E210P has a guest blogger today!
Alfred is a small business owner and I met him through work a few years ago. The first conversation we had was about his business and my industry, but it was abundantly clear that his faith was strong. He posted this in the early hours today, on Easter morning. It is incredibly moving and it absolutely needed to be shared!
Thank you Alfred, for allowing me to repost your words!
No More Work.
As we are shut down across the nation, and many industries are either partially or fully shut down, we have been given an opportunity to rest. Now, we are hurting and without work. Bored...resting. Our work that defines us has been taken away. As Americans...we work. That's just what we do. It feels like we are never done working sometimes.
I rarely get to sit down throughout the day. Nighttime is my only rest, it seems. And I almost never get to say that things are "done". There is always something more to be done, because things aren't finished, ultimately.
"It is finished" is a rare phrase, and one that is almost never used anymore by anyone in the real world. We are never finished with our daily tasks, and even if/when we do finish them there are ten thousand more waiting for us.
We, with increasing frequency, are getting better at being not done with things. But Jesus did the opposite. He finished the task for which He came, and which He knew we are incapable of finishing. He said "it is finished". He finished fulfilling the entirety of the law. He finished taking the full wrath of God the father, that was meant for us. He finished atoning for our sin. The process of needing to offer a sin offering was done and complete... ultimately... once and forever...at the cross of Calvary.
And once Christ rose from the dead and then ascended he proved that He had finished atoning (not by doing more work to atone for more sin.) Not by continuing to enter the Holy of Holies on our behalf. He is the Holy of Holies. He is the embodiment of the temple. He is the bread offering, the drink offering, the sin offering, the incense, and the sacrifice itself, as well as the High priest (just to name a few). No, He proves "it is finished" by sitting down. He sat at the right hand of God the father. He had completely finished all that was required.
And you won't find a chair listed among the items required for the furniture inside the temple in the Old Testament. Why? Because the priest was not allowed to sit down while in the temple. He was to be an intermediary between man and God. He was always working on behalf of the Israelites. This is why Christ being seated in a place of power is so important to us. There is no more work on our behalf that needs to be done before we are able to come to God and have a right relationship with Him. The veil has been torn in two.
This is why we rest in Him. This is why we are grateful and obey. This is why we Love Him. This is why we do not fear, when things go wrong. It is finished. Fear is finished. This is why we have full assurance of our salvation. Death is dead (for those who love Him and repent.) This is why we sing "Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe".
He finished paying all of the ransom that God demanded for our sin. So when we say he took our sin. He literally took the punishment meant for us.
It...Is...Finished.
I pray that this Easter, you will reflect on God's kindness towards you in providing His Son as an all-sufficient substitutionary atonement and..Rest...in your knowledge that Christ is seated in Sovereign Authority because He is God, and we worship Him and Him alone.
-Alfred
