The Finished Work of Christ (My Journey)

I am currently on an incredible journey with God. No...I haven't left the country. Much of this journey has taken place in my study, in the office, or enjoying His creation. I have two incredible companions with me in the journey: The Bible and Holy Spirit. And in this journey I'm discovering more and more about the finished work of Christ.

The "finished work of Christ" is a term that I have become familiar with over the last few years. To be quite honest with you, I never heard it growing up in church. I'm not even sure that I heard the phrase while attending Bible College. So what I'm about to share with you has been gleaned through a crash-course study initiated by the Holy Spirit.

The term "the finished work of Christ" refers to all that was accomplished through the death of Jesus. It was at the Cross where God poured out His judgement against our sin. Jesus endured this punishment as our substitute in order to become our Savior. While I do not have time to give you a complete rundown of everything I am learning, I will do my best to get you excited about what God has accomplished.

The Bible uses 3 terms primarily to describe the finished work of Christ:
PROPITIATION
"In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:10)
REDEMPTION
"In him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7)
RECONCILIATION
"All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:18)

Propitiation means "to satisfy wrath by sacrifice"
Redemption means "to buy out of, and remove from, the market in order to set at liberty"
Reconciliation means "to change completely"

Here's what we just celebrated this past week: God was, in Christ, providing the atoning sacrifice that would satisfy His wrath against sin. He was purchasing humanity and bringing about a complete change. ***Insert Happy Dance***

What this journey has compelled me to do is look back over what I have believed, how I have witnessed to the saving grace of God, and essentially re-learn some amazing truth. In fact, just this morning I was revisiting a very familiar portion of Scripture and saw it in a different light. Romans 3:23 tell us that "All have sinned and fallen short of God's glorious standard." I have often used this verse to convey to people the sinful nature that dwells in man. What I discovered is that this isn't what Paul was communicating at all. While there is a common denominator in humanity, verse 24 unlocks what was accomplished in the finished work of Christ. "Yet now God in His gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins." It's when we recognize that God did all of this BEFORE we ever came to faith in Jesus that we begin to understand the liberty that comes through the finished work of Christ. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. This is what the Bible teaches. This is why Paul could tell the church at Rome that we are now viewed as those who have been set free from the curse of sin.

I know...this is a lot to take in and it's a lot to work through...especially if you were raised in a church that doesn't communicate the finished work of Christ. But if you can get this understanding, you will say with the Apostle Paul "it's the goodness of God that leads to repentance."