As Jesus was nearing the completion of His task of redemption He said, "It is finished" (John 19:30). What finality: It is finished!

Such an expression could signal failure. A marathon runner unable to finish the course: "I can’t go any farther." Elijah sat down under a juniper tree and requested to die: "It is enough..." he said (1 Kings 19:4).

But such an expression can also mean victory. A basketball team wins the NCAA and shouts: "We did it!" It is finished! At the end of his life Paul wrote: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith." That’s Victory!

We all know that this is a statement of Jesus which confirms that the work of redemption in completed. But the fact of this completed work of our Lord says much about the nature of this redemption, the nature of the church, and the consummation of the ages. For "... now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Hebrews 9:26b).

What we believe about Genesis through Revelation influences what we believe about our Lards work. And our Lord’s return.

Those who believe that national Israel is still the main event in Gods plan for man expect Jesus to return and to set up an earthly kingdom with the Jews at the center. They look for signs.

Those (including this writer) who believe that Christ is the focus of all history and that His church is the kingdom of God on earth, expect Jesus to return as a thief (unexpectedly), followed by judgment, heaven and hell.

Sensationalism and speculation about our Lord’s return goes back for centuries. Martin Luther expected the Lord within 40 years. The cults have set many dates and the Evangelicals have pointed to "signs" and "seasons." One who is in sympathy with the premillennial/dispensational position writes: "The premillenarians’ history however, is strewn with a mass of erroneous speculations which have undermined their credibility" (Dwight Wilson, Armageddon Now! Baker Book House, 1977, p.216).

For most of its history the Restoration Movement held to an Amillennial position. But we have been so silent on the subject that our people have adopted premillennialism/dispensationalism. Even a growing number of preachers have accepted this Evangelical theology. This writer believes this is very sad.

Those who object to this shift sometimes feel like a lonely voice in the wilderness. Like the woman who stood on her porch as Sherman’s army marched to the sea. "Do you think you can stop this army with that broom?" asked the soldiers. "No," she replied, "but I want the world to know whose side I’m on." You may not agree with this writer’s position but you will know which side he is on.

Proper motivation for the church --in any area of her ministry—is not from a so-called Rapture, Tribulation and earthly reign of Christ. The proper motivation is JESUS, and His accomplished work. He is Reigning King and Returning Lord!

There are many implications of this profound statement: "It is finished!" This utterance of our Lord was no weary cry of defeat, but the grandest pronouncement of victory the world has ever heard.

Genesis 3:15 is a promise that God would solve the sin problem by a supreme sacrifice. Christ would bruise the head of Satan.

The promise that all nation would be blessed through Abraham is a promise not of Israel, but Jesus (Genesis 12:1-3). Genesis 22:18 says, "and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed." Paul says this "seed" is Christ (Galatians 3:16). This does not fit the dispensational view of two separate people of God (Israel and Church). Ephesians 2:14-15 says Jesus has "made the two into one new man.

This is not a promise to national Israel but to all who obey the Gospel. Acts 2:39 says, "For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself."

Praise God, He has fulfilled the Promise! It is finished!

Jeremiah foretold it: "Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah" (Jeremiah 31:31).

Jesus said the Lord’s Supper commemorates this completed event. He said," this is My blood of the covenant" (Matthew 26:28).

The dispensationalists claim that the New Covenant has not yet been instituted, but will be with national Israel in the "millennium." This is because they claim that Jesus came to set up an earthly kingdom over the Jews, but the Jews rejected Jesus and thus He established the church. There are many problems with that. Two are the necessity for a sacrifice for sins and the validity of Scripture. The Hebrew writer quotes from Jeremiah 31 and identifies its fulfillment in Jesus (Hebrews 8:6f).

Praise God, He has instituted a New Covenant with better promises (Hebrews 8:6).

The Old Testament foretold the coming of our Lord’s kingdom. For example, the concluding part of the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was that "the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed" (Daniel 2:44). God promised David that through his descendant, "I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever" (2 Samuel 7:13). Peter said this is what Jesus has done (Acts 2:29-32).

John and Jesus announced the kingdom at hand. John the Baptist began preaching, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:1-2). Jesus went into Galilee "proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom" (Matthew 4:23). Yet, Jesus said: "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). He did not come to set up an earthly kingdom, but a spiritual one. This He has done!

Jesus promised His kingdom: "Upon this rock I will build My church... and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 16:18-19). How could anyone believe that Jesus is wrong? Yet ,the dispensational view is that He failed.

The Apostles preached the kingdom as being identical with the church. Philip went to Samaria "preaching the good news about the kingdom of God" (Acts 8:12). When Paul was imprisoned in Rome he met with the Jews "explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God" (Acts 28:23).

Praise God, Jesus did not fail! Instead He has "delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son" (Colossians 1:13).

"For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel" (Romans 9:6) "It is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham" (Galatians 3:7).

God has made Jews and Gentiles "into one new man" and reconciled "them both in one body to God through the cross" (Ephesians 2:14-1 6).

"God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son" (Hebrews 1:1-2).

Therefore the church is God’s temple, God’s Jerusalem, God’s Israel, God’s beloved, God’s chosen people--and the Bride of Christ.

Thanks be to God it is finished!

Dispensationalism denies that the church is foretold in the OT. This makes the church a stopgap, an afterthought. It makes the cross unforeseen—despite Isaiah 53. It makes Jesus a failure. But what does the Scripture teach?

Peter wrote: "As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow" (1 Peter 1:10-11). Peter also proclaimed: "All the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days" (Acts 3:24).

A dispensationalist—well known to many among the Christian Churches—has published a booklet on Psalm 2. He claims Psalm 2 is a prophecy of the second coming of Christ. But what does the word of God say? See Acts 13:30-33.

The glorious work of redeeming a people for Himself has been finished!

How wonderful! Peter says these are "things into which angels long to look’ (1 Peter 1:12). Paul wrote that these are "Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him ,"(1 Corinthians 2:9). This is now!

When Jesus returns He will deliver up the kingdom to the Father (1 Corinthians 15:23-24). You can’t deliver what you don’t have.

In the meantime, "Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour~ when the Lord will return (Matthew 25:13). And one might add, neither can you know the "season." The Bridegroom is coming for His Bride. Praise God!