Unfinished!
Read: Genesis 2:1-3; John 19:28-30; Revelation 21:1-8
I was weeding this morning, and I was once again surprised at how quickly the little intruders grow. Okay, sometimes they are downright massive intruders. If you will, "weedzillas." I thought about how weeding is never truly finished at least during the growing season. Sometimes while pulling, I think of meeting Adam and Eve and giving them what for, but then, I remember my own sin and realize how thankful I'll be just to be with them in heaven. Thank You Jesus for seeking and saving me, Luke 19:10!
As I thought about the weeds, I was reminded of the many things on this side of heaven that are never finished. Consider tiny shards of glass. You know the kind that go flying after something breaks. It doesn't matter how many times the floor is swept and mopped. All of a sudden, there is one of those little things lodged under something that we have moved five times. Finding hidden shards seems as if it is never finished. Consider the need to apologize for an untimely or unnecessary word. How many times have I asked the Lord to place a guard over my mouth, Psalm 141:3? Unfortunately, sometimes I don't pay attention to the nudges of the Holy Spirit; so, there is the ongoing need to ask for forgiveness. Consider dusting. How does dust really make its way far back into corners where I don't think to look for it. Okay, perhaps it is better said that I don't make the time and effort to look for it. Like the other things, dusting is another of those necessary tasks that are truly never finished, but let's turn a corner and talk about Almighty God. The One Who has and will finish all His wondrous work and bring to pass all that He has planned. For today, let's look at three times where God Himself speaks of finishing.
1. Creation. In Genesis 2:1-3, we are told that in six days, the Lord created everything, Genesis 1:1; Hebrews 11:3. All was complete; so, on the seventh day, God's labor ceased, and the seventh day became a reminder of the need to set aside a day of rest.
This week, I read a rabbi's comments about the seventh day. He said that it was given so that God's people might take time to be in awe of what the Lord had created. Instead of work, man should honor God and enjoy rest. For example, I read this from Creation Moments:
"One would never expect to find any insect sharing living arrangements with a spider. That’s why scientists were amazed to find a tiny fly in the rain forests of Central America who shares both room and board with a spider! The fly spends most of his time on the back of the golden web spider, who does not seem to object. This spider does not deal with its victims in the same way most spiders do. When a large insect gets caught in the tough web of the spider, the golden web spider injects the victim with digestive juices to prepare it for eating. The fly keeps track of meal preparations from the spider’s back. Just before the meal is liquefied to the spider’s satisfaction, the fly buzzes over and drinks its fill in a few seconds. By the time the spider approaches lunch, the fly is back napping on the spider. Both the spider and the fly are designed with special features to make this most unlikely arrangement work. If the golden web spider’s eating habits were like most spiders’, there would be no liquefied meal for the fly. The fly itself has a mouth that is specially designed to allow it to drink a full meal in seconds. This helps keep him out of the spider’s way. How can a spider and a fly live together? God can design a solution to any problem. Why design an arrangement between a spider and a fly anyway? So that we would know there is a Creator and that He can meet any challenge! There is nothing you cannot take to Him in the name of His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
What a joy it is to ponder God's wondrous finished work of creation!
2. Salvation. In John 19:28-30, we read the wonderful proclamation of victory spoken by Jesus. "It is finished." The price was fully paid for the sin of the world. Imagine it. There were no loose ends to be tied up. There were no sins that were so ugly that atonement wasn't made for them. That means that there is nothing I can bring to Jesus as an offering for my sin. The payment has been remitted, and nothing can be added.
There will never come a day when the Savior will pull out a paper with sins written on it saying that new evidence has been found about me that will keep me out of heaven. No, the only way I can be kept from heaven would be my failure to have received the gift of salvation that Jesus purchased with His finished work. Corrie Ten Boom gave us a lovely picture of what Jesus did:
When she stood before one of her captors, she was told that there were papers that showed that she had hidden Jewish people. There she stood with that irrefutable record that could have cost her life. By God's mercy, her questioner threw that evidence in the fire. No trace was left. How sweet that was for Corrie. Yet, even sweeter it is that because of Jesus, no record of our sins will ever be found. If we have been born again, John 3:3, this is irrevocably true because Jesus' work is finished.
3. A new kingdom with a forever King. In Revelation 21:1-8, we read about a new kingdom that will be the new home of every believer who has received Jesus, John 1:11-12.
What a list of joyful things we will enjoy.