IT IS FINISHED

This video says it all, watch this first:

The Scriptures declare the truth:

"And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindess toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." -Ephesians 2:1-10

"For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." -Titus 3:3-7

Let's break down the Gospel (Good News):

1. Jesus shed His blood.
2. Jesus died on the cross.
3. Jesus buried in the tomb.
4. Jesus rose from the grave.

When we share this Good News, there's understanding that must come with it. Otherwise, there is no knowing or believing.

By saying Jesus shed His blood, we understand that His blood not only covered our sins, but washed them away.

By saying Jesus died on the cross, we understand that we also died with Him; the dying of ourselves has been taken care of, and there is no more of us. By Him dying on the cross, our sin has been taken care of and is now gone. Our sins were already taken care of by the blood of Jesus, but His body takes care of sin itself; our sin nature (we were sinners because of our sin nature).

By saying Jesus was buried in the tomb, we understand that we were buried with Him. We have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that the next part of the Message may have its perfect work.

By saying Jesus rose from the grave, we understand that we were raised with Him. After burial comes new life. We are a new creation.

We are in Him and He is in us. I am set free from the power of sin, and am saved by grace through faith. There would be no such a thing called grace if it weren't for our loving God, who all He wants is relationship with us. Grace is something we don't deserve, yet has been given to us freely. But it only comes when we realize our need for Him.

The Gospel continues: We have been adopted as sons and daughters into His Kingdom. Jesus is our oldest brother, the firstborn among many, and He still stands as our Intercessor. And not only does He sit at the right hand of our Father, but we are seated with Him!

So our question now becomes this: "Now what? What do I do? Where do I go? What does this mean?"

Jesus commands this to us: "You are the light of the world." (Matthew 5:14)

Present Yourselves

The reason I love this video so much is that it emphasizes the last bit. We cannot do this in our own strength. We cannot in our own strength be like Him. He must be who He is, in us. What does this say for us? No more of you, no more of me. Here is where we gladly surrender. Paul tells us in Romans 6 to therefore present your members to Him as members of righteousness. We are told to present ourselves to God both as those who have died, and those who have been raised with Him. PRESENT YOURSELVES to Him. You are not your own. The only successful way for you to carry out the commission is for Him to reign in you. We need THE HOLY SPIRIT.

As the video presents, we need Him to overtake us. Our response must be: "Fill me! Overtake me! It must be You." It becomes our surrender, and His work in and through us. O, the beauty of SURRENDER!

Your hands, your feet, your eyes, your tongue, You are not your own. We are sons and daughters. Present your members to Him. Give yourselves wholly to Him, that we might declare, "These hands are Yours, Lord! These feet are Yours alone! Your WILL, not my own!"

This is what we as the church have misunderstood. Like this video presents, we stop at Jesus forgiving us by His blood, and for some reason we are content with this. Why? Because we still like to please our flesh. It may not even look like sin, but part of our flesh yearns to just enjoy life, the worldly life. We are afraid to come to a complete surrender, mostly because we don't know what it will look like, but also because the enemy fights and says, "You don't have to...You can just believe and then you are fine, do what you want."

The enemy is trying to steal back his authority, when this authority has already been given to us, His children. And now, the enemy is keeping us from the word TRUTH. He is the father of lies. But we will overcome, by the word of our testimony, by the blood of the Lamb, by simply BELIEVING IN HIM. Understand the difference between believing that there is a God, and believing in Him.

Believing that there is a God shows no relationship, no understanding, and a lack of pursuit of TRUTH Himself. Believing in Him says that I am in Him, and I know Him, His nature, character, and what He's done for me.

Beloved, BELIEVE. IT IS FINISHED. It has been done. Only Believe! Don't let the enemy steal, kill, or destroy your identity. You are God's child, who sits with Jesus Himself in the heavenly places.

The enemy says you are ugly.

God declares you are beautiful.

The enemy says you are worthless.

God declares you are His treasure.

The enemy says you are faithless.

God is Faithful, and He has passed the baton to you, His child.