And I am sure of
this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the
day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1.6
So, let's ask some
questions.
What's the good work
that the Spirit has begun? And what does bringing it to completion look like?
Here's a thought.
This is about the goal of the Gospel. And that goal is simply this: for all of
the saints to become whole people. In so many ways we are all broken. Sin does
that. It takes what is so good and beautiful, and ruins it. It makes it ugly. It
breaks things. That's why we suffer through so many difficulties: confusion
within, terrible habits that are seemingly impossible to change, conflicts with
others, feeling as if God is so far away. That's us - and that's on a so-so
day. Sometimes it's worse!
The good work that
the Spirit has begun is to change all of that. It's His restoring us to the
beauty that was His original intention in creating us. The Spirit is in the
process of making us whole.
And here's the
kicker: He's going to finish what He started. He will make us, all of us, whole
again. Try to imagine that. And the calendar is already marked. The day when
this will happen is the day Jesus returns. And we will be whole, perfect,
beautiful people who, incidentally, will be living in a whole, perfect,
beautiful place. Now, that's something to look forward to.