“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

Finish: (8552) – tamam- to be complete or finished

God’s Provision for all Mankind- Finished:  Genesis 1:31

When God created the heavens and the earth and everything in it, He rested, and saw it was very good.  He was satisfied with all His creation. Nothing was to be added or taken away for all provision was made for mankind whom He predestined to conform into His image in what was created .

Christ’s Work of Atonement- Finished on the Cross: John 19:30

After God made the world and everything in it He began the work of redemption for mankind who had sinned and was eternally fallen and separated from God. But our redemption was predestined and provided by the blood of Christ shed on the cross for all who believe.

The Work of Christ and Faith – Finished: 2 Timothy 4:7-

The earth is a foreign place to the one who believes in God’s salvation and grace. As believers, we are aliens who dwell in temporary shelters and in a temporary place. All the circumstances and trials in our lives are created to transform us into the image of God’s only Son. And when the Holy Spirit has completed His work in us, He completes our faith, He takes us Home to our eternal place- HEAVEN.  

 He has finished the Race of His Faith
Recently my brother-in-law, Lennie, died of COVID-19, but not until God had completed the work he began in him and not until Lennie had finished the race of his faith and was ready to go home. We had believed in a miracle, and God could surely do it, but as we interceded, something greater, was about to take place. And so we released him into our Savior’s arms- His will be done, not ours, but His alone.

God in his grace, love and mercy allowed this father, grandfather and husband to say goodbye to his loved ones, for He heard God’s voice calling him to let go of this life and enter his new life with Him.

A Far Greater Thing
Lennie was almost deaf, and could not hear what anyone was saying unless he could read your lips. But through the prayers of his loved ones, his wife, sons, and daughter,  his ears were opened again, and the conversation between him and his family was greater than it had ever been before. His daughter who worked at the hospital attended with great care, and his wife, my sister, stood with fervent love to guard her beloved husband, in every way in presence and in prayer. But then as the doctor kept proclaiming death over him as he lay fighting for his life, there was a terrible decree brooding and so  they began praying for the doctor who was in danger of losing his soul.

Seed of Salvation
Then it happened, after Lennie was intubated, even sedated He heard the voice of His Savior say, “I want to save Dr. ”…………………..” and so Lennie wrote – it and then he added- ”tell  him what I wrote.”  So, the seed of salvation by Christ’s forgiveness was sown.

Forgive them -Luke 22:42-23:34, Acts 7:59-60
I remember and recall, how our Savior, Jesus Christ made the decision to follow God’s will and not His own, in offering Himself for the salvation of the world, and before He died said, “forgive them for they know not what they do”, in essence and in a different way, Lennie forgave the doctor, too. And then there were others, like Stephen who was stoned for his witness, but before he departed and placed his soul and spirit in his Father’s hands, forgave those who stoned him, and then there was the Apostle Paul, before he left this world proclaimed victory in Christ Jesus because he knew there was nothing more to be done to complete his faith. And the Peace that passes all understanding sustains those who are left behind, because they Trust in His love.

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
2 Timothy 4:7

And so it is true, my brother in Christ kept the faith and Christ finished the work of his salvation and sanctification, and His Savior and him agreed, it was time to go home. But not until that last kernel of faith was sown.

“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds. John 12:24

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Youtube – “10,000 Reasons”
by Matt Redman