When This Is All Over
The end, finale, completed, accomplished, achieved, concluded, over and done, are all different ways to say “finished”. Perhaps the most important record of this are the Words of Christ in John19:30. We know this occurred as Christ hung upon the cross, and His last statement before He died there. He stated “It is finished”. What was finished? Was He speaking of His life?
I think not, as His “life” was far from concluded. Even following His death, burial and resurrection, Christ walked the face of the earth. In Acts 13:31, the physician Luke was directed by the Spirit to record that Christ “was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.” Additionally, irrefutable evidence is recorded in 1Cor. 15:5-8 that the Lord was seen of Cephas (Peter), the twelve, above five hundred brethren at once, James, and finally, the apostle Paul. No, Christ’s life was not “finished” when He died on the cross.
Following His resurrection, in Luke 24:36-43, Christ appeared unto His apostles, showed them the wounds in His hands and feet, spoke directly to them, pointed out that “a spirit hath not flesh”, and even ate a broiled fish and a piece of honeycomb before them. Could one whose life was finished do such things? In Acts chapter one He ascended to His Father in the same body He had while on earth. He arose and ascended to die no more and now “liveth forever”, so when He stated “It is finished”, He obviously meant something else.
In the words of Foy E. Wallace, in a 1937 sermon titled “How and When the church Began” from the book “The Gospel for Today” it is stated thusly. “There the grandest drama ever enacted was completed. It began in Eden with the fallen pair and ended in the horrors of Golgotha and the tragedies of Calvary. There the remedial system was finished, the scheme of human redemption effected, and the law, having been fulfilled, ended.” The words of Col. 2:14 prove this because the Old Law was nailed to the cross.
This was also prophesied by Christ Himself near the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount in Matt. 5:17. He said He did not come to destroy or tear down the Law or the prophets. He came to fulfill them. Within the Law and the prophets were the Promises of God, which, when fulfilled, would bring about the means for the Salvation of souls. When Christ died on the cross, was buried in a borrowed tomb, & arising victorious over death to die no more, the Promise of God, the prophecies of the Old Testament, and the purpose of the Law had been accomplished. Therefore, Christ said: “It is finished”.
Christ’s sole purpose in coming to earth was to do the Will of Father in calling the Jews to repentance, and to bring Salvation to humanity. To the Jews who accused the Christ of breaking the Sabbath and making Himself equal with God in John 5:30 He stated: “. . . I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” And we know from John 3:16 that God sent Christ because He truly loves man. From 2Pet. 3:9, we also know from that God is: “. . . not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” This could not happen unless or until Christ gave Himself as the perfect Sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. After His death, Christ arose from the grave to die no more, ascended to His Father, having shed His precious blood. This accomplished what the Lord stated in John 10:10b – abundant life was available. When Christ’s time on earth was ended, His purpose was fulfilled and that goal was reached.
But what about us? Where are we to be “When This Is All Over”? Is one “saved” simply because Christ died and shed His blood, or because “one believes”? Are the “devils” of Jas. 2:19 part of the saved? Do the “saved” enter directly into eternal Heaven upon their death? Sadly, many believe this to be the case. Even before Christ died, in Luke 16:22-23, He spoke of the two destinations of departed souls. Notice that both Lazarus (the beggar), and the rich man were “children of God”. Both were Jews and while the Law was in place (which it was while Christ was alive), the Jews were the people of God. Both died, yet, neither went directly to Heaven. Lazarus, the righteous, was carried to “Abraham’s bosom” which is Paradise (Luke 23:43). and the “disobedient” rich man was buried, and “lift up his eyes, being in torments”. They were both in the Hadean realm.
The remainder of this narrative in Luke 16 also shows that there is a “great gulf fixed” between Paradise and the place of torments so one in one place is prevented from “relocating” to the other. Neither is this to be the “eternal” abode of souls. The Hadean realm is a temporary receptacle of disembodied souls. This can be biblically proven with a brief read of the Words of the Spirit through the pen of Paul in 1Thess. 4:15-17. This tells us where the dead in Christ will spend eternity. Lest we forget those who are disobedient, unfaithful, or presently in “torment”, we can examine 1Thess. 1:8-9. Read both of these carefully and ask yourself: In which group do I want to be in when the Lord returns? Or, in which group will I be if the Lord returns before I die?
Our present life is the time we get to decide what will be “When This Is All Over”. What is our goal for eternity? Should we not seek the truth in God’s Word, obey what He Commands, and live in full accordance with that Word NOW before it is everlastingly too late? There is no other way to arrive at the desired destination.
Dennis Strickland – Mooresville church of Christ
