It Is Finished

I was messing around on the net when I ran across a reference to my favorite song, It Is Finished by Petra. Here are the lyrics:

In the heat of the early morning
On a hill they call the Skull
The roaring of the angry mob had settled to a lull
All eyes were cast upon the man whose hands and feet were bound
They saw him cry in anguish when they heard the hammer pound

They watched the bloody woven thorns with which His head was crowned
They watched the bloody cross of wood be dropped into the ground
The soldiers gambled for His clothes, they watched them win and lose
They saw the sign above His head that said "King of the Jews"

(Chorus) (It is finished) And the sky grew black as the night
(It is finished) And the people scattered in fright
The work had been done, redemption had been won
The war was over without a fight
It is finished

They searched His face for anger, for vengeance in His stare
Instead of eyes that burned with hate a look of love was there
He prayed for their forgiveness and bowed His battered head
And noone knew the meaning of the final words He said

The provision has been made
The foundation has been laid
He paid the ransom due and tore the temple veil in two
And opened up the way for me and you
It is finished

This goes right along with my post from yesterday. Also, I think you can see why it is my favorite song. It is taken directly from the Bible. The story of the Crucifixion directly translated into song. This is the moment of our victory. At the bleakest time in His existence Christ was on the verge of defeating Satan and taking away from him the keys of death and Hell.

"Father in Heaven, I praise and thank you for the sacrifice of your Son. Please, never let me take this for granted. Let me always remember the price paid for my soul. Amen"

Salvation At A Cost

I am something of a comic book hero buff. Oh, I don't collect any comics, but I do enjoy the movies about them. I was watching Batman Begins and this line stands out to me, "It is not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me." This struck a chord in me.

Truly, it is not who we are, but what we do that matters. Without Christ, we are nothing anyway. God has said, in His holy Word that our own righteousness is as filthy rags. Think about it. If we show up at the marriage supper of the Lamb clothed only in our own works we will be turned away at the door, but if we are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ we will be ushered in and given a place of honor.

Now, I imagine someone not familiar with the way the people of the church talk looking at what I have written and shaking their heads as if I am crazy. "What is he talking about," I can hear them asking. Let me put it plainly without all the church-speak.

God in His wisdom realized that man could not uphold the law. He provided a sacrifice for our sins that would cover them all. That sacrifice was to come to earth as the man, Jesus Christ. Did He come as a triumphal, vengeful savior of the Jews with a fiery sword in hand? No, he came as a baby, born in the most humble of circumstances. He then grew up as a carpenter, a man used to hard work. He left carpentry to begin His ministry on earth. He called to His side twelve men, most of whom were of a rough sort, fishermen. After a short period of time in ministry He allowed His body to be broken and scourged. Finally, He was hung on cross to die. He lifted His head to the sky and cries out to God, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani!" Which means, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me!" Then He said, "It is finished." At that time He gave up His spirit and died.

However, that was not the end. Then He was taken down from the cross and buried. His disciples hid. Three days later two women came to the tomb to find it open. The Christ wasn't there. Then he appeared to His disciples. Thomas stuck his hand into the scars.

This was the sacrifice that paid for our sins. This is what allows a man to be righteous. We cannot do it on our own. Nothing we can do will make us worthy of Heaven. Christ alone paid the fare. All we have left to do is get on the train. To refer to an earlier post, this is not cheap grace. Not cheap, because it cost the Son of God, God Himself, His life. How can we ignore that. We do so at our own peril.

CWG, Helen, thank you for the links.

More Deceit, More Lies

God, is ever great and always leads in the right paths. I'm in the Word today and I read this:

1 Corinthians 5:11-13 - But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you."

I have to be incredibly thankful to God for His sovereignty. Over the past several years I have been each of these; sexually immoral, slept with my first wife before marriage; idolater, who hasn't put a possession before the Lord; slanderer, a couple of comments here and there, what do you think gossip is; drunkard, I have been the life of the party; and lastly, swindler, chiseling a couple extra bucks out of someone that you are doing some work for, which covers greedy, by the way. Thanks to the sovereignty of God, however, I am back in the fold. I will not claim to be free of all these things, but I will say that God now has His hand on my life and I am getting better every day. I think I might even stand the barest chance of some day being seen as a Godly man. I can only hope.

"Father, I thank you for your patience and forgiveness. I ask that you keep me in your word daily. Give me the need to read and pray every day. I would show you to the world. In your Son's name, amen."