Confidence in the Future

Chuckle:  "When an egotist gets up in the morning and puts his pants on, he thinks the whole world is dressed!"

Good Quote:  "If we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future."  --Winston Churchill 

CONFIDENCE IN THE FUTURE

    "And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again" (Philippians 1:6 NLT).

Here, Paul expresses his confidence about the future.  Paul drew the conclusion that God was at work in the Philippian Christians and that he would complete his work.  God's faithfulness made him certain.  Paul's love for them made him confident.  And the Philippian Christian's faithfulness made it sure.  This passage does not mean their salvation was incomplete, but that God would continue to work in their lives to make them the kind of Christians he wanted them to be -- to make them more like Jesus.
   
    We are God's work in in progress:  Paul knew that God loves finished works, and that  God's plans do not fail.  The Greek word translated "being confident/sure" denotes personal certainty.  The "good work" refers to the "partnership in the gospel" mentioned in verse 5.  God's work in them was not yet complete.  He would continue it until it was fulfilled according to his eternal plan and will.  God's faithfulness guarantees the completion of what he begins.  The same is true as God works in your life and mine.     
   
    The Day when Christ comes back suggests a day of victory and of trial when every Christian's work/deeds will be tested.  It will be a time of victory, celebration, and reward for the faithful Christian, and a time of disappointment and shame for the Christian who has not been faithful to his/her Lord in this life.  Also, the completion of his good work of grace, which will consummate our eternal salvation, will occur in the day Jesus returns in victory.  After that, every Christian will stand before the Judgment seat of Christ, where his works will be judged (2 Cor. 5:10).
    
    "In the choir of life, it's easy to fake the words -- but someday each of us will have to sing solo before God." 

Paul expresses a personal confidence in the faithfulness in his Lord this way: ". . . I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day" (2 Timothy 1:12 NIV).    The present evil age will come to an end with the second coming of Christ, the Day of the Lord. 

Love, Jerry & Dotse