PHILIPPIANS 1:6 – And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
There are so many glorious truths about being a Christian. Here are a few; we are loved by God eternally; we are called children of God never to be abandoned; we are cared for by the God who calls Himself our “Good Shepherd” and the one tied to the scripture of the day is the most assuring of all truths–what God starts in us God finishes in us. Let’s think about this work from the start of the Christian life to its finish.
First, becoming a Christian isn’t about us just waking up one day and saying, “I think I will try Christianity. Yes, I am going to give Jesus a chance.” Not at all. We become Christians because God sought us to become Christians. Jesus told us,“ All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes tome I will never cast out”(John 6:37). And the Apostle Paul reminds us we are Christians by faith only in Christ alone and both those gifts–faith and Christ-were freely given by God and willfully received by us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, nota result of works, so that no one may boast”(Ephesians 2:8-9). So in a very real way, the good work of God in us started by making us Christians and it continues.
The work of making us Christians now gives way to God working in us as Christians. What is this work? It is the purpose for why He made us Christians. The whole of the Christian life is God’s daily working in us through life’s challenges, difficulties, trials, and temptations to make us like His Son the Lord Jesus. Again, from the Apostle Paul, we gain this perspective of God’s continual work in us, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers”(Romans 8:28-29). Strive daily to see all of life through this lens; God at work in us making us like His Son, the Lord Jesus. If we do, life makes sense when it seems like it doesn’t.
Finally, the good work God started in us at salvation and continues through our lives will be completed at the ends of our lives or when Jesus comes back. And here we may really shout for joy! Why? What God starts; God finishes. We will make it to heaven. The work will be complete, not because we hung in there till the end, but because God hung in there till the end. “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” (Jude 24-25)
PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for never giving up on me and finishing what You started in me.”
QUOTE: “From salvation in this life to when He presents us to Himself in the next life, it is all His Work.”