I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20
When things happen today, they are new and exciting for a while, and then everyone moves on. A team wins the world championship, and there is great celebration. But then everyone moves on. Another team wins next year. And so on.
Someone achieves a milestone in life; they graduate, they get married, they buy a car, they have a baby. It’s new and exciting for a while, but then the “newness” wear’s off. A new model comes out and the car loses that new car aroma. Something in the house breaks, or the roof leaks. The baby grows up and makes a mess or disappoints their parents. Someone does something to hurt or disappoint their spouse.
But when it comes to God and his relationship to us, it doesn’t change. It doesn’t break down. It doesn’t lose that “just new” smell or feel. Nothing breaks off. It doesn’t get old.
That’s exactly how Paul looks at his life with God. He looks at it from the past and into the future. No matter which way he looks, God and his relationship with Paul are always, always, always there. It’s always new. It’s always full.
How does he do this? He keeps one eye on the past and another in the future while living and looking at today. He knows his spiritual history going backward and his future destination going forward. He knows where he comes from and where he’s going.
When it comes to Paul’s relationship with God, he lives within a bubble where God surrounds him. God is in front and behind him. We’re inside a ball that God holds in his hand God is above and below him[1]. God personally has Paul in the palm of his hand[2].
When Jesus died on the cross, he took it all. It happened to him. He experienced death personally. In Jesus, God tasted death and paid for us. He died once and for all for our sin. But there was more to it than that. In some spiritual sense, he also died for everyone who would believe[3].
But it gets better. The benefit we received from his payment became a fact when he died. And it’s still our account. It’s still paying for sins; past, present, and future. We are currently receiving and experiencing all the benefits from his sacrifice.
But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
Hebrews 2:9
This is so wildly different from any other sacrifice or payment. Both have a limited amount or value. The sacrifice pays for a sin, or for the sins of a year. A payment always has a fixed amount.
But not Jesus’ sacrifice, death, and payment for us. He took care of our sin nature and all our sins that we commit. Sin is singular – meaning one. We have one sin nature that is totally against God. And to make things even worse, we commit sins – plural. These are all the individual acts that we do against our loving Heavenly Father.
This is HUGE! A sacrifice only takes care of some sins. A payment only takes care of some debt. But Jesus’ took care of it all, once and for all. There’s nothing more to be done. No more sacrifices. No more payments. It’s done. Period. Finished.
If you’ll let that start to get ahold of you, I guarantee that it will change your life like nothing else. It’s all paid for. Nothing else left to repay. The enemy can no longer call you out and claim that you’re guilty. That you still owe God for your sin.
I remember the day that I drove to the bank to pay off the mortgage on our house. I had just received a large commission check, and after tithing it, I went to pay off the mortgage ahead of time. They calculated how much was left and I wrote a check for that amount. In return, I got a statement that said, “Paid in full.” When I got home, we celebrated and rejoiced at the goodness of God.
He's done the same thing with our sin. The list of everything we owed God has been nailed to the cross and stamped, “Paid in full[4].” There’s nothing left to pay. Our eternal debt with God has been settled once and for all.
As we come to understand this, it will make us so incredibly grateful to God that we’re willing to stand up and shout thanksgiving to God. While at the same time, make us want to fall down and worship this great and gracious God.
And all because it’s a done deal.
Noodling Questions
How do you feel when something’s a done deal?
Do you get a sense of completion about something being done?
How would you change the done deals in your life?
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