Sermon: “The Great Work of the Cross of Christ Is Finished For You!”
April 5, 2026
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) Every believer in the eternal Testimony of Jesus Christ was fore-known and fore-loved by God and made “Righteous” in the Lord’s sight before the world began. And, Oh Saints of God, I’m so glad you are a believer!
Happy Resurrection Sunday Saints!
This Easter Sermon is written expressly to you (the born-again believer in the eternal Testimony of Jesus Christ). This Sermon must be taken hold of by faith as your very own precious Promise from God. You have eternal life in Christ Jesus, (a deep and abiding relationship with God in Christ Jesus) and it is vitally important that you understand and know the origin of your relationship with God, and why Jesus Christ sacrificed His life on the cross for you. (John 17:3) You need to see, know, and embrace the “Big Picture” of God for your life, so that you will not live beneath your privilege in Christ as many born-again Christians do.
Saints, God wants you to know with all assurance that He Loves you as He Loves Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God, and all that God has given to Jesus He has freely shared with you. (Rom. 8:32) God wants you to know that if you were the only person on planet earth trapped in sin, God still would have sacrificed His beloved son Jesus on the cross for your sake. We must understand that Christ’s Sacrifice on the cross was a singular, as well as an all-encompassing act of divine Love. Meaning, He would have still died for an individual; even if they were the only person needing Salvation from sin, death, and hell illustrating the unconditional grace and ultimate atonement for Humanity’s fallen state. And, because you have believed in the work of Christ’s cross, your total being (spirit, soul, mind of the soul, and physical body) has been given into the Loving Stewardship of Jesus Christ, and you will never perish as Jesus loses none given to Him by God the Father! (John 10:28)
Now Saint of God, please understand that God cannot lie. From the foundations of the world, He Promised “eternal life.” (Titus1:2) Yes, before God made the world, including the cosmos, space, and time He Promised eternal life with Him for those He foreknew would love Him and believe in Jesus Christ. Whatever God has Promised, He will perform. It would not make common logic nor reasoning for God to give to us the “Promise” of eternal life before the world began, unless He knew in advance that Mankind; whom He would create to inhabit the earth would fall from grace and sin and thereby destine himself to death, hell, and the grave. Whenever God gives to us a Promise, as He did of eternal life, He also has a Purpose and Plan by which to bring the Promise into fulfillment.
At Revelation 13:8, the Apostle John wrote that Jesus Christ (The Lamb of God) was “slain from the foundation of the world.” This means that God's Plan for Jesus' atoning sacrifice was eternally ordained and established “before creation” and was central to God’s Purpose for Salvation for Mankind whom He would create. It faithfully witnesses that Christ’s sufferings, crucifixion, and death was God’s “predetermined solution” to sin and victory over all of the works of Satan, foreshadowed by Old Testament sacrifices (like animal skins prepared for Adam and Eve after their fall and sacrifices under the Law of Moses) and revealed in the eternal counsel of God by the Holy Prophets, making His sacrifice dynamically effectual for believers in Jesus for all Times.
Because of the “life” of all things is in the blood, and Mankind’s blood was contaminated with sin by Adam’s transgression, it took the perfect, holy, and sinless shed blood of Jesus Christ to serve as the atoning sacrificial offering for sin and forgiveness. (Lev.17:11, Heb. 9:22, & I John 2:2)
God’s Promise of eternal life and Plan to sacrifice Jesus as the atonement for the sins of Mankind planned before the world began, was reserved for those for whom in God’s Omniscience He fore-knew, fore-loved, and fore-knew would believe on His Son Jesus Christ (you among them). He also destined from the beginning that your life would be molded into the image of Jesus Christ, and share inwardly His likeness. This, so He might become the firstborn among many brethren (spiritually mature sons of God) within the Royal Family of God.
Continuing in the pattern of God’s eternal grace and loving kindness toward you before the world began, He also called you, justified (meaning God acquitted, made righteous, put you into right-standing with Himself). And then, God glorified you by raising you up into a heavenly dignity and state of being with Himself. (Rom.8:29-30 Amplified Bible)
So graced were you (and all God foreknew and fore-loved) that He blessed you with all “spiritual blessings” in Heavenly places in Christ, He chose you to be “holy” and “blameless” before Him in love; and to be adopted as His child through Jesus Christ, whereby you have been granted a “spiritual inheritance” of forgiveness and “permanent place” in God’s Royal Family forever accepted in the beloved. (Eph.1:3-6) This all being done as an act of Grace by God before He made the worlds with the intent that you, and all He foreknew, would reflect His Love and Grace in the earth, and in the new world which is to come. Predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, God also preordained good works that you are to walk in; to take predetermined paths revealed by the Holy Ghost to you, to live the “good life” God made ready for you to walk in. (Eph. 2:10)
Oh Praise God, you ought to shout for joy proclaiming Jeremiah 1:5 as your very own eternal reality. For the Lord declared unto Jeremiah:
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
With confidence and all boldness of heart, you ought to declare right now saying, “I am Special to God!” “I am the “Apple of God’s Eye” predestinated to accomplish great things in the earth to bring God glory!” Also, take Isaiah 43:1 and Zechariah 2:8 respectively, as personal witnesses of God’s Redemption, Ownership, Commission, and Covering of you!
But now, this is what the Lord says—he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
For thus saith the Lord of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.
In Zechariah 2:8 the watchfulness of God over you is described as you are the “Apple of His Eye." Have you ever considered and seriously contemplated that like God’s chosen people Israel, you also are the “Apple of God’s Eye?” (Gal. 3:6-9)
"God's chosen people" for Israel means a special covenant relationship where they were selected not for inherent superiority, but for a unique mission: to be a light to the nations, uphold God's laws, and, crucially, to be the lineage through which the Messiah (Jesus) would come, bringing Salvation to all people thus God watched over Israel and blessed and protected them mightily as they walked in obedience unto Him.
This most affectionate term of endearment (The Apple of God’s Eye) means you are cherished, deeply loved, and deemed in need of utmost protection. This loving phrase originated from an ancient Hebrew phrase for the human pupil, called the "little man of the eye," symbolizing preciousness and intense focus. It signifies God's profound affection, constant watchfulness, and a treasured bond, protecting you as one would guard their own sight. (Deut. 32:10 & Ps.17:8). Furthermore the phrase harmonizes perfectly with Jesus’ last Words spoken with His disciples turned Apostles when He said, “…lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matt. 28:20)
I greatly prefer the English Standard Version Bible, which states, “…And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt.28:20) Jesus Commanded the Apostles to “behold,” meaning they were by spiritual discernment (to stop, look, pay attention) in their hearts that His Presence and Support was continually with them by His Spirit (The Holy Ghost) to empower them for their Mission to make disciples throughout the world, to comfort, strengthen, and guide them until His return, assuring them they were never alone in their Christian journey, even to the end of the age. The disciples were to know that through hard trials, tribulation, persecution, and even unto physical death that Christ was with them because they were the “Apple of God’s Eye,” and preordained to walk in the paths of the Lord’s Righteousness.
Before Jesus Christ Ascended into Heaven, He Promised the disciples (and you and all believers by extension) that He would send the Comforter, the Holy Ghost. (John 14:26) Since Pentecost, the Holy Ghost indwells all believers, from the moment they are saved. (Acts 2:38) The Holy Ghost guards and guarantees Salvation for you (Eph. 1:13 & 4:30), and very important for this Sermon He leads you into the fullness of God’s Promise of Righteousness from the foundations of the world, (Gal. 5:16-18), reminds you of what is True, (John 14:26), and gives you godly Wisdom (I Cor. 2:10-11). In the Person of the Holy Ghost, we have assurance that Jesus is with us even to the end of age. As the Apple of God’s Eye, He watches over and protects us like our eye lids guard our pupils.
Saint of God as an illustration, take your finger and pointed it in the direction of your eye. Slowly, bring your finger closer and closer to your eye. Notice that the closer your finger gets to your eye, your brain instinctively will instruct your eye lid to quickly close-shut to protect your pupil. Likewise, God has assigned the Holy Ghost and His Holy angels to watch over your life to protect you (as the heir of Salvation) from all dangers seen and unseen. (Ps. 91:11-12 & Heb.1:14) You are to know with all assurance that without ceasing Jesus is in you and with you in every circumstance of life. Yes, even when you miss the mark and walk opposite of God’s Word, God Promises to never leave you and to protect you from evil. (II Thess. 3:3) The investment of Jesus’ Life sacrifice is proof of God’s “unwillingness” to let you fall away!
Knowing how God predestinated you to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ and all of the other manifold expressions of eternal Love and Grace God bestowed upon you from the foundations of the world, we understand that Jesus saw the cross as a path to the abundant “joy” of God the Father and all of Heaven.
Jesus saw the cross as a means to accomplish God’s Plan and Purpose for your (and Humanity’s) Redemption, securing your Salvation, Reconciliation with God, and future glory, culminating in His own exaltation to God's throne and establishment of His Kingdom, all while bringing glory to Father God. Examine the Mindset of the Good Shepherd Jesus as He explained stewardship over His fold, recorded at John 10:14-18:
14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
This focus on the eternal reward and the fulfillment of His Mission empowered Jesus by and through the Holy Ghost to endure the shame and suffering of the cross, seeing it as a temporary means to an ultimate joyful end of having you in His fold.
The writer of Hebrews 12:2-3 stated:
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Oh Praise God, as Jesus Christ came to earth, born of the Virgin Mary, preached and taught repentance and the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, announced that He is the Christ, lived a sinless life before God and all men, performed manifold miracles, predicted His death and Resurrection from the dead on the third-day, and then suffered the humiliation and violence of the cross; all for you! Consider that Jesus endured the shame of the cross for the joy of securing your Salvation and Reconciliation to God as planned from the foundations of the world.
Consider the physical sufferings of Jesus at Gethsemane, through intense prayer leading to hematidrosis (sweating blood) just for you! (Luke 22:44).
Consider Jesus was falsely accused by the religious leaders, elders, and Jewish Council (Sanhedrin) at trial just for you! (Matt. 26:59)
Consider the scourging Jesus endured; brutal beating with a whip having metal pieces; 39-strikes totaling 468-lashes tearing asunder flesh from His body just for you! (John 19:1-2)
Consider the crown of thorns that the Roman soldiers twisted together and pressed them into his scalp, and driving them in with a rod. The public mockery; donned with a purple robe, beaten, and mocked by His countrymen, the Jews for which He was sent to save taunted by them as “King of the Jews.” Yes, Jesus hugged, carried, and dragged His cross for you, and would not let go for your sake! Eager to willingly lay down His Life and take it up again all for you!
Then Jesus crucified; stretched on the cross, nails through hands and feet, exposed to public humiliation, ridicule, and the elements of the day, eventually died on the glorious and gory blood-drenched cross to take away your sins, iniquities and transgressions forever. All endured for you! Yes, All endured for you!
Consider also during the Lord’s Passion, the emotional and spiritual sufferings, as our Lord was betrayed and abandoned by all of His followers. Jesus was betrayed by Judas, deserted by His other chosen-disciples and siblings, and publicly shamed. The sheer agony of feeling abandoned by God, as God placed the sins of the world upon Him; whereby He took on the guilt and penalty of your sins; the eternal atonement for your sins.
There is no greater witness than the Prophet Isaiah’s description at Chapter 53:3-12 of how you and all of Humanity hated and despised Jesus, due to Adam’s transgression, as we were all dead in trespasses and sins and were by nature the children of the devil. (Eph. 2:2-3) Yet Jesus, the Lamb of God, was led to the slaughter for you and all Humanity because God Promised eternal life; Righteousness through Him. Humble yourself now under the mighty hand of God, and place your name as the woeful sinner and offender of the Lord Jesus Christ in each Verse.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Praise God, as Jesus hung on the cross between two notorious thieves, among His final Words uttered were, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) Thereafter, Jesus said “It is finished.” (John 19:30) Jesus’s Prayer of forgiveness petitioned God to have mercy on you His executioner and mocker; which highlighted your ignorance of His divine identity, and the eternal consequences of your actions. While also modeling His radical forgiveness, compassion, and fulfilling prophecy of Isaiah 53:12 as intercessor for your transgressions. It was a personal call for you to learn and understand and live by grace, not judgment, showing even in extreme suffering, to pray for those who harm you, seeing them as unware children of God.
Jesus’ decree “It is finished” meant that His earthly Mission of Salvation was accomplished, the debt for your sin, and all Humanity’s sin was paid in full (the debt was fully settled, bringing “Triumph” to His work), and God’s Plan for Redemption established before the foundations of the world was completed! While Jesus’ Mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, Mary the wife of Clopas, (Jesus' mother's sister) and John the Apostle, the "disciple whom Jesus loved," would all weep mightily at the foot of the cross at the death of Jesus, and the earth experienced exceeding great darkness and sorrow. His death brought rejoicing in Heaven as it secured Reconciliation with God and Salvation to Mankind; with immense and combustible joy erupting at His Resurrection, signifying victory over sin and death, leading to eternal life for all believers. A celebration echoed by the holy angels in Heaven, and the Old Testament Saints who had been held captive in Paradise Hell by Satan, until Jesus descended into hell and took the keys of hell and death from Satan. (Rev.1:18) Yes, Jesus Christ is the Almighty God!
Jesus' Resurrection from the dead on the third-day accomplished the validation of His claims as the Son of God, paid the penalty for Humanity's sins, conquered death, and initiated spiritual rebirth, offering you and all believers “Victory” over sin, and the fulfillment of the Promise of eternal life and Righteousness in God in Christ made before the world began, transforming despair into hope and proving God's Power over life and death. The Resurrection ratified His sacrificial death as a sufficient atonement, demonstrating that God accepted Christ's payment, and secured believers' future resurrection and perfected bodies.
After Jesus showed Himself alive with many infallible proofs to His disciples turned Apostles, and over 500-chosen believers at once, as well as the Apostle Paul out of time, He Ascended into Heaven to the right hand throne of God the Father. (I Cor.15:3-8)
Not traveling alone, Jesus led captivity captive (the spirits of the Old Testament Saints held in Paradise), as well as God quickened together the spirits of Humanity throughout all the ages for whom God foreknew and fore-loved before the world began, and raised us all up together and made us to sit together in Heavenly places in Christ; just as Promised before He made the world. (Eph.2:1-7) So that you and all other believers might be recipients of His exceeding Loving Kindness in perpetuity.
Dear Saint of God, there is no greater gift and grace God can give to you than to regenerate your heart to share inwardly the likeness of Jesus as He Purposed before the world began. You being made holy, blameless, justified, (acquitted of all sin, made righteous, and given right-standing with God) and glorified before Him in Love. You didn’t hear me, Saint of God. When Jesus Christ Ascended to Heaven and took His seat next to God the Father, the work of the cross culminated with you being seated in Christ to be molded into the image of Jesus, and made to “share inwardly His likeness.” Right now, as a born-again Christian, fire baptized in the Holy Ghost, you share the “inward likeness” of Jesus. This is God’s utopia!
You may ask, what is the inward likeness of Jesus that you possess equally with Him? Write this down and never forget it, and by all means live by it. Inwardly, in your born-again heart, you share the “Perfect Righteousness of Jesus Christ.” This is the foundational Purpose of Christ’s cross! Jesus died on the cross so you could receive His Perfect Righteousness and yield to His Righteousness in daily living. The Apostle Paul wrote at II Corinthians 5:21: For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Being the "Righteousness of God in Jesus Christ" means you have received God's Perfect, Holy Character, as a gift through faith in Jesus, not through your own works. Being declared Righteous, you have been given a new divine life; enabling a progressive transformation to live out that righteousness in daily living. Being declared Righteous is a spiritual identity rooted in Christ's Sacrifice, not human performance, transforming you who were once a sinner into a “new creation” in right standing with God. (II Cor.5:17) Whereby, you have been given equality with God! As such, you must adopt the mind-set that God has made you “equal” with Himself, not by your works, but by faith in the eternal grace-actions of Jesus Christ. So that you might reflect God’s Righteousness in the earth. The Apostle Paul pinned at Philippians 2: 5-11:
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Having believed the Testimony of Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross, God has given you “equality” with Himself, called and made you a servant unto Him for the betterment of Mankind, as God planned from the beginning. God also highly exalted you when He placed you in Christ in heavenly places; and gave to you the delegated right to use the Omnipotent name of Jesus Christ in word and deed to bring all curses of demonic activity in the earth to naught, and bring to light the blessedness of God’s good works to earth planned before the world began.
You have been given the same abiding Oneness with God that Jesus enjoys with the Father because you bare His likeness inwardly. Wherein as God’s servant He is well pleased with you. (Matt.12:18) Wherein the Father Loves you and has given all things into your hands. (John 3:35) Wherein the Father loves you the son and shows you all that He Himself is doing. (John 5:20) Wherein the glory which God gave to Jesus from the foundations of the world, you have received in like manner so that you and all believers maybe “One,” even as God and Jesus are One. Wherein, you along with all fellow believers have been made “Perfect” in God in Christ. (John 17:5 & 22-23) And finally, wherein you being an heir of the world with Christ to rule and reign with Him forever are to know: That as He is seated at the right-hand throne of God, so are you in this world! (I John 4:17) You are God’s king and priest unto Him in the earth for whom He has washed from all sin in the precious shed blood of Jesus Christ. (Rev.1:5)
Therefore Saint of God, I give to you the charge of the Apostle Paul at Ephesians 4:1-6, that you walk worthy of your vocation and keep the Unity of the Spirit, saying:
4 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
To walk worthy of your calling in Christ Jesus centrally means to outwardly bear before the people of the world the shared image of Jesus that you possess inwardly having received the Promise of eternal life and made the Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. It means to yield your whole being to God as an instrument of Righteousness (Rom. 6:13) so that the Holy Ghost working through you has free course to do the supernatural good works that you were predestinated to perform before the world began. (Eph. 2:10) It means to demonstrate Christ’s Characteristics like humility, compassion, gentleness, love, forgiveness, kindness, integrity, service to God, and long-suffering even unto death. It also means, empowered by the Holy Ghost, to make every effort to use all spiritual and natural gifts given to you by God for His glory, and to continually strive for unity across Christian denominations and non-denominations.
Finally, your Christian calling means, until the coming of the Lord Jesus you are to teach, admonish, and elevate the spiritual and moral consciousness of all the Saints to a greater understanding and knowledge of our eternal relationship and destiny in God in Christ Jesus, and the finished work on Christ’s cross. To help all believers know they are the Apple of God’s Eye, and were predestinated by God before the world was made to receive eternal life and made the Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus through the shed blood of Jesus on the cross. To make all believers know that this Work was manifested and completed when Jesus cried-out on the cross: “It is Finished!”
As such, in your Christian calling you must stand boldly saying to all fellow believers as the Apostle Paul declared to the Saints at Rome, recorded at Romans 8:33-39 (Amplified Bible):
*Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect, when it is God who justifies, that is who puts us in right relation to Himself? Who shall come forward and accuse or impeach those whom God has chosen? Will God, Who acquits us?
*Who shall ever separate us from Christ’s love? Shall suffering and affliction, and tribulation? Or calamity and distress? Or persecution or hunger or destitution or peril or sword?
*Even as it is written, For thy sake we are put to death all the day long; we are regarded and counted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.
*For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come nor powers. Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus the Lord. (Wherein, from the foundations of the world we were called, made Righteous, Holy, Blameless in His Sight, destined to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ and to share inwardly His image.)
Moreover, as the children of God, the Apple of God’s Eye, we look forward to Jesus’ Return and establishment of a new Heaven and earth wherein there is nothing but “Righteousness.” (Rev. 21:1-4) I call it “Universal Holiness,” just as God predestined Heaven and earth would be before the world began. Yes, the Apostle John said He saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
The whole earth will be filled with the glory of God and His Righteousness, as God will dwell among us and be our God. There will be a complete and final end to sin, evil, and injustice. All forms of wickedness, corruption, and oppression will be judged and permanently removed from the earth. Justice will be Perfect, as Jesus the Righteous Judge and King will establish a perfect system of justice where every wrong is righted, and true equity prevails for all people. There will be Holiness worldwide, as the Presence of God will be universal and undeniable, leading to a state of being where holiness and moral purity are the only standards.
There will be no more temptation, suffering, or death. There will be Peace and Harmony, as this new era, often called the Millennium among all creation, where conflict and discord cease to exist. We will live in a perfectly moral world, where God’s Will is done on Earth as it is in Heaven, resulting in a reality where only Righteousness is present just as God planned it from the beginning! Our God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away! (Rev.21:4)
In closing, dear Saint of God, while we wait on the Day of the Lord, set your affections on things above and not on things of the earth. (Col. 3:1) Know that you are the Apple of God’s Eye, that God never sleeps nor slumbers and is ever watchful and protecting your life. Know that you bare the image of Jesus Christ inwardly and have within you the Perfect Righteousness of Jesus Christ. Do not be troubled nor dismayed by the perils of this Age and Season, nor for the temporary suffering endured in this life-time, for Jesus has conquered all of the trouble that is in the world for you. (John 16:33) In essence, God has called you to see suffering (your own and other believers) through an eternal lens, understanding that present difficulties are temporary training grounds for eternal glory. The Apostle Paul wrote at II Corinthians 4:17 & 5:1:
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more excellent weight of glory. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
Because of Jesus’ finished Work on the cross, be sure of the guarantee “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” (II Cor.5:8) Be assured of the Promise of Christ, that “any man who keeps His Word shall never see death.” (John 8:51) Rest assured of the Promise of God that on the Great Day of the Coming of the Lord, that the same Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead on the third-day, will also quicken your mortal body from the dead and give to you a glorious body like unto His. (Rom.8:11)
Amen, and thanks be unto God that “The Great Work of Christ’s Cross is Finished For You!” Next week, the Lord willing, we will examine the “Pathways of Righteousness” foreordained by God for you to walk in that lead to the good life prearranged for you!
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