And, In The End

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.  Philippians 1:6

Will Perfect It – God does not operate by the “what have you done for Me lately?” method.  Aren’t you glad? Who among us could ever meet the standard that He would set.  Holiness is just beyond our grasp, no matter how high up we are able to reach.  If you ever felt that there was just no way that you would ever get there, if you ever felt that your catalog of failures even after your conversion were just too many, then this verse is for you.  That means, by the way, that is applies to all of us.

Paul tells us the wonderful news that God is not done with us yet.  God never quits on us.  He guarantees the end result, not you or me.  What God starts, He finishes.

Previously, we looked at God as the end-in-view Father.  In other words, when it comes to righteous standing before Him, God treats you as if you are already complete.  He doesn’t see you as a want-to-be like His Son.  He sees you with the same status as Yeshua, righteous.  That is half of our true reality.  Finished in Christ! Done!  Nothing more to add!

But there’s another half.  It is not the half about righteousness.  It is that half about character conformance and usefulness.  This half is a work in progress.  However (and it’s a big however), it still isn’t all up to you.  God has started something in your life and He will finish it.  He will ensure that what needs to be changed in order to get the maximum character conformity and usefulness out of you is accomplished.  He will engineer your life in such a way that you will be confronted with those things that He wants you to complete.  Most of the time, these are not tasks.  God doesn’t need you to be a good little worker.  He wants you to become a devoted child.  Christ-likeness is the goal.  Everything that He does in your life is aimed at that objective.  What you happen to accomplish along the way is nice, but it is the by-product of the real target.

Remember what the Hebrew image of sin is?  It’s not hitting the dead center of the target.  God’s engineering is designed to move you to the dead center of the bull’s eye in order that all the blessings and benefits that He aims in your direction will land right on you.  He moves you into the line of fire.  That’s the purpose.

The Greek verb here is epiteleo.  The root is teleo – to finish, to complete, to perfect.  Paul adds the intensifier epi.  This is the grand finale.  It is completion with an exclamation point!  God will do it!!!

You know, today I needed to read what I write for myself.  I need to know that God is working to complete me, because on days like today, I just don’t see how I can do it.  That, of course, is the point.  I can’t!  But He can.  Thanks be to the Lord for He is God.

Topical Index:  epiteleos, complete, finish, perfect

My dear community of followers:  Here’s what we can do together.  I just finished a phone call with Loy Burgess in Waco, TX.  She wanted to contribute and loves Today’s Word.  But she takes care of her 103 year-old mother.  Now, that is something special!  So, I told her to tear up that check and go buy something that her mother would enjoy.  She told me that she no longer can go to worship because her mother is too frail, and she has felt isolated for several years.  I told her, “No more.  There are now 349 people who are connected to you.”  This is community!  God is on the move.

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