Sunday, June 12, 2011

DONE!

There is an older gentleman in our church who wears a lapel pin with simply the word "DONE" on it.
Webster's definition of the word "done" is: Quite finished and relegated to the past. To have done with, to put an end to, to have finished with.

One of the great satisfactions in life is to have a task completed, especially it's completed in a way that makes you proud of the accomplishment. It seems we humans are always "doing". We always have a list of things we want to get done. The same is true of how we think about things in the Spiritual realm, especially in our service to our Creator. If we are sensitive to our relationship to God we are constantly making promiese to ourselves and to "Him" that we are "going to DO better." Perhaps that means we're going to try to be kinder to our fellow man, more loving to our family, more active in our Church, Synagogue, Mosque, etc. I think all of us would agree that there is always room for improvement, that we could always do things better than we are doing at the present time.
Did you ever consider that when Jesus lived His life here among us that He had a task to accomplish also? Even though the Bible records that he spent the last three years of His life teaching about the things of God and healing the sick, even raising the dead back to life, the main message of the Gospels is that Jesus' primary task , or objective, was to... "die."
A lot of people will tell you that the death of Jesus Christ on a Roman Cross was one of history's greatest mistakes, one of life's greatest tragedies. The Bible, and Jesus Himself, would disagree with that conclusion.
Jesus said, "I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him (God the Father) who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me. That everyone who looks to the Son of God and believes in Him shall have eternal life." (John 6:39-40)...
He also said, concerning the time immediately proceeding His death on the cross, "What shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour." (John 12:27)....
You see, Jesus' primary purpose on earth was to die. The Bible teaches that the death of Jesus was of utmost significance because, through His death, Jesus was paying the penalty (punishment) for all the sins you and I have ever committed in our lives. He died in our place so that the justice of God could be accomplished and that by simply believing in what he did for us, we could be saved from facing judgment for our sins. Jesus was able to do this because He was uniquely God in human flesh. HE was (is) the Creator, Who died on behalf of His creation (you and I).
Jesus said an interesting thing as He was dying on the cross. He said, "It is finished."

What was finished?....

The sacrifice for our sins. He had paid the price for our sins once and for all. He had DONE it all on the cross...and then confirmed it three days later when he arose from the dead.

What do we have to "DO" to be in a right relationship with God? Simply believe what Jesus has already done and accept it by faith on our behalf. The Bible says, "It is by GRACE you have been saved, through FAITH, (believing what Jesus has already done),... it is the GIFT of God, not by "works"... (Ephesians 2:8-9)....

The elderly gentleman in our church realized that he had found something very profound in believing the good news of the Gospel, ... and it could be summed up in the one little word "DONE".
It is a profound message....and a life-changer....

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