Finished Work - God Approved!
God approves of you today - in fact He approves of you right now!
What are your thoughts as you read that statement? Do you immediately think that cannot be true, my life is still a mess. How can God approve if I am not yet walking in freedom, if I still struggle with sin, sickness or bondage, if my family is still not living in harmony. Are you quickly considering all the things you need to do so God can accept you and approve of you so He can heal you and set you free? This type of thinking will prevent you from walking in the fullness of what God has already done for you. Let me explain:
Most people believe that the cross happened, but they don’t believe it was all that effective. They still believe there are things they need to do. They need to read the Bible more, live more holy on purpose, and be mindful to confess any possible sin - their own and those of their ancestors. And while these are all noble motives, you won’t see the grace of God manifest in your life, until you believe that what Jesus did on the cross was enough. Just before He breathed His last breath on the cross, He didn’t say “I am trying to get it all done, but you might have to do some of it yourself”. No, He said “It is finished”. In saying that He meant that anything that could possibly stand between us and God through Adam’s sin and the fall of man, was taken care of once and for all.
John 19:28-30 NKJV - 28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
Because most Christians don’t understand what redemption and the finished work of the cross really means and what it accomplished, they believe the cross happened to save and forgive them and then they stop right there. They don’t get their minds renewed through the Word and so they try to find reasons for Bible promises not manifesting for them or they try to finish the work themselves by taking matters into their own hands.
I want to ask you today how you read the Bible? I don’t mean what translation or how many chapters, but rather through which lens do you read. When you read a scripture, do you only see how you are falling short, that you are failing God or His requirements and standards? That He is asking you to live a holy, righteous life yet you are so far from getting it right? Does it make you feel ashamed - like you are living way below par and that you will probably never attain to what God is asking?
For years I have read the following scripture thinking that it means God approves of us if we study the Word regularly. And while He does want us to read the Word daily, it is not so He can approve of us, but to get our minds renewed to the Truth.
2 Tim 2:15 KJV - Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
When reading this scripture it is easy to get into a works mentality that if I study the Word enough, then I will know enough and then God will approve of me. I have only recently realized that is not at all what that scripture says. It actually says that I need to study to show myself how much God approves of and accepts me right now through what Jesus had done on the cross. Many false doctrines and weird beliefs get birthed when people don’t understand the finished work of the cross of Christ and all that happened in redemption. These doctrines and beliefs try to achieve what the cross has already done. If you believe that you need to do more and confess more so your sins can be forgiven, or if you believe that God still allows the enemy to accuse us, then it means that God has to tiptoe around the cross of Jesus to allow this - that once again the finished work wasn’t quite finished.
In order to fully understand that God approves of you, you need to know that you are not only this flesh body that is visible for all to see. You were made in the image and likeness of God who is a spirit. When you were born again, your spirit became alive unto God and when He now looks at you, He sees Himself. He sees the spirit of Jesus in you and that you are fully complete in Him with nothing missing, nothing broken and nothing weak.
1 Cor 6:17 NKJV - 17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
If what I am saying is true, then why do we not live in these truths? I think the reason can be found here:
2 Cor 5:16-17 NKJV - 16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
These verses say that when Christ walked on the earth, the people around Him were able to know Him in the flesh. They saw Him walking with them on the dusty roads, saw Him get tired and hungry just like any of us would. But now we get to see Him after the spirit. If you close your physical eyes and focus the eyes of your heart on Him, He will become real to you even though not in the flesh but in the spirit. The same is true of you. God made you in His image and likeness. The Godhead is a three part being, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We are also made out of three parts, spirit, soul and body (1 Thes 5:23). You are a spirit; you have a soul, and you live in a fleshly body. However, when you were born again, your body didn’t change, neither did your soul. What did change was that your spirit man who used to be dead in trespass and sin, has now been made alive unto God (Rom 6:11). Your nature has changed - it was as radical as night turning into day. The old dead nature is gone and is replaced with the righteous nature of God on the inside of you. You are no longer a human being, but a spirit being. You have been translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.
Col 1:13-14 NKJV - 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Just like animals have different natures from plants, you now have a different nature - a brand new one - you have God’s nature. We have not been taught this! The scripture in 2 Cor 5:17 says the old things (the old nature) have passed away and that we need to behold that all things have become new. To behold means “to know or to see”. We have not beheld, and we need to. Why? Because that is the only way you will know what happened to you at salvation. How do you see what your face looks like? You look in a mirror. In that same way, the only way to see what your new spirit man looks like, is to look (behold) in the mirror of the Word.
Ok, if what you are saying is true, then why do I not feel any different? If this change in my spirit was radical like night to day, then why do I not feel like something changed on the inside of me?
Gal 5:17 NKJV - 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
Gal 5:17 NLT - 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.
John 3:5-6 NKJV - 5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
The Word says that which is spirit is spirit and that which is flesh is flesh. The two don't contact each other, in fact they are at war - constantly fighting each other. The only way for you to know who you are in the spirit is to look in the mirror of the Word by faith, to see the truth and to get your mind renewed. You need to see what is already on the inside of you.
Philemon 1:6 KJV - 6 That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
If we read the Word and think that what we see seems “too good to be true”, we need to make a decision that the Word is true no matter what and I am going to believe what it says about me. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the truths to us and give us revelation of what is true about us in the spirit. Instead of reading the scriptures trying to find flaws and where you are still falling short, read it to see who God says who you are now. You are a brand-new creation. The literal translation of 2 Cor 5:17 says you are “a new species of being that never existed before.”
God approves of you, He is pleased with you - right now, today! Why? When He looks at you, He sees the spirit of Jesus in you, He sees Himself. He sees all that He has put on the inside of you - your potential - all that you could become if you only knew what is already on the inside of you. Doesn’t that just make you want to get into the Word to see who you already are, what you already have?
I realize that what I have shared so far will need more explanation and I will write more posts, but let me give you a little taste:
Eph 1:3-6 NKJV - 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
*This scripture says that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. We already have every spiritual blessing in heavenly places but if we don’t know we have these blessings in our spirit, we won’t even try to access them.
*He chose us in Christ even before the foundation of the world. He approved of you even before you were born.
*We can stand before Him holy and without blame. You are holy and without blame in your spirit, there is no trace of shame.
*He adopted us as sons and made us accepted in Jesus, the Beloved.
Eph 4:23-24 KJV - 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
This scripture in Eph 4 says it all so well. We need to renew our minds and put on the new man. This new man is created in the image of God and is righteous and truly holy. It doesn't have to still become righteous and holy in the future - it is that right now. It is righteous and holy with Jesus’ righteousness and holiness. Not where you can see in the flesh though, as your flesh will probably not display righteousness or holiness. This is true of who you are in the spirit whether you feel like it and act like it, or not. The more you get into the Word and get your mind renewed, the more you will see these truths. But it will require that you use your faith to believe who you are in the spirit and then it will start to transform you from the inside out until, you look just like Jesus.
The Bible is not a to-do list. It is a love letter revealing what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross through the finished work. He did the hard part. Our part is to allow the Word to transform our minds so we can believe who we are and what is ours rather than what we need to do to get God to bless and love us.
There is a lot more that can be said about the finished work of the cross which I will do in future posts covering our relationship with God the Father and His everlasting love for us, how God sees us, our new identity in Christ and also the authority that we now have in Him.
May you be exceedingly blessed as you get into the Word in the days to come. I hope you see that you are fully forgiven, truly accepted and well-beloved by God Himself. The more your mind is renewed, you will be blessed to know that you are approved by God and that He is well pleased with you - right now!
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**I added bold format to text in some scripture references.
Beautiful message of love and truth.
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