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“It is Done!” Revelation 21:6
How often have you been asked, “What is the difference between your religion and mine?” The answer is found in these three words — “It is done!” All false religion tells sinners to do something for God. The gospel of Christ declares, “It is done!” The gospel of Christ is good news to sinners who can do nothing for themselves, because it declares that the whole work of grace is done. The whole business of making all things new, the entire work of salvation is finished. — “It is done!”
Done
It was done before the world began. All the blessings of grace and salvation were fully given to God’s elect in Christ before the world began (Ephesians 1:3; 2 Timothy 1:9). In him, according to God’s everlasting purpose of grace, we were predestinated, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified from eternity (Romans 8:28-30). The Word of God declares, “The works were finished before the foundation of the world” (Hebrews 4:3)
The work was done when Christ died. When our Savior cried, “It is finished” (John 19:30), he declared that the whole work of righteousness and redemption, the whole accomplishment of God’s will by which we are sanctified and made perfect (Hebrews 10:5-14) was done.
The work is done when the chosen, redeemed sinner believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. Our faith adds nothing to what Christ has done. Faith receives Christ and all that he has done. Yet, no one has any right to claim Christ and the grace of God in him until he believes. — “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son of God shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36). If you believe on Christ, you are a new creature in Christ. Your faith in him is the fruit of his creation, the gift of his grace, and the evidence of your election, redemption, and calling.
Done by Christ
The Lord Jesus declares, “I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.” Staying with the context, he is telling us that the whole work of making all things new is his alone. He is the Beginning of the new creation and the End of it. To put it another way, “Salvation is of the Lord!” He planned it. He purchased it. He performs it. He preserves it. And he perfects it. Therefore, he alone shall have the praise of it, — “That according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:31).
Grace Abundant
In the new creation, grace is both abundant and free. The Son of God declares, “I will give to him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.”This spiritual thirst is the thirst of a needy soul for Christ himself, for pardon and righteousness, for communion with and conformity to Christ, a thirst for a greater knowledge of Christ, and a thirst for the glories of his kingdom. This
thirst the Lord Jesus promises to quench abundantly, with “the fountain of the water of life,” and promises to do so “freely,” without money, without price, without qualification of any kind to be met by the sinner. In Christ, grace is free and abundant!
Our Inheritance
“He that overcometh shall inherit all things.” All believers shall overcome sin, Satan, and the world, because all believers are more than conquerors in Christ (Romans 8:35-39). Overcoming by the blood of the Lamb, every child of God “shall inherit all things.” We are “heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). That means that all that Christ possesses as our Mediator we shall possess in him and with him forever. This one statement from the lips of our Lord should be sufficient to put to silence all questions about degrees of reward in heaven. The Son of God declares that every saved sinner “shall inherit all things!”
Everlasting Sonship
“And I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” — Christ himself, in whom we were adopted and by whom we have been purchased, is the mighty God and our everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6).We are his seed and his offspring. Here he promises us his perpetual presence, protection, and provision forever. In heavenly glory, he will see his seed with satisfaction, prolong his days, and enjoy the fruit of his toil in us forever. He will present us to himself in the perfection of holiness (Ephesians 5:27), and present us to the Father (Hebrews 2:13) “to the praise of the glory of his grace” (Ephesians 1:6). Though now we are the sons of God, “it doth not yet appear what we shall be” (1 John 3:2). But this we are assured of: Christ will forever be ours and we shall forever be his in the fulness and perfection of heavenly glory!
Don Fortner
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