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.”
THEME OF THE DAY: WHAT GOD STARTS, GOD FINISHES. Today’s scripture is the anchor of our souls when the storms of doubt assail our hearts. It is the strength to silence the accusations of Satan when he accuses us of our always failing conduct as Christians. It is also the encouragement we need when we grow weary in the good fight of faith and feel like “throwing in the towel” of surrender.
The summary of Apostle Paul’s statement in the Philippians passage is . . . What God starts, God finishes. To expound the meaning of this verse, it’s God conforming us into the image of the Lord Jesus that is the work started by Him that will be finished. And the confidence we are to have in this truth being accomplished is because of three things.
First, what God starts, God finishes because He is faithful. God promises He is working to shape us into His Son’s image – “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). He cannot deny Himself. What He promises to us, He will fulfill for us. In writing to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul reminds them of the faithfulness of our God – “is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9). Take courage, battered sheep in Jesus’s flock. You will conform to the image of Christ. You will persevere in this work because God is faithful. He who started a good work in you will complete it in the day of Jesus Christ.
Another reason for confidence that what God starts, God finishes is that His steadfast love, coupled with His faithfulness, ensures the expression of His love – making us like Jesus – cannot or will not fail. In His love, He adopted us to be His children, and in His love, He is making us like our elder brother, the Lord Jesus – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:3-6).
Finally, the work God started in us to make us like Jesus will be finished because it is God’s purpose, and all of God’s purposes will be accomplished – “The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands” (Psalm 138:8).
Be assured, be confident child of God. Despite our many failings, God will finish what He started in us and let that truth alone bring a song in our hearts and praise from our lips!
PRAYER: Father, I praise You for Your saving, keeping, and finishing grace in my life.
REFLECTION: God has no unfinished projects. What He starts, He finishes. Rejoice.