ? Or do you know why Jesus finished all these things on the cross for you?  

You Haven’t. But with Him you Will.

There was only one person in the history of the world who could ever truly say, “It is finished.”  

No one will be able to say it when they die, because no one will be able to say it while they live. None of us will be able to say to God “I brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.”  

I haven’t been able to say this of a single day of my life. 

As a Christian, you have begun the work of all the commandments, but you have not finished the work of any! I cannot identify a single day of my life that I could say, “I lived that day to perfection.” 

Every Saturday, every Sunday, every day of the week, we are in the position of saying, “We have done the things we ought not to have done. We have not done the things we ought to have done.” And that will never change this side of heaven.  

You may grow in your Christian life, but you will never move beyond being a believing sinner. Spurgeon says: 

“We can find a thousand flaws in our best works; and when we lie dying, we shall still have to lament our shortcomings and excesses.” [i] 

Sinners on earth can never say, “It is finished,” and neither can sinners in hell. Christ finished. You haven’t. But with him you will.  

Why Christ Finished His Work for You 

Here’s what you get when Jesus is yours. Or to say that another way, like the New Testament does, here’s what is yours “in Christ.” 

1.) Jesus completed the work of atonement, so in Christ you are forgiven, accepted, and loved. 

If you are in Christ, you don’t have to do something else to be loved and accepted. All that you need is in Christ. If he is yours then love, forgiveness, and acceptance are yours. You are accepted in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6 KJV). 

2.) Jesus completed the full course of obedience, so in Christ you have already lived a righteous life. 

Jesus has lived it for you. If your hope of heaven rested on your works, it could never stand. Your works are not complete; they’re not finished. If your hope depended, in any degree, on your own works, something you had to do in addition to what he has done, your hope could never stand.  

But when your hope of heaven rests on Christ’s work, that hope is secure, because Christ’s work is complete, “It is finished.” Luther says: 

The law says, “do this,” and it is never done. But grace says, “believe in this,” and everything is done already. [ii]  

Some of us are living under the law and it is never done. You will never have joy as long as you live here.  

In Christ you have already lived a righteous life. He lived it for you. You are complete in him (Colossians 2:10). Just as your sins were laid on Jesus and counted as his. His righteousness is draped on you and counted as yours:

God made him who knew no sin to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

3.) Jesus completed the decisive victory over Satan, so in Christ the devil is a defeated foe. 

Some of you look at your family history and you can see the work of Satan, the destroyer, running over generations. You wonder if some kind of curse hangs over your family. You ask, “What does this mean for me?”  

I say to you on the authority of Scripture, no curse can stand against you, if you are in Christ. How could it? He won the decisive victory over Satan on the cross. 

Maybe you find yourself overwhelmed by the strong pull of temptation. Satan knows your weakness and he has been running rampant in your life because of it. You have failed so many times that you’ve got to the place where you can hardly imagine prevailing over this enemy. 

General Booth was the founder of the Salvation Army. One day his granddaughter, Catherine, was getting ready to speak at an open-air meeting for the first time. She was nervous and said to her grandfather, “I don’t know if it will be much good, but I’ll do my best.”

The old general said to her, “Catherine, with Christ you can do better than your best.” 

Let that be an encouragement when you feel defeated. You have done your best and you’ve failed. With Christ you can do better than your best. In Christ your enemy is a defeated foe, which is why the apostle Paul said, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). 

4.) Jesus completed the long night of his suffering, so in Christ your suffering will lead to glory. 

No suffering lasts forever. Weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Look at the resurrection body and the new creation.

All this is your when Christ is yours—no more sin, no more pain, no more tears, no more death. Christ finished. You haven’t. But with him you will!

Photo Credit: Unsplash



[This article was adapted from Pastor Colin’s sermon, “Crossing the Finish Line,” from his series 7 Words from the Cross.]

_______ 

[i] C. H. Spurgeon sermon, “Christ’s Dying Word for His Church”  

[ii] Martin Luther from the Heidelberg disputation, article #26, 1518 http://bookofconcord.org/heidelberg.php

The Sinfulness of Sin (Ralph Venning)

[Editorial Note: Throughout the month of April, we’ll replace our normal Key Connections with one Key Connection from the Puritan era. Today, we have an excerpt from Ralph Venning’s Sin, The Plague of Plagues (Section Two: The Sinfulness of Sin). This is an edited and condensed excerpt, and you can find the original here.] 

Sin is a transgression of God’s law, which is not only holy and just, as made and given by a holy and just God, but [the law is] also good, as it respects man, for whom God made it, according to our text and its context, and as it is in Deuteronomy 5:29 and 6:24, and many other places.

I say, sin being a transgression of God’s law, which was made for man’s good, the sinfulness of sin must needs lie in this, that it is contrary (1) to God, (2) to man. These then are the two heads I shall dwell upon, to declare the malignity and wicked nature of sinful sin.  

[Sin is] deservedly worthy of the hatred of God and man. And I heartily wish that the outcome will be that man may hate it as God does. 

Sin’s Contrariety to God  

The sinfulness of sin not only appears from, but consists in this: that it is contrary to God. Indeed, it is contrariety and enmity itself.

Carnal men, or sinners, are called by the name of enemies to God (Romans 5:8, 10; Colossians 1.21); but the carnal mind or sin is called enmity itself (Romans 8:7).

Contrary to God’s Attributes 

Sin is contrary to all the names and attributes of God. It sets itself in opposition to them all: 

It denies God’s all-sufficiency. As if there were not contentment and satisfaction enough to be had in the enjoyment of God… Every prodigal who leaves the Father’s house says in effect, it is better to be elsewhere. It challenges the justice of God, and dares God to do his worst (Malachi 2.17). It provokes the Lord to jealousy, and tempts him to wrath. It disowns his omniscience. Pooh! they say, God does not see, nor does the most High regard. 



Contrary to God’s Work  

Sin is contrary to the works of God. It works contrary to God, and it is contrary to God’s works, and is called the work of the devil (1 John 3:8).

All God’s works were good exceedingly, beautiful even to admiration; But the works of sin are deformed and monstrously ugly, for it works disorder, confusion, and everything that is abominable.

Contrary to God’s Law and Will  

Sin is contrary to the law and will of God, to all the rules and orders of his appointment. There is not one of his laws which it has not broken, and endeavoured to make void and of none effect. 

Sin is an anti-will to God’s will; it sets itself to oppose preaching, prayer, and all the institutions of God. And it does this, not only out of envy to man, that he should not be the better for them, but out of enmity to God, that he should not be worshipped in the world.  

Before we pass on, let me beseech you, whoever you are who read this, to pause a little and consider what is said. For what is said of sin is to be considered by the sinner, and is meant of your and my sin.  

Shall I not plead for God and your soul, and entreat you to be on God’s side, and to depart from the tents of wickedness? Poor soul! Can you find it in your heart to hug and embrace such a monster as this? Will you love that which hates God, and which God hates? God forbid! 

Sin’s Contrareity to Man  

To proceed more distinctly, and in detail, I shall show that sin is against man’s good, both present and future, here in time and hereafter to eternity, in this life and world which now is and in that to come. It is against all and every good of man, and against the good of all and every man. 

Contrary to Man’s Present Good, In This Life  

 It has corrupted man’s blood, and made his body mortal, thereby rendering it a vile body. Our bodies, though made of dust, were more precious than the fine gold; but when we sinned, they became vile bodies.  

Before sin our bodies were immortal (for death and mortality came in by sin), but now alas they must return to dust. 

It is against man’s well-being in this life. Well-being is the life of life, and sin bears us so much ill-will, that it deprives us of our livelihood, and of that which makes it worth our while to live. Man was born to a great estate, but by sin, which was and is treason against God, he forfeited all. 

Sin is against the quiet of a man’s natural conscience. It wounds the spirit and makes it intolerable.  

Sin is against the beauty of man. It takes away the loveliness of men’s very complexions; it alters the very air of their countenance. 

Sin is against the loving and conjugal co-habitation of soul and body. They were happily married, and lived lovingly together for a while, till sin sowed discord between them, and made them jar. 

Contrary to Man’s Future Good 

[Sin] has brought on man that eternal death, damnation. In this life, man, by reason of sin, is in deaths often, but in the life to come he is in death for ever.  

If sin had only wronged man in this life, which is but for a moment, it would not have been so serious. But sin’s miserable effects are everlasting: if mercy does not prevent, the wicked will die and rise to die again, the second and a worse death.  

There is a resurrection to life for the righteous, the children of the resurrection; and for the wicked a resurrection to condemnation or to death–for this is opposed to life (John 5.29). 

[Sinners]… suffer the loss of all their peace. It is true, the wicked have no real and solid peace here, for there is no peace to the wicked, saith my God (Isaiah 48:22; 57:2I).

Sinners… lose the hopes they had of Heaven. Wicked men have no reason to hope for Heaven and yet they will hope, though against hope.  

They must be without Heaven which they hoped for; not only without their hopes of Heaven. To have parted with their hopes for possession of Heaven would have been no loss, but gain; but to part with their hopes and with Heaven as well is a double loss. 

They must suffer the loss of God himself, who is the Heaven of Heaven. All good things are like a drop in the ocean in comparison with him: “Whom have I in heaven but you” (Psalm 73:25). 

[Finally,] they shall continue utterly incapable of any alteration for the better… In this world there is a door of hope, a day, an offer, and means of grace, space for repentance, a Mediator in Heaven, a patient God, and a possibility of being blessed.

But once [condemned], the door is shut and it is in vain to knock. 

Conclusion  

I have now dealt with the way in which sin is contrary to the good of man in this life and in the life to come. But let me urge you, Reader, to consider what has been said.  

I do this so that you may be more afraid of sin than of hell; for had it not been for sin, hell should not have been, and you will never be in hell if you repent and believe the gospel.

Photo Credit: Unsplash 

34 Powerful and Shareable Easter Quotes

For thousands of years, Christians around the world celebrate Easter by rejoicing in the risen Christ. We grieve Jesus’s last hours that were marked by betrayal, humiliation, torture, and agony. We humble ourselves in gratitude for his innocent blood shed for our behalf.

And most gloriously, we rejoice at his victory over death and the grave!

Christ’s victory is our victory. Our debts are paid, and our tarnished records are wiped clean before a just, holy God. Believers inherit his victory over death through faith in the resurrected Savior King. 

As we ponder these quotes about Christ’s death and resurrection, may we hold them close to our hearts and apply them to our lives as redeemed sons and daughters of the risen King. He is risen; he is risen indeed! 

Sin 

“Never did God so manifest His hatred of sin as in the death and suffering of His only begotten Son. Hereby He showed Himself unappeasable to sin, and that it was impossible for Him to be at peace with it.” ― Jonathan Edwards 

“[Jesus] became the final Priest and the final Sacrifice. Sinless, he did not offer sacrifices for himself. Immortal, he never has to be replaced. Human, he could bear human sins. Therefore he did not offer sacrifices for himself; he offered himself as the final sacrifice. There will never be the need for another.” ― John Piper 

“Thou Son of the Blessed, what grace was manifest in Thy condescension! Grace brought Thee down from heaven; Grace stripped Thee of Thy glory; Grace made Thee poor and despicable; Grace made Thee bear such burdens of sin, such burdens of sorrow, such burdens of God’s curse as are unspeakable.” ― John Bunyan 

The Blood of Jesus 

“The only answer in these modern times, as in all other times, is the blood of Christ. When our conscience rises up and condemns us, where will we turn? We turn to Christ. We turn to the suffering and death of Christ—the blood of Christ. This is the only cleansing agent in the universe that can give the conscience relief in life and peace in death.” ― John Piper 

“God declares to us that Jesus Christ, who once had His side pierced, today has His heart open, as it were, that we may have assurance of the love that He bears us; that as He once had His arms fastened to the cross, now He has them wide open to draw us to Himself; and that as once He shed his blood, so today He wishes us to be plunged within it.” ― John Calvin 

“I thought I could have leaped from earth to heaven at one spring when I first saw my sins drowned in the Redeemer’s blood.” ― Charles Spurgeon 

“We trample the blood of the Son of God if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins. The only explanation for the forgiveness of God and for the unfathomable depth of His forgetting is the death of Jesus Christ… It is not earned, but accepted… Our Lord does not pretend we are all right when we are all wrong. The atonement is a propitiation whereby God, through the death of Jesus, makes an unholy man holy.” ― Oswald Chambers 

“Christ is so in love with holiness, that at the price of His blood He will buy it for us.” ― John Flavel 

The Cross 

“By the cross we know the gravity of sin and the greatness of God’s love toward us.” ― John Chrysostom 

“All heaven is interested in the cross of Christ, all hell terribly afraid of it, while men are the only beings who more or less ignore its meaning.” ― Oswald Chambers 

“Only at the cross do we see the love of God without ambiguity. Here is God’s farthest reach, His most ambitious rescue effort. God personally came to our side of the chasm, willing to suffer for us and with us. At the cross His love burst upon the world with unmistakable clarity.” ― Erwin Lutzer 

“The cross stands high above the opinions of men and to that cross all opinions must come at last for judgment.” ― A.W. Tozer 

“The Cross is the vindication of God. The Cross is the vindication of the character of God. The Cross not only shows the love of God more gloriously than anything else, it shows His righteousness, His justice, His holiness, and all the glory of His eternal attributes…” ― Martyn Lloyd-Jones 

“Christians have learned that when there seems to be no other evidence of God’s love, they cannot escape the cross… When we suffer there will sometimes be mystery. Will there also be faith? Yes. If our attention is focused more on the cross and on the God of the cross than on the suffering itself.” ― D.A. Carson 

“Faith is the acknowledgment of the entire absence of all goodness in us, and the recognition of the cross as the substitute for all the want on our part. The whole work is His, not ours, from first to last.” ― Horatius Bonar 

Love  

“It was not nails that held Jesus to that wretched cross; it was his unqualified resolution, out of love for his Father, to do his Father’s will… it was his love for sinners like me.” ― D.A. Carson 

“Behold, what manner of love is this, that Christ should be arraigned and we adorned, that the curse should be laid on His head and the crown set on ours.” ― Thomas Watson 

“Who delivered up Jesus to die? Not Judas, for money; not Pilate, for fear; not the Jews, for envy; but the Father, for love!” ― Octavius Winslow 

“God must either inflict punishment or assume it. And He chose the latter course.” ― Erwin Lutzer 

“Love was compressed for all history in that lonely figure on the cross, who said that he could call down angels at any moment on a rescue mission, but chose not to—because of us. At Calvary, God accepted his own unbreakable terms of justice.” ― Philip Yancey 

Christ’s Resurrection 

“The message of Easter is not that Jesus is alive; it is so much more. The message of Easter is that Jesus has risen!” ― Colin Smith 

“Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there.” ― Clarence W. Hall 

“The resurrection was God the Father’s way of authenticating all of the truths that were declared by Jesus.” ― R.C. Sproul 

“We understand and acknowledge that the Resurrection has placed a glorious crown upon all of Christ’s sufferings!” ― A.W. Tozer 

“The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is one of the best attested facts on record. There were so many witnesses to behold it, that if we do in the least degree receive the credibility of men’s testimonies, we cannot and we dare not doubt that Jesus rose from the dead.” ― Charles Spurgeon 

Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time. ― Martin Luther 

“Paul put all of his eggs in the basket of resurrection. If that didn’t happen, then Christianity is just a sham.” ― John Piper 

“After death something new begins, over which all powers of the world of death have no more might.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer 

“And He departed from our sight that we might return to our heart, and there find Him. For He departed, and behold, He is here.” ― Augustine 

Salvation  

“Salvation was bought not by Jesus’ fist, but by His nail-pierced hands; not by muscle but by love; not by vengeance but by forgiveness; not by force but by sacrifice. Jesus Christ our Lord surrendered in order that He might win; He destroyed His enemies by dying for them and conquered death by allowing death to conquer Him.” ― A.W. Tozer 

“Come, and see the victories of the cross. Christ’s wounds are thy healings, His agonies thy repose, His conflicts thy conquests, His groans thy songs, His pains thine ease, His shame thy glory, His death thy life, His sufferings thy salvation.” ― Matthew Henry 

“It is at the cross where God’s Law and God’s grace are both most brilliantly displayed, where His justice and His mercy are both glorified. But it is also at the cross where we are most humbled. It is at the cross where we admit to God and to ourselves that there is absolutely nothing we can do to earn or merit our salvation.” ― Jerry Bridges 

Joy  

“No man shall ever take from me the joy that Christ rose from the dead.” ― Charles Spurgeon 

“The resurrection of Christ is the most joyful event that ever came to pass.” ― Jonathan Edwards 

Photo Credit: Unsplash

Sermon Clip: The One Who Overcame Evil with Good

Think of the evils that were perpetrated against Jesus.   

We usually think about the injustices we endure. But, what about the injustice he endured? What about the violence he suffered? What about how he faced all this alone because he was abandoned by his friends? 

Think about the physical and verbal abuse that was poured out on him. Think about how people mocked him and spit on him and think about how he was beaten over the head again and again. None of us has endured evil as Jesus did.  

But Jesus Christ was not overcome by evil! He overcame evil with good. What was the good with which he overcame evil? 

It was the good of faith.   

He trusted the Father, even when he could not see what the Father was doing. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). 

Yet he later said, “into your hands I commit my Spirit” (Luke 23:46).

It was the good of hope.   

For the joy set before him, he endured the cross. And he was able to deal with the shame (Hebrews 12:2). 

It was the good of love.   

Right there on the cross, Jesus prayed for the enemies who persecuted him. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). And in that prayer, he created room for them to repent.

A good response to the Scriptures today would be to come to God and say, “I don’t want to be overcome by evil! I don’t want to be defined by the evils I have suffered. I don’t want to be shaped by the evils of this world in which I live.” 

There is hope for you in Jesus Christ today. Evil did not overcome him, and if he is with you, and he is for you, and he is in you, it will not overcome you either. 

[This sermon clip is an excerpt from Pastor Colin’s sermon, “Overcoming Evil with Good,” from his series Overcoming Evil.] 

Where Is Baptism in the Order of a Christian Life?

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20) 

Proclaim Christ. Baptize converts. Teach Christians. At the end of the day, that’s what every church and, by implication, every Christian, ought to be about. And the order of those three commands is important.  

Proclaim, baptize, and teach is the order of the plan for disciple-making laid out by Jesus. Yet, I’ve noticed that some genuine disciples of Jesus are living their Christian lives out of order by delaying their baptism.  

Don’t Delay 

Some may delay because they simply do not understand the clarity of the command. Others may delay because they are living with the false assumption that they need to grow more as a believer before they are ready.  

Notice that Jesus did not say, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you until they demonstrate sufficient growth and maturity, and then baptize them.” No—he said, “Go therefore and makes disciples of all nations, baptizing them…” 

Whatever the reason may be, to delay baptism is to live the Christian life out of order. 

This is not merely a matter of getting orders right. Having your baptism in your past is a wonderful encouragement and blessing. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, let me give you three reasons why it’s good to have baptism behind you. 

1. When your baptism is behind you, you have a commitment to keep.  

At a wedding, a couple stands before God, their family, and their friends to make a public commitment to remain faithful to one another. 

For the rest of their lives, they will have a date fixed in their minds when they made unbreakable vows. As a result, when they inevitably face hardships, arguments, and tension in their marriage, they have that commitment to fall back on.

Their love is not based on feelings alone, or compatibility alone, or romance alone. Their love is grounded on a specific commitment, and if they will lean back into their promises to one another, they will find strength to press on.  

The same is true in the Christian life. At baptism, a believer stands before God and their church to make a public commitment to remain faithful to Jesus Christ. For the rest of his life, he will have a date fixed in his mind when he made this unbreakable vow.

As a result, when he inevitable faces suffering, sin, and temptation in his faith, he will have that commitment to fall back on.  

Believer, your relationship with Christ is more than how you feel and how things are going in the moment. You have repented of sin and turned to follow him. And if your baptism is in your past you have a specific date in your life to look back on and remember the commitment you made.  

Remember your baptism and press on (Tim Challies had an excellent article on this point few weeks ago, check it out!),

2. When your baptism is behind you, you have a promise to trust.  

I’ve talked with some Christians who think they cannot get baptized because of some area of sin in their life. They feel like they are losing the fight. They feel like spiritual failures. So, they think they are unworthy of being baptized. 

The truth is, they are unworthy. We all are. However, unworthiness should drive you to baptism and not away from it.  

Becoming a Christian and being baptized are for people who know they are hopeless without Jesus. Baptism is a public declaration: I am a miserable sinner who has found a gracious Savior.  

And when you have been baptized, remembering the truth displayed at your baptism in the past can help you fight sin in your present. 

Consider what Paul says:  

How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:2-4) 

When you are struggling with sin, looking back at your baptism is one more place you can find strength.

When you were baptized your immersion under the water pictured the reality that your sinful nature died with Christ at the cross. The water itself pictured the reality that Christ has cleanses you of all your sin.

Then, when you rose out of the water the reality of your new life in Christ was on display. You have a new life in Jesus! You are free from slavery to sin!

If your baptism is behind you, you can always look back and remember who you are.  

3. When your baptism is behind you, you have a community to help. 

When you stand before your church family, professing faith in Jesus, and being baptized, you are asking for accountability. Baptism ensures that you are not an anonymous Christian.  

As the church hears your testimony and sees your baptism, they now know you as a believer in Jesus. And believers in Jesus are called to spur one another on to love and good works, encouraging one another until the day we stand before our Lord.  

When you are baptized, you open yourself up to this kind of ministry in community, and you will be better for it.

Embrace the order 

So, friend, if you’ve been baptized, never forget the commitment you made, the reality displayed, and the community around you on that day.

Remember your baptism and remain faithful to your Savior.  

And if you are a believer in Jesus but you’ve not yet taken this step of obedience, I hope you see the blessing you’re missing. You’ve trusted the gospel, now receive your baptism, and then continue learning to observe all that Christ commands you. 

Photo Credit: Unsplash

Four Things Jesus Finished on The Cross

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’  With that, he bowed his head and gave up his Spirit. (John 19:30) 

At Easter, Jesus went through the agony of his suffering, enduring all the pains of hell. He has cried out from the depths, but now he’s announcing his victory. He moves into death, not defeated, but triumphant: “It is finished.”

What did Jesus finish? 

1. The long night of his suffering 

I put this first because John described how someone held up a sponge soaked in vinegar on a stick, and the Apostle says, “When Jesus had received the drink, he said ‘It is finished.’” Matthew Henry says: 

When He had received that last indignity in the vinegar they gave Him, He said, “This is the last. I am now going out of their reach.” [i] 

This was the end of his excruciating suffering. Jesus knows suffering from the inside—more than anyone has ever known it. But he is not suffering now. He’s done with that. It is finished. He’s not in the grave either. He’s at the right hand of the Father where he intercedes for us.  

That is of massive importance for us. A suffering world needs a savior who knows about suffering. A savior who is overwhelmed by suffering, a savior who remains in suffering is of no use to us.  

We need a Savior who has triumphed over suffering. That is what we have in Jesus. He was plunged into indescribable suffering, but he was not overcome by it. He came through it and he triumphed in it.  

2. The full course of his obedience 

Remember why Jesus came into the world. The Son of God became a man to live the life you and I would have to live in order to enter heaven. Jesus lived the perfect life. There was no sin in him.

The night before he died, he was able to say to his Father, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4). Spurgeon says: 

Examine the life of the Savior from Bethlehem to Calvary, look minutely at every portion of it, the private as well as the public, the silent as well as the spoken part, you will find that it is finished, complete, perfect.[ii]  

Jesus said, “I have not come to abolish [the law] but to fulfill [it]” (Matthew 5:17). Every commandment of God was fulfilled in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Throughout his life, Jesus loved God the Father with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, and he loved his neighbor as himself. He’s the only person who has ever done it.

Jesus’ perfect life of obedience was now complete and he was about to lay it down, so he said, “It is finished.”  

3. The decisive battle with his enemy 

The life of Jesus was a life of suffering, it was a life of obedience, but it was also a life of conflict with our great enemy the devil. Look at the world today and ask the question: 

Where does evil come from? Why do so many marriages fail? Why do wars keep happening?  

Jesus spoke with absolute clarity about Satan or the devil. Confronting the devil was the first act of Jesus’ public ministry. The Spirit led him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Throughout his ministry we see Jesus casting out evil spirits that were holding human lives in bondage.  

The story of this conflict goes back to the beginning of the Bible. Satan tempted the man and the woman and led them into sin that caused them to lose the joys of the paradise of God.  

They got the knowledge of evil and came under the power of the evil one. That’s been our story ever since. It is the explanation of what we see in the world today.

But God promised that a Redeemer would come, saying to Satan, “You will bite his heel, but he will crush your head” (Genesis 3:15). What a picture!  

God’s promise in Eden is precisely what happened at the cross. In Christ’s death, he breaks the devil’s power:

Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Colossians 2:15)

When Jesus died, he went beyond the reach of Satan. Satan could no longer tempt him. The devil could no longer afflict him or cause him to suffer. When Jesus went into death, it was “game over” for the devil and “game on” for us. The decisive battle with the enemy had been won.  

4. The complete work of his atonement 

Jesus came to seek and save the lost. He came to give his life as a ransom for many, and on the cross he says, “It is finished.” He has borne the guilt of our sins. He has endured the punishment of our hell. The divine wrath has been spent on him. The justice of God has been satisfied in him. 

The perfect sacrifice has been offered. Complete atonement has been made. Hell has been vanquished. The condemnation has been removed.  Now the Redeemer says, “It is finished.” Jonathan Edwards wrote: 

Though millions of sacrifices had been offered; yet nothing was done to purchase redemption before Christ’s incarnation… so nothing was done after His resurrection, to purchase redemption for men. Nor will there be anything more done to all eternity. [v]

What can be added to Jesus’s redemptive work, his death and resurrection? It is finished! His long night of suffering is over. He’s no longer on the cross. The full course of his obedience is over. The decisive battle with his enemy is over.

Christ finished. You haven’t. But with him you will. 

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[This article was adapted from Pastor Colin’s sermon, “Crossing the Finish Line,” from his series 7 Words from the Cross.]

____________  

[i] Matthew Henry, “Commentary on the Whole Bible,” Vol. 5 http://www.ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc5.John.xx.html

[ii] C. H. Spurgeon, sermon #2344, “Christ’s Dying Word for His Church,” Nov. 3, 1889  http://www.spurgeongems.org/vols40-42/chs2344.pdf

[iii] Ronald Wallace, “Words of Triumph,” p. 76, John Knox press, 1964 http://www.amazon.com/Words-triumph-words-Cross-application/dp/B0007IYO9I/

[iv] http://www.billygrahamcenter.com/museum/index.htm 

[v] Jonathan Edwards, “Works,” Vol. 1, p. 572, Banner of Truth, 1974 http://www.billygrahamcenter.com/museum/rotund-Jonathan.htm

How Christ is a Lord to Us (Edward Reynolds)

[Editorial Note: Throughout the month of April, we’ll replace our normal Key Connections with one Key Connection from the Puritan era. Today, we have an excerpt from Edward Reynolds’s An Explication of the Hundred and Tenth Psalm (pp. 14-15). This is an edited and condensed excerpt, and you can find the original here.] 

The apostle [Luke] saith, “that God has made [Jesus] both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). And by the accomplishment of his office, in dying, rising, and reviving, he became Lord both of the dead and living (Romans 14:9).

And thus [Jesus] is Lord in two respects:  

1.) In power and strength

Power to forgive sins; power to quicken whom he will; power to cleanse, justify, and sanctify; power to succour in [give assistance or aid to] temptations; power to raise from the dead; power to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him; power to hold fast his sheep; power to cast out the accuser of the brethren; power to put down down all his enemies, and to subdue all things unto himself.  

2.) In authority

To judge, to anoint, to employ, to command whom and what he will. He only is Lord over our persons, over our faith, over our consciences! To him only we must say, “Lord save us, lest we perish!” And, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” 

Christ was such a Lord to his own forefathers.  

He was the substance of the ceremonies, the doctrine of the prophets, the accomplishment of the promises, they joy and salvation of the patriarchs and princes, the desire and expectation of all flesh.  

The gospel is to us a history and narration, and therefore delivered by the hand of witnesses. [But] to them [the gospel was] a promise and prediction, and therefore delivered by the hand of prophets.  

As the same sun enlightens the stars above and the earth beneath, so the same Christ was the righteousness and salvation both of his forefathers and of his seed.  

If Christ then be our Lord…  

…we must trust in him, and depend upon him for all our present [existence] and our future expectations. For he never faileth those that wait upon him.

“Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 10:11)

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Using Scripture to Focus Your Prayers

Sometimes there is one thing you can change that will create a complete paradigm shift in the ordinary. For me, that was using scripture to focus my prayers.   

What would normally start with an intentional time with God often ended up with me telling God my shopping list! I had great intentions, wanting to tell him how great he is.

But somehow, I often skipped to the part where I treated him like my own Santa Clause. I asked him for things, forgetting who he is and not caring if what I was asking for was really his will or not. 

I added three simple changes to my prayer life and they have made a huge difference: 

Write Down Truths 

The first one is writing down scripture as I am reading the Bible. Each time I read the Bible, I will write out some scripture verses.  I take one scripture from that reading and I pray using a process I learned from Kevin DeYoung: Rejoice, Repent, Request. 

I take a chosen verse, and I find one way I can rejoice in it, one thing I can repent from in my life, and one request that I can find in that verse. Kevin DeYoung gives an example of this:  

Right now I just flipped opened my Bible and landed at Psalm 104. Verse 1 says “Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty.” How might you pray through this verse? Well, at first blush you might see nothing more to do than praise God. “Dear Lord, you are very great. You are clothed with splendor and majesty. Amen.” But try that again with the 3 R’s. 

Rejoice – O Lord, you have richly blessed me more than I deserve… Repent – Forgive me for being blind to your splendor and majesty… Request – Give me eyes to see as you are. Tune my heart to sing your praise.  

Choose with Intention 

The second thing that has helped me is to choose one scripture to pray for a certain amount of time. This not only focuses my prayer life, but by the end of the several days, weeks, or year, I will have memorized the verse so that I may meditate upon it throughout the time: 

Here are some examples: 

When I went on a mission trip, I prayed 2 Timothy 1:7: That God would not give me a spirit of fear, but give me power, love and self-discipline. 



For each of my children, I pick one verse that I pray for them for the whole year:  For my daughter, I pray that she will know she is chosen, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession and that she may declare the praises of Him who called her out of darkness into His wonderful light. (1Peter 2:9) For my boys, I have prayed this command: Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)



With Easter coming, I pray that I will be reminded of this truth: Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). 



Rely on His Promises 

The last change is to look for promises that I can claim as I pray. With each promise, I know that I am praying God’s will and that His gospel will spread:  

Trust in the Lord with all your heart 
Lean not on you won understanding 
In all your ways acknowledge him 
And He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6) 

I grabbed hold of these promises regarding my job and writing. And, I believe God called me to write, but I also feel called to teach and that is one way I can be a helpmate in adding to the finances of our family.

I have a long way to go when it comes to the craft of writing, but God has given me the desire of my heart in allowing me opportunities to share his gospel through writing. 

I knew my prayers lined up with what God promised me in the Bible – I refused to let go. And in due time, this God-given dream came true in my life. 

With each prayer, I find myself drawing closer to God. With each scripture I read, it is like a rush of life-giving breath that reminds me that I am not just on earth “doing the best I can,” but I serve a powerful God who cares deeply for me.   

He is the Lord of my life. He is Lord of all. Each Truth and Promise comes from the One who loves me enough to lay down His life for me. In this knowledge, I know that my prayers are readying me for an eternity of worshipping Jesus.

The Greatest Change

And not only is my eternity secure by his life, but my daily life is transformed because of his death. I no longer have to worry about what to do or what to pray. I no longer have to think about if my past is forgiven because he has already told me my sins are forgiven (Luke 7:48).

By dying to my own desires, and praying the desire of God, I am dying to myself and living out the gospel. And that is the greatest change of all.  

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Three Ways Jesus’ Baptism Defines Our Identity

Baptism is a hugely important part of a Christian’s life and has many facets:  

It is an expression of our faith in the message and person of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:37-38) It is a picture of what Christ has done for us (Romans 6:1-11; Acts 22:16; 1 Corinthians 6:11; Titus 3:5) And, it is a source for our unity with fellow believers (Ephesian 4:4-5; 1 Corinthians 12:13).  

However, one of the most fundamental things baptism does is change our identity. Identity is a constant theme in our day. Our culture pulls us to find our identity and define ourselves according to any number of things in your life.  

But for the Christian, in the act of baptism, God does the work of defining who you are. Jesus’ own baptism shows us this.  

Jesus’ Baptism 

What I want to look at is what his baptism tells us about our identity.

Jesus’ baptism is the archetypal Christian baptism. By that I mean: what happens at Jesus’ baptism is demonstrative of what is true of everyone who is a believer.

So, let’s look at Jesus’ baptism: 

1. Beloved by the Father 

Let me start at the end. When Jesus came up from the water, we read that there was a voice that came from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17).  

The amazing reality of the gospel is that in Jesus is that God says the same thing of us. We see this in the letter to the Galatians:  

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. (Galatians 4:4-5) 

In Jesus Christ, the Father says this of you, “This is my beloved son or daughter, with whom I am well pleased.” You are now defined as a loved child of God, and you have all the benefits and blessings of being one.  

Your status as a child of God is solely dependent on your status of being “in Christ.” This should drive us to live a life of thankful obedience.  

We should wonder at the fact that God has made us his own through adoption in Christ. We should respond with a loving obedience to him. 

2. Indwelt by the Spirit 

Jesus’ baptism took place at the beginning of his earthly ministry. We read in the Gospel of Matthew:  

And behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. (3:16) 

This marked the beginning of his miraculous and prophetic work in Israel and the surrounding regions. It is clear even from the Old Testament prophecies concerning Jesus that he would be anointed by the Spirit for the work that he was called to do (Isaiah 61:1-2).  

Our new identities as believers is that we are indwelt by the Spirit as well. God’s presence is always with us through the Spirit, and the Spirit himself empowers us for all that God calls us to do (Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11). 

Again, this changes the way that we live our lives. With confidence in the Spirit’s work in and through us, we can have fruitful obedience in our lives. Paul encouraged Timothy to continue on in his ministry by appealing to the presence of the Spirit in Timothy’s life when he says:  

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (1 Timothy 1:6-7) 

3. Living in Christ 

Of course, I can’t think of a better picture of the reality that we are in Christ than baptism. Our baptism into Christ is a baptism into his life. Just like Jesus, we have died to our old, sinful ways and have true life in Jesus Christ (Romans 6:1-11). 

But our baptism into Christ is also a recognition that we are to strive to live the life that Christ lived. Paul says as much in his letter to the Galatians:

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20) 

We see this reality in Hebrews 12:1-2 when we are called to follow Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Jesus’ life is now the mold that defines our past (we have died with him), our present (we have new life in him), and our future (we will one day be resurrected as he is).  

Our story is already written. 

Remember Your Baptism 

The waters of baptism do not magically transfer these realities to us. Rather, our baptism stands as a tangible sign to us of what God has done in Jesus. He has radically redefined us. So much so that we are now beloved children of God, indwelt by the Spirit in order to live new lives in Christ.  

So Christian, on days when you feel weak in your faith, far from God, or challenge by the life God has called you too, look to Christ’s baptism. 

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10 Popular Psalms to Increase Your Joy this Easter

Which psalm is your favorite? I pray that these 10 psalms increase your joy and make your soul overflow with love for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

1.) Psalm 1  

Blessed is the man 
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, 
nor stands in the way of sinners, 
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 
but his delight is in the law of the Lord, 
    and on his law he meditates day and night. 

It is only because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross that I can call myself blessed. For it was his act of redemption that took me from my walking “in the counsel of the wicked” to my delighting “in the law of the LORD.”  

2.) Psalm 2 

Now therefore, O kings, be wise; 
    be warned, O rulers of the earth. 
Serve the Lord with fear, 
    and rejoice with trembling. 
Kiss the Son, 
    lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, 
    for his wrath is quickly kindled. 
Blessed are all who take refuge in him. 

Here’s a word for both those who have great authority and those who are below someone with great authority: No earthly authority can compare with the authority given to Jesus Christ!

He came as the Lamb, sacrificed for us at Easter, but he will come again as the Lion. Psalm 2 tells us that we have nothing to worry about if we take refuge in Christ!

3.) Psalm 16 

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; 
    my flesh also dwells secure. 
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, 
    or let your holy one see corruption. 

You make known to me the path of life; 
    in your presence there is fullness of joy; 
    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. 

Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin so that we could be free from sin. Instead of leaving us to our own corruption, he has promised to perfect us.

His victory over death on Good Friday and Easter Sunday mean we have access to the “path of life.” In him we have joy. Not just now, but forevermore!

4.) Psalm 18 

The cords of death encompassed me;  
    the torrents of destruction assailed me;  
the cords of Sheol entangled me;  
    the snares of death confronted me.  

In my distress I called upon the Lord;  
    to my God I cried for help.  
From his temple he heard my voice,  
    and my cry to him reached his ears. 

The Easter seasons reminds us of an important truth. When we face great difficulty, when it seems like evil is going to win, God hears our cry. Even if it seems like he does not hear you, he does.  

Good Friday reminds us that Jesus understands this feeling too. He suffered greatly on the cross. Pastor Colin writes concerning this:  

God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). That’s his promise. But there will be dark times in your life when you cannot feel the love or presence of God. When these times come, you need to know Jesus has been there. 

5.) Psalm 20 

May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! 
    May the name of the God of Jacob protect you! 
May he send you help from the sanctuary 
    and give you support from Zion! 
May he remember all your offerings 
    and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! 

In the Old Testament, people had to offer sacrifices to atone for their sins. These were regular and repetitive. But that changed when Jesus shed his blood on the cross as the perfect lamb and rose again. Jesus’s offering was a once-for-all sacrifice to atone for our past, present, and future sins.  

God will remember this sacrifice, as Jesus “always lives to make intercession” (Hebrews 7:25) for us. I pray that we always remember Christ! 

6.) Psalm 23 

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 
    I will fear no evil, 
for you are with me; 
    your rod and your staff, 
    they comfort me. 

Perhaps you are thinking, David was hand-picked by the Lord to be king. It’s no wonder he did not fear evil given his close relationship with the Lord.  

But you were hand-picked too as an adopted son or daughter (Ephesians 1:4-5)! Also, Jesus Christ defeated death and evil on the cross! What then is left to fear? 

7.) Psalm 37 

In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; 
    though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. 
But the meek shall inherit the land 
    and delight themselves in abundant peace. 

Jesus has defeated death and evil on the cross. It is imminent that one day there will be no more wickedness. Today, I do not have to look very far to find evil. But there will soon be a day when, no matter how hard I try, I will not be able to find it.  

Meekness is the way of the future. As Christ displayed an unmatched meekness on the cross, so we should imitate his meekness as we strive to be holy.  

8.) Psalm 90   

For we are brought to an end by your anger; 
    by your wrath we are dismayed. 
You have set our iniquities before you, 
    our secret sins in the light of your presence. 

As sinners, we deserve God’s wrath. God’s anger is not unfair but fair. Not injustice but justice. But God descended to earth, took on flesh, in order to die for our sins.  

Jesus faced the death we had brought upon ourselves so that we could face life eternal.  

9.) Psalm 91  

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High 
    will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 
I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, 
    my God, in whom I trust.” 

Reader, I urge you to join the psalmist here and say, “My refuge and my fortress, Jesus, my savior, in whom I trust!”  

10.) Psalm 103 

Bless the Lord, O my soul, 
    and all that is within me, 
    bless his holy name! 
Bless the Lord, O my soul, 
    and forget not all his benefits, 
who forgives all your iniquity, 
    who heals all your diseases, 
who redeems your life from the pit, 
    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 
who satisfies you with good 
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 

This Easter season, remember the work of Jesus Christ, our savior. Forget not that he paid the penalty for all your sins. Forget not that he took on the death you deserved and gave you the life he earned. And forget not that he crowns you as a royal son or daughter in him.

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