“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 The Amplified version of this verse says “I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God’s Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present. There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears”.
In the construction field; for project execution, we have a Master-plan designed by the architect and the project manager creates the milestone for various tasks using the Primavera software to assess the progress for each milestone. They have weekly or monthly meetings to assess the progress of each milestone and take actions to avoid delay penalties from the client. Similarly, in our Christian life, the Lord Jesus has developed Master plan for each one of our lives. For each one of us God has a perfect Master-plan. What we hear, we need to apply practically in our daily life. We need not be discouraged, because God will finish the good work in us.
We see the Lord has redeemed us with His precious blood. We need to see what is hindering us to achieve this milestone in our lives. We see the children of God in Philipi (Philippians 1 v3-5) taking the word of God seriously, when they received it from Paul. They didn’t have the slightest doubt in their mind about the word Holy spirit revealed to them. So Paul is confident that they will flourish on the day Christ appears. We see how God changed the plan of Paul and people received the message through Paul in Philippi. In Acts 16 verses 6 and 7 we are told that Paul did not intend to go to Philippi. He wanted to go somewhere else. He wanted to preach somewhere in Asia. That seemed to him the right thing to do. But it says “the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.” Then Paul had a vision during the night. God gave him this vision. A man of Macedonia appeared to him and said, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” As a result of that vision Paul crossed the sea and landed in Europe. Not only did God initiate the work in Paul; but Paul remembered how God also initiated the work in the Christians at Philippi.
When Paul arrived at Philippi, the capital of Macedonia, he spoke to some women gathered by the side of the river for prayer. As Paul preached, it says the Lord opened the heart of Lydia to respond to Paul’s message. It doesn’t say Lydia was impressed with Christianity and decided to try it. No, the Lord who brought Paul to preach opened her heart and the hearts of her whole family and they all became believers.
Do we sometimes feel as though we aren’t making progress in our spiritual life? When God starts a project, he completes it! As with the Philippians, God will help us grow in grace until he has completed his work in our life. When we are discouraged, remember that God won’t give up on us. He promises to finish the work he has begun. When we feel incomplete, unfinished, or distressed by our shortcomings, remember and be confident in God’s promise and provision. Don’t let our present condition rob us of the joy of knowing Christ or keep us from growing closer to him.
Paul had been confident (that is, he had full assurance) from the first, and he was still confident to that very day, of God’s continued work to transform the lives of the Philippian believers. The good work refers to God’s salvation and continued perfecting of the believers. God’s goal for believers is that they should be “conformed to the likeness of his Son, that [Jesus] might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8). God who began a good work of redemption in us will carry it on to completion throughout our lifetime and then finish it when we meet him face-to-face. God’s work for us began when Christ died on the cross in our place. His work in us began when we first believed. Now the Holy Spirit lives in us, enabling us to be more like Christ every day.
Now God not only initiates our salvation, he guarantees its fulfillment. Ephesians 1:13–14 says “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”. For a Christian it has to be noted that nothing in this life or after death can stop God’s good work in us (Romans 8:28–39). It says in 1 Corinthians 1 :8, “who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Also in Philippians 1:10 “so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. In Philippians 2 :16 it says “holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”.When we encounter trials and difficulties we need to understand and be patient, because God isn’t finished with us yet.
He starts the work with Salvation and God takes responsibility for completing the work in us. We just have to yield to God’s will by the power of the Holy Spirit. God not only takes the responsibility for the work in us , he guarantees the outcome of his work in us as well. He is the one who keeps us from falling. Like the verse goes; “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy”— Jude 1: 24. The power of God is enough to keep us from falling. God’s purpose for us is to present us before His glorious presence.
He equips us to do His will. 1 Thess 5:23 we see “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it”. For a believer who followed Jesus whole heartedly and strived to obey God’s word. There is a promise in V 24 – he will do it. We need to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. When Jesus returns, two things will happen for the believer: Our character will be revealed and then we will be like Him (Our perfection will be complete).
What we need to do is to always remember our salvation. That is exactly what Paul did .Paul never forgot what he had been before God reached down and saved him. When we read I Timothy 1:12-15 we will understand how Paul values his transformation, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” He says, I was a blasphemer! I was a persecutor! I was violent! He was a blasphemer because he adamantly spoke against Jesus and denied he was the Messiah. He was a persecutor…a ravenous enemy of the faith. He arrested and imprisoned men and women and tried to make them renounce their faith. Third, he was a violent man. “God who is rich in mercy, MADE US ALIVE with Christ even when we were DEAD in transgressions…” (Ephesians 2:4)
In Luke 1, we see the angel saying, ‘35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.’ 38 And Mary said, “Behold, the bond slave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.’, as Mary said behold let it be done according to Gods will, let us have the same attitude. In Romans 8:28, ‘28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.’ As in Romans 12, ‘Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.’, we need to be faithful in all areas of our life.
May the Lord preserve us and may he find us faithful to do His work!
