The launching of the Bibleverse is more than a way to get devotional thoughts, Bible studies, and practical ways to help your church create effective communications. At its core it is my attempt to equip you to fight the good fight of faith during this in-between time of Jesus’ resurrection and our being with Him.
I explain the Biblical basis for it in my book, Tetelestai, which you can get as a free download. A slightly modified excerpt from it follows:
From Tetelestai, if the battle is finished, why is life so hard?
When Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, the work of securing our salvation was finished. In some massively cosmic way, the conflict between humanity and God was at peace.
But when I look at my life, my daily struggles, and the battles the world has been fighting with the pandemic and wars raging, though I can’t deny there are times of supernatural inner peace in the midst of all that is going on, why do so many struggles continue?
Why are we still fighting inside and out?
Where is the finished work? Where is the peace it bought by the death of Christ?
Similar to my previous question and answer of why did God take so long to work out the plan of salvation through the thousands of years of Old Testament history—we don’t ultimately know the answer to that question and we don’t know the answer to this one either, to why if peace has been accomplished on the cross yet why there is so much war inside us and outside in our world.
Though we do not have a definitive answer why, it can help us accept our current situation when we understand this situation, like many others in the Christian faith is a paradox.
A paradox according to Dictionary.com is a “self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.” In other words, two things that appear to be contradictory, yet may on a level we may not fully comprehend, be true.
That Jesus’ death brought us finished peace and that we do not experience that peace at this time is a paradox in this way.
One of my seminary professors years ago said that paradoxes were at the core of the Christian faith.
The reality that Jesus is both divine and human is a paradox. That the Bible is a product of human creation and yet divine authorship is a paradox. That God is in control of all things and yet we have a free choice is a paradox. Both parts of each statement seem to contradict each other, yet both are true.
Though unfortunately, I do not remember which professor or which class this came from, I have found it comforting over the years to know we do not have to explain or understand every paradox in the Christian faith for me to trust the Creator of them.
Here we have the paradox of tetelestai, of mashelem the finished work of Christ on the cross, the accomplishment of peace with God, and yet the reality of the battles we still fight and lack of peace in our lives.
Both are realities are true—God’s peace and our current battles.
It is useful to examine this paradox; it is our reality after all, and ask why does God have us go through so many battles between His finished work on the cross and His wrapping up of human history?
I would like to share an analogy that I have found helpful and some advice from the Bible on how we ought to live until our time on earth is finished—how to live between the reality of peace accomplished and our complete experience of it.
The analogy that helps me, and I hope it will help you live in this in-between time—is that of ongoing spiritual warfare
Though something was finished on the cross, we are obviously still involved in a war. Eph 6:12 tells us we “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Chapter 6 in Ephesians continues with encouragement on how to arm ourselves for this battle.
Jesus is very blunt about our situation in Luke 11:23 and the Message translation makes His point clear: “This is war, and there is no neutral ground. If you’re not on my side, you’re the enemy; if you’re not helping, you’re making things worse.”
In many places the New Testament is filled with analogies of spiritual warfare and the history of the church is filled with the history of spiritual and physical battles in the name of Christ.
So here we are—on the one hand, we have Jesus’ cry of tetelestai on Good Friday and His glorious resurrection on Easter—on the other hand, we have the often-brutal battles, warfare, inside and outside, big and small battles that flood our lives the Monday after Easter and every day after that.
That we are in a war is obvious, but one more analogy helps me make the most sense of it
I think that for Christians today, our experience of struggle, though peace has been won is like it was between the time of the battle of D-day when the Allies hit the beaches in Normandy on June 6, 1944, and the final unconditional surrender by Germany on May 7, 1945 (not to diminish the battles that continued in the Pacific, but for this discussion, I’m only going to focus on the European theater of war).
With the Allied victory on the beaches of Normandy, considered one of the greatest military offensives in the history of the world, the outcome of the war was decided. It was finished, and the outcome of peace was assured. Germany would not win the war. But the war was not over.
When Jesus proclaimed “Tetelestai!” victory was assured. But the war is not over.
Of the many stories and battles that took place in the intervening time, I would like to comment on two of them from World War 2 that I trust will give us additional inspiration and insight on how to live in our ongoing spiritual battles between the D-Day of the cross and the final victory at the end of time.
Two helpful analogies from World War 2 related to spiritual warfare
The first is the story of the French Resistance in Paris. D-Day was on May 7, 1945, but Paris was not liberated until August 25, 1944. As they had during the four years of German occupation, the French Resistance in Paris continued to fight. They could not quit because of the success of D-Day. They had to stay strong; they worked hard to encourage others.
“Victory is coming! We will be liberated!” was their message and that message was lived out in their actions.
There were many ways they fought the German occupation
In my work as a church communicator, I have been fascinated by their work as the communications they produced were as important in their war efforts as their physical battles.
They set up clandestine printing presses; they published newsletters and posters; they operated secret wireless radio channels (the podcasting of their day).
History records their communications kept others encouraged, fighting, and ultimately victorious.
This was no comfortable communication job in a safe church office; they operated behind enemy lines often without support, reliable supplies, or any hope of making it out alive.
Though their guerilla tactics and communications projects might appear small in the larger scheme of the war, they were vital to the overall victory. A rail line blown up, a road blocked, a bridge destroyed, a population encouraged to resist by wireless messages, a poster, or newsletter with a message to not give up, to hold on until victory arrived—each and every action made an immeasurable difference in the outcome of the war.
They knew if they were caught, torture, imprisonment, and death awaited them. They were not given the honor of a captured soldier—when caught they were brutalized by the German Army that they successfully defeated again and again. A number of them committed suicide in prison rather than give up the names of their comrades under torture.
(The story of Battle of the Bulge is left out here, see the whole book for it)
But not everyone paid a price at that time; not everyone was against the Nazis
When Germany took control, some cooperated; they were collaborators. For a time, might made right; the easy way seemed the prudent way.
Collaborators sided with the Nazis. It may have started as simply not standing up for a Jewish neighbor. For some it progressed until they oppressed, betrayed, and sometimes killed friends and neighbors, now labeled enemies by Germany.
Perhaps the money was too good, perhaps their fear too great. Collaboration seemed like the smart thing to do, until it was not.
Collaborators do well when a war is raging. They are despised when it is over.
I would love to go on and on tell more war stories. I am inspired by military history as the analogies to spiritual warfare abound, but we need to move on.
As we look at the examples of the Resistance, the Allied armies, and the collaborators, here are thoughts on the application of these lessons to our battles
C.S. Lewis described our situation in this in-between time (between the cry of tetelestai and the return of Jesus making all things new) in Mere Christianity where he said, “Enemy-occupied territory—that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.”
That certainly fits the description of the resistance fighters and it also sounds like a description of the heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11. They knew they were in “enemy-occupied territory.” They were not focused on this earth and what they could get out of it, but instead, as Heb.11:13 says,” These men [people] of faith I have mentioned died without ever receiving all that God had promised them; but they saw it all awaiting them on ahead and were glad, for they agreed that this earth was not their real home but that they were just strangers visiting down here.”
A vision beyond themselves
Beyond the oppression of their current circumstances is what the heroes of the faith, the Resistance fighters, the thousands of unnamed Allied troops who fought the final battles of WW2 had in common.
The vision was of a final victory and though they did not experience it as yet, they saw it, they held firm, and fought for it.
The Apostle Paul had the same focus when he said, “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24 KJV).
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Ultimately only God knows how our lives touch others but the lesson for us in this is that what we do, how we live during the in-between time does not impact us alone.
A friend reminded me of Russell Crowe in Gladiator, when he said, “What we do in life echoes through eternity.” How we conduct ourselves in the battles before our Rightful King makes his authority known is important. What we say or do to create echoes through eternity matters.
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In conclusion, what should we do now?
What are our tasks as we celebrate that Jesus finished the work of salvation, that the peace is accomplished, and yet we still fight?
First, take time to evaluate our lives. Honestly ask if are we engaged in the great campaign of sabotage for the kingdom of God or are we living as a collaborator with an earthly kingdom that will not last?
Are we going along with what the world tells us is our best life now, that we deserve everything we want, that if we can dream it, we can do it, and the assorted claptrap of affirmations on social media and best-selling books that constantly push us to focus on ourselves?
We might not think of overtly sinning; we might even focus on “good things,” but do we see in the use of our time and money a primary focus on ourselves, on what makes us feel good above all else?
Do we tell ourselves that later, when whatever happens that we are waiting for to happen, THEN we will focus on others and do more God-centered things?
Are we ignoring the needs of others—knowing the needs of the world and our neighborhood are immense? We cannot claim we know nothing about them because the media constantly bombards us with the cruel reality of suffering around us.
Don’t just feel bad or do a nice thing here and there. Learn to live like a resistance fighter
The French Resistance was not a disorganized gang of anti-German fanatics. Behind their guerilla actions, they had extensive training manuals, tactics, and a code of conduct. We do well to follow their example.
If you are unsure of what it means to be a resistance fighter for the Kingdom of God or if you are uncertain of what your calling, your assignment from God is, your Bible will tell you. Your Bible is your manual for training, tactics, and code of conduct. It has inspiring stories and specific advice on how to fight the good fight.
It will equip you for the war, warn you of dangers, and encourage you when you are exhausted with trying. My place in the battle is to help you get the resources of the Bible into your life. Bible805.com exists to help you know, trust, and apply the Bible—please make good use of it. There are links to podcasts, videos, and many resources.
Regardless of any resource there or encouragement from any source, an essential part of your drill as a good fighter your battles is that you….
Read your Bible daily
As you read, journal about what it is telling you. Ask God to let you know what you need to do to “finish your course with joy.”
Start with obedience to simple things and that obedience will tune your heart to an attitude of listening to God that can grow into obedience in greater areas.
Attempt to look beyond the pains and pleasures of this earth to what is eternal as you set your goals and dream your dreams for the Kingdom of God.
Do now for God what you intend to do in an uncertain future because for each of us the battle will be over before we expect it to be.
Determine to finish well
Whether death takes you home to Jesus or whether you are alive when He returns and finally liberates planet earth, what will be your report to your Commander in Chief?
Will you cringe as a collaborator or celebrate as part of the Resistance Army for the Kingdom of God?
If you aren’t sure; if you want to make changes to step up and fight for the glory of your Lord before the hosts of heaven, start today.
I pray when we are called to give an account of how we fought our battles that we will all celebrate—having fought the good fight and finished the work Jesus called each of us to do. With the victory, may we shout, tetelestai!
It is finished, the victory is won, the battle over, the peace is accomplished, forevermore.
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Above from Tetelestai, if the battle is finished, why is life so hard?
For a free eBook, with permission to make as many copies as you want of it, CLICK HERE for the download or on the image.
To help you fight the good fight is why I created the Bibleverse, the collection of resources to help you get God’s Word into every part of your life.