Aren't you glad that "This is over?"

“THIS IS OVER.”

“No matter how hard our work in the kingdom of God, there is a sense of worthlessness about our wages and blessings.”

“Salvation is of the Lord.”

Since Jesus bought us with the High Price of his own blood as in a slave auction, we have in Jesus our new owner and we are bondservants that our wages belong to our new master and owner.

Salvation is not freedom from bondage to do as we will and please with our life, but to do God’s will and his will only. God created us for his kingdom to do his will on earth as it is done in heaven.

There are works to be done prepared before hand that we might walk in them. These works will be done by no other but by him for whom it has been prepared. How this comes to pass is by the sovereign God who in his own timing works in the believer “the desire to will and to do by his own pleasure.”

Salvation is not by works but salvation is to do works prepared before the foundation of the world. The prophesied and predestined life of Jesus is written so that we might believe in Jesus as the Christ and the Son of God.

One of the main reasons behind predestination is to display the sovereignty of God, as he is the blessed controller of all things in the life of his Son as well as the blessed controller of our lives because we are the members of the one body of whom Jesus is the head.

Some have used sarcasm and humor to define the reformed believers when they say, “When a Calvinist stumbles and falls, he says, “ I am glad that is over.”

As ridiculous and fatalistic as those words might sound, in reality they are as close as one can come to understand predestination and the sovereignty of God. There is no such a thing as accidents in “our Father’s world” and let us not forget that.

Life is time and how I spend my time is how I spend my life.

In the same way my happenings are from God and are part of his budgeted perfect plan with the overall purpose to make it work all things for our good.

“If to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

I should be able to look forward to death with an anticipation as to arrive home at last. I should also be able to say about the death of my wife and daughter, “ I am glad that is over.” Because,

“They are home at last.”

When I was young and with toothache I had some tooth extraction, I am sure I must have said, “ I am glad that is over.”

When my tonsils were removed I am sure I said, “I am glad that is over.” The same with my gall bladder and now with my stroke I say, I am glad that is over.” Checked, checked, checked, and checked.

Yes, “I am glad that those things are over.”

But that is not the end of my list of things yet to happen. I can see more “boxes” waiting to be checked out that have to do with the eyes, ears, heart, joints, knees and the list goes on.

I will be glad when those things are also over one day.

Salvation is having been saved, being saved and shall be saved.

Salvation is of the Lord from before the beginning and after the end of time and every step of the way within space and time and under the Sun. There is no room for personal credit for such a great salvation.

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Think of salvation like of a swan in a quite lake hardly moving on the surface but paddling like mad under the water as if keeping from drowning.

To do good works we have been saved. We shall do them by hook or by crook. The Lord will prompt us and sometimes use the spur on us and as some one said, “No man can be illustrious before the Lord unless his conflicts be many.”

When you pass through the valley of the shadow of death, do not forget to say on the other side, “ I am glad this is over.”

Let us paddled like mad as if our salvation would depend from it.

Gerry Gutierrez.

PS. "In Jesus, the process and the end result are one an the same thing.