Open your Bibles, if you would,
to John chapter 17. We'll continue our study in this
wonderful chapter. The name of the message is Christ's
Complete Work. Christ's Complete Work. We, last week, we saw how Christ
glorified the Father in all that he did, and say, while he was
here upon this earth, And we'll see tonight, we'll
see him by his own words bring forth that he has absolutely
finished the work which the Father sent him to do. Let's read verses
one to five. Again, our text will be verse
four of John 17. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy son that thy son
also may glorify thee. As thou has given him power over
all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
has given him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God. and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou
me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee
before the world was. What a statement in these first
five verses. Now the way for us to have joy
and peace as believers, that's something that the religious
world constantly seeks after by something that they do. But
you know how we, as the people of God, have joy and peace? It's
to never concentrate upon ourselves. to not concentrate upon ourselves.
See, in religion, they're always concentrating on themselves.
I know, because I was there. Oh, I gotta be more loving to
people. Oh, I gotta have more joy. I gotta have more peace.
And it was always by something I did. But I'll tell you, I've
learned, since the Lord God showed me grace, I've learned that we
as believers If we want joy and peace, we're not to concentrate
upon ourselves. Because what do we see when we
look upon ourselves? Sin and failure. That's all we
see. We also see ourselves failing
to live up to God's standards when we concentrate upon ourselves, as he puts forth in the word
of God. But if we concentrate on this wonderful fact, If we concentrate on this wonderful
fact that's presented to us tonight, and as I was concentrating on
this today, as I was reading and studying for this message
today, my heart was leaping for joy. Because see the word finished
there? It's the same Greek word when
Christ cried, it is finished. It's the same Greek word, beloved. And oh, when we concentrate on
Christ and on the work that He performed, right? Because He
did the work to save our souls. When we think about that, oh,
what joy will flood our souls. My salvation, I stand before
you, my salvation in Christ is complete by Him. And I'm complete
in Him and so are you if you're in Him. There's nothing for us
to do, beloved, but look to Christ. And that's by God-given faith
that we do that. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. He finished salvation perfectly. We're going to see that tonight
in the definition of this word. It's absolutely complete. Salvation
was absolutely finished by Christ in him alone. And then the believer
We rejoice in the fact that he did it for us. We're so undeserving. We don't merit this wondrous
salvation that we have in Christ. Nothing in us that would have
God say, yeah, I'm going to give it to Dave or Wayne or Brian. Nothing in us that would cause
him to do that, except for his mercy and his grace. So Linda and Jill and Ann, you
guys can say along with us that we're saved by the grace and
mercy of God plus nothing. He did it all. Christ did it
all. He finished the work. And that's
what he's bringing forth here as we contemplate the fact that
our eternal souls are completely redeemed forever now. forever. What joy will flood
our souls. It's wondrous. It's absolutely
wondrous. We are saved sinners. That's
incredible. We are sinners saved by the grace
and mercy of God, through Christ Jesus our Lord, who finished
the work. Aren't you glad that there's
nothing for us to do? It's wondrous. See, man's religion,
there's always something you've got to do. Man-based religion. Oh, you've got to be baptized
to be saved. That's a false gospel. You've
got to go to a certain church to be saved. That's a false gospel.
Salvation's not in the church. Salvation's in Christ. In him alone. You gotta worship
on Saturdays, otherwise you're taking the mark of the beast.
That's a false gospel. It focuses on what man has to
do. Same with the baptism. Focuses on what man has to do.
Same with attending a certain church. The Catholics do that.
They stay outside the Catholic church. There's no salvation.
That's a life in the pit of hell. Salvation's only in a person,
and that person's name is the Lord Jesus Christ, who finished
the work of redemption. You see? As Scott Richardson
used to say, we look outside ourselves and up to Christ. I
like that, because that's the truth. So what peace will flood our
souls when we contemplate this wonderful truth that we can't
save ourselves, but Christ saved our souls? He did it willingly,
too. Christ came into this world to
save sinners. That was his whole mission. And
in doing that, he glorified God, didn't he? We see that in our
text. They go hand in hand. He says, I have glorified thee
on the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. So in finishing the work of our
redemption, Christ glorified God. It's amazing. And then again,
like I said last week, now we glorify God for the wondrous
things that Christ has done for us, and we glorify our Savior,
don't we? Who is God incarnate in the flesh? Oh my. And again, note these
two statements, and note how they complement each other in
this verse. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. Christ
came into this world to save sinners, of whom I'm chief. We
can all say that, right? I'm the chief of sinners, along
with Paul. Christ didn't come to save the
righteous. He came to save sinners. He didn't come to save those
who thought they were whole already, which is what the self-righteous
do. I was there. Were you there?
I was there. I didn't think I needed Christ. Oh, wow, were my eyes
opened? Were yours? My! So we'd say we were sinners, but
there's always someone worse than us. But no, that's not the
case. When the Lord shows you grace,
that's not the case at all. My. So he says, here I've glorified
thee on the earth, I've finished the work which thou gavest me
to do. See, these two statements complement each other. Again,
in saving sinners, he's glorifying God. In living the perfect life
as our substitute, he's glorifying God. In his death, he's glorifying
God. In his resurrection, he's glorifying
God. In his ascension, back up to
heaven, he's glorifying God. Everything Christ did glorified
God. Everything we do doesn't glorify God in our natural state.
See, isn't that incredible? So that which we could never
do, he did for us. It's amazing. This is amazing
grace. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
86. Oh, this is wondrous. Christ came to save his people
from their sins, and in doing so again, he glorified God, and
he glorified God every second of his life. There was never
a time when he wasn't glorifying God. Look at this, though, in Psalm
86, and we We can sing these wonderful words
with David because Christ has redeemed our souls. If we're
one of the redeemed ones, we can sing these wonderful words
with David. And in doing so, we glorify God
for the wondrous things he's done for us. Look at this in
verse 10 to 13. For thou art great. You know,
our God, he's great. I'm going to preach a message
this weekend on his greatness. Do you know you can't measure
it? You can't even fathom His greatness?
We can't even come close to fathoming His greatness. He's so great. Our God's so great. Look at that.
For thou art great, and doest wondrous things. Now every believer
can say, He does wondrous things because He saved my soul. Wonder
of wonders, he's loved me with an everlasting love. Wonder of
wonders, Christ left the glory and splendor of heaven to redeem
my eternal soul. He does wondrous things, doesn't
he? Absolutely wondrous things. Thou art God alone. Remember what our king said? In verse 3 of John 17, that this
is eternal life, that they might know Thee, the only true God. There is only one God. Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And the three are one. And He's
God alone. And then look what David sings.
Teach me thy way, O Lord. I will walk in thy truth. Unite
my heart to fear thy name. And that's not a slavish fear
there. That's a reverent fear. That's being in awe of who God
is. Because that's what we, we don't
have a slavish fear anymore of God. There was one time when
we trembled and feared. Now we still tremble at his greatness,
don't we? And in reverent fear, we are
in awe of who He is. But His anger toward His people
for our sins has already been appeased. Scripture says God's
angry with the wicked. He's not angry with the righteous,
those in Christ. Because that wrath is being appeased,
isn't it? And that's righteous anger. That's
not anger like we get. That's righteous. That's sinless
anger. My. My. And then it says, I will
praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify
thy name forevermore. We've been given a new heart,
haven't we? We've been given a new heart now that glorifies
the name of God. We didn't glorify God's name
before the Lord saved us. Now we sure do, don't we? Oh,
he's wonderful. He's wondrous. He's so great. For great is thy mercy toward
me. See, it's personal, isn't it?
Every believer can say that. Oh, my great God and King, great
is your mercy towards me. towards me in through the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou has delivered my soul from the lowest hell."
We've been delivered. We've been redeemed. We've been
plucked out as a bran from the fire, beloved. We've been delivered
from the lowest hell. My! What a Savior! What a Redeemer is Jesus Christ
our Lord! My, oh my! We've been delivered. Did you
know we've been saved from our sins? We've been saved from the
law of God, which had a demand upon us. We've been saved from
the wrath of God, because Christ appeased it, that which was against
us. We've been saved from hell. That's what David's bringing
forth here, right? Now has delivered my soul from the lowest hell. And we've been delivered by the
Lord Jesus Christ and him alone. We couldn't deliver ourselves,
could we? But oh, oh, has he not, has his mercy not been great
towards us? That he delivered us from all
these things. It's wondrous, isn't it? It's absolutely wondrous. How did this come about? How
did this deliverance come about? By the perfect, sin-atoning redemption
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The perfect, complete work of
the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross in saving his people from
their sins. And he cried, it is finished. It's done. There's nothing to
be added to it by any human being. It's perfect. That's what it
means in the Greek. It's perfect, beloved. It's come
to a perfect end. Oh, it's wonderful. Christ did
that for me? Christ did that for you if you're
one of his people? Yes. Yes, he did. All because it pleased
him to do so. That's the part that leaves us
just stunned, isn't it? It leaves me just stunned, I'll
tell you that. That Christ, the Mighty Maker,
would leave heaven and come to this sin-cursed world to redeem
my soul, my sinful soul. It's true, isn't it? Is that not the
best news you've ever heard in your life? That's the best news I've ever
heard in my life, I'll tell you that. You know, when Christ didn't
come into this world to add to God's glory, no one can add to
God's glory. He came in here specifically
to save us from our sins. And he has completely, perfectly
saved us from our sins and glorified God at the same time. And you know, he glorified the
Holy Spirit, too. He glorified the whole Trinity,
didn't he, by what he did? The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
made a covenant in eternity. And Christ was the one who said,
I'll come to this world. A world they created. My, anything too hard for the
Lord? No. People say, well, how can
that be? Anything too hard for the Lord?
Nope. Nothing. Nothing. Scripture says it, and
I believe it. By the grace of God, I believe
it. My, it's wonderful. Now, you and I can work on something,
can't we? We can work on something. I used
to be a sign painter. by hand, used to do it all by
hand back in the day. And I'd be sitting there painting
and I'd finish a sign, somebody come up and go, man, that is
wonderful. And I'd look and I could see
all my mistakes. I could see every one of my mistakes, every
single one, but they wouldn't see it. Now, another painter,
Someone who was far superior to me could have come and fixed
that stuff up and made it even better. But it'll never be perfect. Never be perfect. See, we can
make things and work on things, but it'll never be perfect. Someone
can always add a little something to it and be a little bit better.
Or even you might decide, you guys might decide, well, I want
to do something a little different, make it a little bit better. Now, the difference with this
work that Christ speaks of, the difference with this work, which
Christ finished of the salvation of our souls, is that if you
or I add anything to it, we ruin it. Because the perfect man completed
the perfect work. And if he's perfect, which he
is, and his work is perfect, then there's absolutely nothing
that can be added to it. Anything that would be added
to it would ruin it, especially by us. How can one add to a perfect
work completed by a perfect man who is God incarnate in the flesh? Well, we can't add anything to
the finished work of Christ, can we? Nothing at all. Again, because we are imperfect. We are sinners. And we would
ruin that work. You see the folly of people say,
you must be baptized to be saved. Well, you must do this. You must
speak in tongues to be saved. It's folly. It's man. You know what it is, really?
It's man calling God a liar. Really, I was contemplating that
today. Because Christ says, here, he's finished the work. So if
someone says they have to do something to be saved, they're
calling Christ a liar. That's serious business, isn't
it? That's serious business. By grace of God, we believe what
the scriptures say, don't we? We believe it. So such foolishness in works-based
religion, it denies the finished work of Christ. At the heart of it, again, works-based
religion proclaims God is a liar. Because what did he say? He said,
this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. He's the only
one that could ever be said of. All the sons and daughters of
Adam, which includes you and I, that could never be said of
us. Now, if we're in Christ, and
God the Father's pleased with Christ, who's the head of the
body, then God the Father's pleased with us. All because of Christ,
beloved! All because of what He's done!
Isn't it wonderful? It's so wonderful. It's so wonderful. So there's such a danger when
someone says you must speak in tongues to be saved, or you must
go to a certain church on or you must go to church on Saturday,
or you must be saved by something you do. There's such a danger
in that. That's why Paul, in our study in Galatians, is so
veminant against the Judaizers, because it's another gospel.
It denies the finished work of Christ. See, salvation's either
all of grace or it's not at all. And people say, well, how can
you? That's a harsh way to say things, Wayne. Well, that's what
the scriptures say. That's not my opinion. That's
what the Word of God says. And that's why we gospel preachers,
we preach Christ and Him crucified, and only Him, for the salvation
of our souls. There's no other way to be saved
outside of Christ. What was the whole reason Christ
left heaven? To save his people from their
sins, right? That's the whole reason he left. The whole reason
he came here, we see in the text, is to glorify God and to finish
the work that God sent him to do. And that's saving his people
from their sins. He came here to finish the work,
to die as a substitute of his people, to purchase our eternal
souls with the shedding of his precious blood. And he proclaims here to the
Father that he has finished the work which thou gavest me to
do. My, oh, my. He didn't come and
die on the cross to make us savable. That's a lie from the pit of
hell. No, He came to save us because we can't make ourselves
savable. We can't save ourselves. We're
lost. Amen, brother. We're dead in
trespasses and sins. There's absolutely no way for
a dead man to give himself life. That life must come from God.
We see that with Lazarus. They roll away that stone. He's
still dead, isn't he? He's cold dead. Until the Lord
says, Lazarus, come forth. Then he comes stumbling out.
But those men rolling away the stone didn't give them life.
It's the words of God, the words of Christ that gave them life.
See, we were dead in trespasses and sins, and the Holy Spirit,
life! We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. Live! The circumcision made without
hands, the operation of God. to be born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. And now we cry out to Christ,
don't we? My God and my Savior. So this wonderful truth of the
perfect and complete finished work of Christ, you know, it's
not presented in a vague way in Scripture. It's presented
very clearly, isn't it? Very clearly in the Scriptures. It's quite clearly presented
to us as a perfect, complete, finished work, which was done
by the Lord Jesus Christ in him alone. Now, if someone came to
us and asked us what this salvation is, would you or I be able to
give the exact definition? I think we would be able to with
this one word, finished. The work is finished. It's done. Salvation is complete. And it
was completed by Christ in him alone. Again, the scripture is
not vague. In this presentation of salvation
in Christ alone, it's not vague at all. All through the Old Testament,
all those sacrifices pointed to Christ. We don't need to make a number
of statements and use theological words to explain what is presented
here tonight in our text. What is presented in our text
is the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ finished the work of redemption
completely. He finished the work which the
Father sent him to do, and that was to save my soul, and if you're
a believer, that was to save your soul. That's amazing, isn't
it? That's why John Newton said,
this is amazing grace. He saved a wretch like me? He'd
save a sinner shaking my fist at God? Yeah. See, there's hope for the hopeless,
isn't there, in Christ. We know because we were hopeless
at one time. Now what a hope we have now. Oh my. Oh my. Turn if you would to Luke
chapter 19. Luke chapter 19. We'll read verse
10. And then put your finger in. in Matthew chapter 1 verse 21. Look at this in Luke chapter
19 verse 10. These are a few scriptures that
bring forth the perfect finished work of Christ. And it's, again,
it's not vague, it's very clear in the scriptures. Very clear.
Look at this, Luke 19, 10. For the Son of Man has come to
seek and to save that which was lost. We came to save sinners,
didn't we? The question is, are you lost?
Hard to find lost people now. Everyone thinks that they're
good. But if God starts working on you, you're going to find
out you're lost. And then you're going to cry out to him. If God
gives you faith to believe, you're going to cry out to him, just
like every one of us is God's people. And then Matthew 20,
28 says, even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. He came
to give his life, beloved, a ransom for our souls. He purchased our
eternal souls. And in turn, if you would, to
Matthew 1.21. Look at this. So clear. And like
I say, it's not vague at all why the Lord Jesus came here.
We cannot save ourselves. And look what the scripture says.
This is wonderful. And she shall, verse 21, Matthew
1, 21, and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his
name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. It's
so clear, isn't it? That's what Christ came to do.
That's the work that he came to finish. To save us. To save
us. Can't save ourselves, right?
So Christ left the glories and splendors of heaven to save us. I like this verse in 1 John 3,
5, it says, and you know that he was manifested to take away
our sins, and in him is no sin. He's the sinless one. He came
to this world, the sinless one came to this world to die for
sinners. My, that's the last thing that
we would think. See, God's ways are not our ways,
are they? His thoughts are not our thoughts. Turn, if you would,
to John chapter 4. You know, he was sent to finish
the work of redemption that the Father sent him to do. Let's
consider this scripture here. John 4, 34. Jesus saith unto him, my meat
is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.
Same Greek word. As he cried, it is finished.
Perfect. He came to finish the work perfectly. Now turn, if you would, to John,
chapter 5, verse 36. Same Greek word used here, too,
for the word finished. Same Greek word. John, chapter 5, verse 36. But I have greater witness than
that of John, speaking of John the Baptist, for the works which
the Father hath given me to finish, there it is again, same Greek
word, to complete to perfection, the same works that I do bear
witness of me that the Father has sent me. Then turn to John
17.4, our text tonight, same Greek word here, John 17.4, I have glorified thee
on the earth, I have finished the work, same Greek word, which
thou gavest me to do. And then turn to John 19.30.
And then we're going to look at the definition of this word.
John 19.30, same Greek word for finished. John 19.30, when Jesus, therefore,
had received the vinegary, he said, it is finished. It's completed
to perfection, beloved. Right there, when he cried that,
that's the salvation of our souls. It's finished. Wonder of wonders. With these words that Christ
is proclaiming, he's proclaiming that he has absolutely finished
the work of salvation for us. Remember, he's raised for our
justification to show that God's satisfied with that work, right? Same Greek word here, though.
It is finished, and he bowed his head and gave up the ghosts.
All these words for finished in the Greek is the same word.
Same Greek word. And listen to the definitions.
I pulled out a whole bunch of definitions for this one word. To make perfect is the first
one. To make perfect. He said, so he's saying on the
cross, it is perfect. Salvation of my people, it's
perfect. The salvation of my bride, it's
perfect. Perfect. And then they use the
word complete. Something's complete, there's
nothing to add to it, right? It's complete. Then it means
to carry through completely. To accomplish, finish, bring
to an end. I like that one. Bring to an
end. There's nothing left to do. And remember who the one is saying
this. This is God in the flesh saying this. This is the Son
of God. This is the Word of God incarnate proclaiming these words. And then it says to bring to
the end a goal which was purposed. Isn't that wonderful? It was
purposed in eternity that Christ would die for the sins of his
people. And then to accomplish, to bring to a close or fulfillment
by an event, dying on the cross. But the first one, to make perfect. Oh, isn't that wonderful? It
just makes my heart leap for joy. Just leap for joy. Christ has perfectly finished
the work. So the definition we can give
for the perfect work of Christ for the salvation of our souls
is finished. Someone asks you, well, what
do you believe? I believe Christ finished the
work of my salvation. Just leave it right there. Because
he cried, it is finished, which means it's perfect, to make perfect. So someone comes up and says,
you've got to do this to be saved. You say, no. Christ cried. It's
finished. It's perfect. I believe him more
than I believe you. Oh, isn't that wonderful? Completed by Christ alone minus
anything by us. Can we add anything to the perfect
work of Christ? Nothing. Nothing at all. All we can do is mess it up.
Oh, my. So each time I stand up and preach,
I preach the perfect, sin-atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's complete. It's done. Just look to Christ
and live. And how do we do that? By faith,
by God-given faith. Oh, it's wonderful. The question
for all who will hear this message is, are you a sinner? God's people
say, yeah, I'm a sinner, saved by the grace of God. That's what
we are. Sinners saved by the grace of
God. And the answer is, everyone is
a sinner. There's a desperate need for
Christ, isn't there? There's a desperate need for
Him. And we say, flee to the only Savior of sinners. That's
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only Savior. Can't be
saved by anything we do, or say, or our actions, nothing. Nothing,
only by Christ. Only by the Lord Jesus Christ,
who perfectly completed the work of salvation that the Father
sent him to do. And because of his perfect sin
atoning work, you and I as believers will be in glory forever. all because of what he's done. It's wonderful. It's wonderful. This same Greek word, you know,
is translated perfected. Turn, if you would, to Luke 13.
As I was studying for this message, I didn't know about this verse.
It kept coming up. It kept coming up. All the cross-references
I was looking at. I'm sorry. All the cross-references
I was looking at. It kept coming up. It kept coming
up. And I thought, I need to look into this verse. So I looked
into this verse. Same Greek word. It's finished. Which again means to make perfect,
right? Look at this. Luke chapter 13,
verse 32. And he said unto them, go ye
and tell that fox. He's talking about Herod there.
He's a fox. He's a crafty one. Because they
had said, he's seeking to kill you. He said, tell that fox,
behold, I cast out devils and I do cures today and tomorrow
and the third day I shall be perfected. Same Greek word. Perfected. So if, there's nothing else to say but
the work's done. The perfect man will be perfected.
My oh my. Perfected. Christ finished the work of redemption
for his people and it is perfect. Perfect. absolutely perfect. You know,
God does all things for His own glory. And Christ sought to glorify
the Father in all that He did. How did Christ glorify God? By declaring His holiness. And
now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and
I come to Thee, Holy Father, keep Thou Thine own Name those
whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. How
else did Christ glorify God? By showing forth his praise.
In Matthew 11, verses 25 to 26, he says this, At that time Jesus
answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven, because
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed
them unto babes. That's what we are. He kept it
from the wise and prudent and revealed it unto babes. Even
so, Father, for it seemed good in thy sight." Oh my goodness!
All that we know about Christ, all that we know about God, has
been revealed to us because it pleased God to do so. Oh my goodness! That's spectacular! Turn, if you would, to John chapter
10. Oh my, how did Christ glorify
His Father? By bearing witness of Him. Look
at this in John chapter 10, verses 25 to 28. Jesus answered them, I told you,
and you believe not the works that I do in My Father's name.
They bear witness of Me. But ye believe not, because ye
are not of My sheep. Oh my, what a chilling verse. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, the Genoske, intimately, and
they follow me. I'll tell you what, there was
a time when I didn't follow his voice. So for you too, eh? But when he called us, what happened?
Oh, never a voice so melodious, so beautiful as the voice of
Christ in through the preaching of the gospel. Oh, it's wonderful. Absolutely
wonderful. My sheep hear My voice, and I
know them, and they follow Me, and I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish." This is the Master speaking.
This is God saying this about His people. Why? How can He say
that? Because the work is perfect!
The work that He did is perfect, complete. And I give unto them
eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of My Father's hand. wonder of wonders, were
in the hand of God, upheld by the everlasting arms in the hand
of God. How did Christ glorify His Father? By His manner of death. This speak He, signifying by
what death He should glorify God. And when He had spoken this,
He saith unto them, Follow me, John 21, 19. Turn, if you would,
to Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1. And then put your hand in Luke chapter
24, Romans chapter 1. Do you know Christ glorified
the Father by his resurrection? And then he glorified the Father
by his ascension back to glory. Look at this, Romans chapter
1. Verses 1 to 4, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be
an apostle, and that's by God, separated unto the gospel of
God, which he had promised to for by his prophets in the Holy
Scripture. That's talking about all the
Old Testament here. Christ is the promised one. He's
coming. He's coming. Concerning his son, Jesus Christ
our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the
flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according
to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. The same power that raised Christ
from the grave is the same power that raised us when we were dead
in trespasses and sins, beloved. What do we say then? Just all
we can say is glory to his name. Now turn, if you would, to Luke,
chapter 24. How did Christ glorify His Father? By His glorious ascension. Where
is He right now? He's seated at the right hand
of the Father. That's where He is right now. Interceding for
His people. Look at this in Luke 24, verses
50 to 53. And He led them out as far as
to Bethany. And he lifted up his hands and
blessed them. And it came to pass while he
blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up into heaven. Puts his hands out, and he just
starts going up. Now remember who this is. This
is the resurrected God-man. This is the one who went through
some walls, didn't he? Nothing for him. He's in charge of everything.
He has all power. There's nothing for him to do
this. And look what his people do. This is what we do, don't
we? And they worshipped him. Oh, they worshipped him. And
returned to Jerusalem with great what? Joy. Great joy. My sins are forgiven. Praise
be to God. I just saw the king go up, Peter
would say. And where he is, There we will
be also. And then it says, and they were
continually in the temple praising and blessing God. So what comfort
God's people can find here? In this text tonight, let's read
it again. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. What
comfort is found in here? We can rest in Christ Jesus,
our Lord, who completed the work of salvation for our eternal
souls. Oh, my. Think upon this world
we live in. This was the scene of the Savior's
work. He came to this world. This was where the plan of redemption
came about in time. He was manifest, what? To take
away our sins. That's the whole reason He came
here. In heaven, God's glorified already,
isn't He? Before Christ came to this world,
He was already glorified in heaven as the Word of God. They were
glorifying Him all the time. Well, how fitting and necessary
that God should be glorified where He's being dishonored. This whole world dishonors Him. He's been dishonored by we who
are sinners by birth, nature, and choice. So He comes to glorify
God in our place. Isn't it wonderful? We dishonor God by our sin, and
He comes to be our substitute, to live the perfect life for
us, honoring God, glorifying God in our room and place. and
perfectly fulfilling the law of God in our room and place. And mark the emphasis that laid
on the personal element as Adam fell from his original innocence,
didn't he? And therefore, he failed in glorifying
God. Well, what's Christ? He's the
second Adam, isn't he? He's the second Adam who shall
not fail. Isaiah says, he shall not fail. And he comes and glorifies
God for us in our place. Now we who are the redeemed,
now we glorify God, don't we? Now we glorify him for the wondrous
things he's done for us. All the sons and daughters of
Adam, though, followed Adam in that downward spiral. Now we're born sinners, dead
in trespasses and sins when we come into this world. And only
Jesus, only the second Adam could speak these words where he says,
I have glorified thee on the earth. Only the perfect man could
say that. And then he says this, I have
finished the work which thou gavest me to do. Completely perfect. for the first time in the history
of this world, the divine law of God in all its extent and
spirituality found complete fulfillment in Christ Jesus our Lord. And
he did that as our substitute. Isn't that amazing? It's amazing
grace, isn't it? It truly is. It's amazing grace.
You know, in Christ we behold personal revelation of God. In
him is found the brightness of the Father. He's the sinless
one. He's the express image of his
person. In Christ we behold the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth, which he is. He is
full of grace and truth, and still is full of grace and truth. He came here, Christ came here
to be a sacrifice for the sins of his people. Wonder of wonders. Christ did that for me. Every
believer can say that. He did that for me. The sinless one died for sinners.
And this vast work that Christ was sent to do is finished. Completely perfect. With nothing for us to do. Now
see, this goes contrary to the pride of man, right? Because
the pride of man wants to do something. And there was a time when we
wanted to do something, wasn't there? Thank God he revealed himself
to us and we learned that there's absolutely nothing we could do
to save ourselves. Oh, what a blessing. The work
is finished. It does not require one iota
of addition by any man, woman, or child. It is finished. Do you know the worst thing that
one can do is to treat it as unfinished? To say there's something
man has to do. Again, that's making God a liar.
That's treating the work as unfinished. He came to be the federal head
of his people, the second Adam. All that God had given him in
eternity, he came to die in their place, to redeem their souls, to rise
from the grave for our justification, to ascend back to glory, to be
the mediator of we who are his people. You know, we died when he died.
We died in him. See? Adam was our federal head,
wasn't he? When he fell, we fell in him.
When Christ died, we died in Christ. When Christ rose, we
rose with Christ. When Christ ascended, we ascended
with Christ. Do you know that we're already
seated in heavenly places? Oh my, isn't it wonderful? It's
wonderful. It's wonderful! My, the scriptures declare again
we're already seated in heavenly places and beloved God only,
that's only in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, only in and
through him. He's the head of the mystical body of which every
one of us is a member. Every one of God's elect is a
member. Oh my. So therefore, beloved
of God, because of Christ's death, because of His ascension, and
because of His resurrection, our ascension into glory is sure. Absolutely sure. Because He finished
the work perfectly. Perfectly. I have glorified Thee
on the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. This implies complete submission
to the Father, doesn't it? He completely submitted to the
Father's will. And he finished to perfection
the work that God had sent him to do, which was to save his
people from their sins. And he did it by the shedding
of his blood and the giving of his life. And again, how do we
then define what Christ has done for us? Finished. Salvation is
finished. Hallelujah. It's finished. Praise be to God.