Many people believe that the words spoken by the Lord Jesus upon the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30), meant that the Lord’s work to save mankind was then completed, that our sins are forgiven and we are saved, and we are now just waiting for the Lord to come and raise us up into heaven. But is this understanding correct? Does it accord with the facts of God’s work? Let’s read Sister Chen Jing’s experiences together, so that we may understand the true meaning of the words “It is finished.”

Reunion With God | I Relinquish My Conceptions and Welcome the Second Coming of Jesus (Part 1)

“Hey, nana, your eyesight is a lot better than it was. You can even do needlework!”

My granddaughter’s offhanded remark brought back to my mind the time when I almost lost my sight and narrowly missed God’s salvation in the last days …

Clinging to My Conceptions, I Refuse Entry to the Lord

“My daughter, the Lord Jesus whom we’ve long yearned for has returned! He is Almighty God, Christ of the last days, and in the last days God expresses the truth and performs the new work of judging and purifying man in order to save us once and for all from sin. We must be the wise virgins and hurry to keep pace with the Lamb’s footsteps, for only by doing that will we be able to attain God’s salvation!” my mother said excitedly, gripping both my hands.

It came as a wonderful surprise to hear the news of the Lord’s return, but then I thought about what the pastor often said, that “When the Lord was upon the cross, He said ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30), and this proves that the Lord’s work to save mankind was then completed, that our sins are forgiven and we are saved, and that when the Lord returns He will immediately raise us up into heaven.” I thought: “Yes, the Lord did indeed say ‘It is finished,’ so how could He possibly perform any more work to save mankind in the last days? We can place our faith in the Lord’s words, and so I’d best trust in them.” And so, I rebuffed my mother.

Later, I spoke to Sister Li, a preacher in my church, about the gospel my mother had preached to me. After hearing me out, Sister Li said anxiously, “Sister Chen, the Lord Jesus saying ‘It is finished’ upon the cross is sufficient proof that God’s work to save mankind is over. God cannot possibly come again to perform a work to save mankind; all we have to do is wait for the Lord to come to raise us up into heaven. Sister Chen, this is the time when we must keep watch and await the coming of the Lord. If you go astray in your faith at this crucial juncture, then you won’t get into heaven!” Sister Li’s words made me very afraid, and I thought to myself: “No matter who preaches to me that the Lord has returned and is performing a new work, I won’t believe it. I’ll just wait for the Lord Jesus to return and raise us up into heaven.”

After that, my mother came again to preach to me Almighty God’s kingdom gospel several times, but I rebuffed her each time. Each time I watched my mother walking away, trembling and clutching at her crutches, I would feel very upset. My mother was no fool, and if she wasn’t certain that Almighty God’s work of the last days was the true way, then she wouldn’t have come so many times to preach it to me. But I was still afraid of going astray, and so I didn’t dare investigate it. During this time, Sister Qin from our village also came and preached to me that the Lord had returned and was performing a new work, but I rebuffed her too.

I Suddenly Develop an Eye Condition and God’s Will Is Behind It

One day, I suddenly felt as though one of my eyes was being obscured by something. My eyesight out of that eye became very blurry and it hurt a little. After taking medicine for a few days, not only did it have no effect, but on the contrary my eye got worse and worse. After examining me, the doctor said, “You may lose your sight in this eye, and your other eye could also be affected as well.” I was panic-stricken to hear this, and I sought medical advice everywhere I could, but no treatment I took had any effect. I also had two upper-level co-workers in my church pray for me, but this had no effect either. My eyesight was getting worse by the day, until it became so severe that I couldn’t bear any light at all, I couldn’t even make a meal anymore, and sometimes I couldn’t see who people were. The torment of this illness caused me great suffering and I became spiritually very weak. I didn’t feel like praying to the Lord anymore and I stopped going to church. I often thought: “If I really do go blind, then I’ll be just a disabled person, and what is the point in living like that?”

In my pain and despair, I suddenly thought about how my mother had come again and again to preach to me God’s kingdom gospel, and about how I had not looked into it at all before rebuffing her. If the Lord Jesus really had returned and was performing a new work to save man, hadn’t I then been resisting the Lord? Could it be that my eyes had gotten like this because I had offended God’s disposition?

Thinking this, I began to feel afraid, and I hurriedly prayed to the Lord: “O Lord! I’ve been taking treatment for my eyes for a long time now, but they still haven’t gotten any better, and instead are getting worse and worse. O Lord! My mother has come many times to tell me that You have returned and are performing a new work, but I have refused to investigate it or accept it because I was afraid of going astray. Could it be that this has something to do with my eye condition? O Lord! I am foolish and blind, and I don’t understand. If You truly have returned, then I ask that You guide me and give me another chance. I’m now willing to seek and investigate Your work.”

I Take the Initiative to Seek God’s New Work

The Lord truly is a wonder, for He heard my prayer. One day not long after, Sister Qin just happened to be passing by my house so I hurriedly called her over. After going inside, I immediately asked her, “Sister, the pastors and elders often preach that the meaning of the Lord’s words ‘It is finished’ spoken when He was upon the cross meant that God’s work to save mankind was then completed. I also believe that, by believing in the Lord, our sins are forgiven and we are saved, that when the Lord comes again He will immediately raise us up into heaven, and that He cannot possibly perform another work to save man. And yet you testify that the Lord Jesus has returned and is performing a new work. What is the truth of all this?”

Sister Qin smiled and said, “Sister Chen, when He was upon the cross, the Lord Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ But what exactly He meant by these words is not clearly explained in the Bible. So is it then right for the pastors and elders to say that the words ‘It is finished’ meant that God’s work to save mankind is now totally completed? Does what they say accord with the Lord’s words? Do they have a biblical basis for this statement? Did the Lord Jesus ever say such a thing? Did the Holy Spirit?”

I was struck by what she’d said, and I thought: “Yes, this statement is not in the Bible at all!” I quickly replied to her questions and said, “No.”

Sister Qin then said, “Since the Lord Jesus never said that ‘It is finished’ meant that God’s work to save mankind was then totally completed, is not this statement made by the pastors and elders a personal interpretation of the Lord’s words based on their own conceptions and imaginings? Even more seriously, this is something which pertains to arbitrarily adding the words of man to Jesus’ words, and it is something which offends God’s disposition!”

I was dumbstruck by what Sister Qin had said, and I thought: “That’s right! I’ve always agreed with what the pastors said and have always clung to this view, but I’ve never before considered where this view came from. If this is the case, and this view has no basis in the Lord’s words, then the view we’ve been clinging to isn’t necessarily correct!”

Sister Qin went on, saying, “Let’s think about it: If, as the pastors and elders say, the Lord Jesus saying ‘It is finished’ meant that God’s work to save mankind was totally finished, then why would the Lord Jesus have spoken these prophecies? ‘I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come’ (John 16:12–13). ‘And if any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejects Me, and receives not My words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day’ (John 12:47–48). According to the Lord’s prophecies, we can be absolutely sure that when the Lord returns in the last days, He will express more truths and perform the work of judgment. If we go by the view held by the pastors and elders, then these prophecies spoken by the Lord Jesus would not be able to be fulfilled, and wouldn’t that then mean that the Lord’s words would come to nothing? The Lord is faithful, and every word the Lord spoke must be fulfilled. Therefore, the view held by the pastors and elders clearly doesn’t accord with the Lord Jesus’ words, nor does it accord with the facts of God’s work.”

When the sister said this, everything suddenly became clear, and I thought: “The sister gives fellowship based upon the Lord’s words, and it seems as though when the Lord returns, He will indeed express more words and perform the work of judgment! But if this truly is the case, what exactly did the Lord Jesus mean when He said, ‘It is finished’?” I then asked Sister Qin this question.

To be continue…

from "I Relinquish My Conceptions and Welcome the Second Coming of Jesus"

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