Celebrate Christ's Completed Work!

We live in a day when the amount of information coming at us is an incredible overflow.  We are literally inundated with information coming at us from every direction including books, the internet, radio and TV.  It is truly information overload and this is just as true in the Christian community as it is in secular society. Unfortunately this leads us to distraction from what is really most important. What is most important?  Jesus and his completed work is the answer! 

Recently I tweeted that Christ's work of redemption at the cross and resurrection was the true gospel. A Calvinist responded: "That is pretty basic stuff." Apparently to him Christ's work was no big deal and nothing to get excited about.  We need to be careful that we do not become so lukewarm that we take for granted what Christ has done for us.                                                                          

Christ's completed work changed the world in a way that nothing has ever done and it has changed us too.  But if we are distracted by much lesser things then Christ's completed work becomes "ho-hum" and no big deal to us.  This is not good.  We need to remember Paul's admonition to the Corinthians:

But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3 

Our pure devotion to Christ includes our understanding and devotion to his glorious completed work.

What is his completed work?

You can look at all Jesus did as his completed work from his incarnation, all the way through to him sitting down at the right hand of the Father immediately following his ascension.  You could also narrow it down to his work on the cross and resurrection too.  For the purposes of this article, I am going to focus on Christ's completed work accomplished from the cross through his reclining at the right hand of the father.

Christ's Work at the Cross                                                                                                

Christ's completed work at the cross is truly most amazing and deserves its own full attention.  Of course there have been volumes of sermons, articles and books written on Christ's work at the cross. I pray however that we do not ever take this work for granted in favor of a more "captivating" side doctrine or Bible truth.  Christ's work at the cross should never be taken lightly or forgotten.

What Christ did at the cross is truly amazing!  He made atonement for our sins and redeemed us.  He defeated sin and the devil:

"He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; "by his wounds you have been healed."  1 Peter 2:24

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” Galatians 3:13 

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, Hebrews 2:14

When Jesus died, we died with him.  This is a most powerful dynamic that many Christians don't know, value or apply to their lives.

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Romans 6:6-7

As you read the above passages, I pray that you are filled with awe and wonder instead of thinking that you have heard it so many times.  If you find yourself not impressed with these scriptures it could be that you have lost the greatness of Christ's completed work having been distracted by many other things in your life.

Christ also brought us close to God through the cross.                                                  

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  Ephesians 2:13 

Through the cross we received atonement for our sins and the propitiation of our sins.  Propitiation is a huge word with an even bigger meaning. Propitiation means that God was appeased and satisfied so that the judgment of death was acquitted for us.  See the scripture below:

...we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. 1 John 1:1-2 

We could go on and on here and we have only touched the tip of the mountain in terms of what Christ did for us through his ordeal of being crucified.  Suffice it to say that Christ being crucified for us and its ramifications can never be overstated.                                                    

I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Galatians 6:14             

When Jesus cried out "It is finished" at the cross he finalized his work at the cross and it was significant because he had paid a price that cost him everything and the punishment he took on in his battered body was only a microcosm of the horror of sin that he had taken on in his innocence.  He quite simply died due to the crushing weight of the sin of all mankind that was laid upon him.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

The Resurrection

Though it was finished on the cross, Christ's completed work or redemption for man was not yet done.  Christ would need to rise from the dead.  The cross and resurrection were the perfect "one - two" punch that man needed desperately.  In fact, the two worked together to give man victory over death.  Together they took care of our death problem which was man's primary consequence of the fall. The cross made us dead but the resurrection raised us up to new life and this life we now have is the life of the Son.

...just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. Romans 6:4-5                      

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2:6

The cross took care of the old man (old nature) by putting him to death.  Our resurrection with Christ gave us new life and made us a new creation.  Jesus proved his resurrection by appearing to his disciples over a forty day period.  Like Christ's work at the cross, there is so much more to share on his resurrection.  But we proceed to the final point of Christ's work.

The Ascension

For some the ascension of Christ might seem a lesser subject than the cross and resurrection but the ascension should never be looked on apart from the cross and resurrection anyway.  It is clearly tied only to what Christ had already accomplished.  An ascension by Christ would have meant little to us had Christ not endured the cross and beat death at the resurrection.  The ascension of Christ is simply the progressive flow of the completed work and it is worthy of mention and remembrance.

There is something so glorifying of the Lord Jesus that is in the ascension for through it we see the triumph of God.  The ascension is the celebration of the victory at the cross and resurrection.  It is therefore worthy of mention because Christ gets the glory for his work of redemption for man.

Therefore it says, "WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN." Ephesians 4:8

After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Mark 16:19 

 After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. Hebrews 1:3                          

Jesus reclined at the Father's right hand having done all.  He had accomplished all that the Father had given him to do.  He had come born as an infant to be clothed in humanity.  He had ministered to those in need and he had taught his disciples in preparation for them to lead the church and preach the gospel.  He had endured the cross for the joy set before him.  He rose from the dead after three days and then ascended to God's right hand in victory and majesty, having done all.                    

What a time in heaven it must have been to witness Jesus taking his victorious seat at the right hand of the Father! How the angels and saints must have roared in thunderous worship and praise!  Jesus had accomplished the most important work that would ever be done in the history of the cosmos.  He had earned glory and honor and God would give him a name above every other name.              
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,  Philippians 2:9

So friend, get excited again about Jesus and his completed work for it is the great theme of scripture. His completed work makes us complete too!

Darrell Brantingham

(Read my pithy tweets on Twitter @confrontcalvin)