Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Let's agree that when the Savior of the world died on His cross and proclaimed "It is finished!" He won the great controversy all by Himself. Yes, He died "instead" of us. Yes, salvation is assured. Yes, He opened the gates of Paradise. Yes, it was all done even before we were born. And yes, we contribute nothing to our own salvation.
But does all that mean that we His people, being "covered" by this celestial Insurance Policy, now have only to "wait" and "occupy until [He] comes"? (cf. Luke 19:13). (That word "occupy" has come to mean make lots of money, enjoy the world, and have fun as though there were no solemn Day of Atonement for us to live in.
Does Christ's dying "instead" of us mean that we have no cross to "share" with Him? Does it mean that He dies 100 percent "instead" of us, and from now on are we simply little entries in the credit column in God's heavenly computer, and we "wait" for the call of the first resurrection? Or is there some serious business before us about getting ready to meet Jesus at His second coming?
Note that there are four glorious "Hallelujah Choruses" in Revelation 19:1-7 that say something must happen that at last makes possible that "the Lord God omnipotent reigns"! And that something, not having happened yet, has delayed His "reign" for many, many years, even though He finished His dying "instead" of us. What finally must happen is that "the Lamb's wife" "make herself ready" for the "marriage of the Lamb."
What happened on the cross was wonderful indeed, but nobody can (or will) be happy in heaven until those Hallelujah Choruses can be sung, proclaiming a hitherto elusive victory.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 25, 2005.
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