Life Is All About Perspective

Life Is All About Perspective. There is no clearer example of this fact than Jesus’ last moments before his death upon the cross.

Jesus’ closest allies and even his enemies had one perspective. They thought Jesus came to establish an earthly kingdom; but in reality, Jesus had a different perspective. When Jesus said “My kingdom is not of this world,” (John 18:36) he made it clear that an earthly kingdom was not his purpose. Pilate had one perspective about Jesus. After Pilate’s encounter with Jesus, he had Jesus’ cross inscribed, “Jesus of Nazareth --- King of the Jews” (John 19:19). But Paul wrote in the epistle to the Philippians “that at the mere name of Jesus that every knee shall bow and that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10). And when the Roman soldiers hung Jesus on the cross, they thought his ministry was finished. But we know that Jesus’ celestial touch still stretches from heaven and is active in every person that is a believer. And when the soldiers gave Jesus the sponge of sour wine they thought they had done something. But John 19:28 records that Jesus smiled and said, “I thirst” only to fulfill the scriptures. And when Jesus’ earthly body died, Jesus’ enemies thought they had killed the movement but in reality they had sparked a Christian wildfire. And when Jesus said, “It is finished.” The Adversary thought he had the victory and that salvation was defeated. However, Life Is All About Perspective. For Jesus never said that “I am finished”…he said “IT is finished.” Pain…IT is finished. Jealously…IT is finished. Temptation…IT is finished. Sin…IT is finished. And the Task that God had sent him to complete…IT was finished. And that is an important lesson for us to remember; for no matter what your IT is…IT is finished.

The tragedy for most of us is that we are so focused on sipping on our sour wine that we never effectively deal with our ITs. Our ITs of debt, addictions and envy. Our ITs of ignorance, selfishness and stress. Our ITs of complacency, ego, unrealistic expectations and loneliness. Our ITs of abuse, grief and generational curses. As a result, we find ourselves living below our station, stressed out with unfulfilled lives and unactualized dreams. We stumble through life in search of satisfaction in a job, in material symbols, in a degree, in a pill, in a bottle or in another person’s bed. We search for ways to deaden the pain, but unfortunately, when we awake from our stupor, we find hell breaking out in our bodies, in our homes, in our schools, in our churches and in our communities. And because of our weakened state, we become susceptible to the Adversary’s ways and thoughts. If we are not careful, we start to believe that we are beyond salvation and fall victim to the mentality that we are helpless to change.

The good news is that there is a savior who can take away all your ITs. His name is Jesus. All that he requires is that we develop a “ride-or-die” spirit that proclaims, “Where you lead me, I will follow.” All that he requires is that we open our hearts and release our minds to say, “I’m desperate for you, Jesus; I need you, Jesus; I am lost without you, Jesus.” All that he requires is that we love him with all our heart and that we trust him and worship him with all our soul and mind. If we can do that --- Jesus says, “You do not have to worry about your ITs any longer for I have already paid the price. IT has no more authority over your life. IT is finished.” Halleluiah! Halleluiah!

If your IT is envy…Jesus says, “IT is finished.” If your IT is abuse…Jesus says, “IT is finished.” If your IT is addictions…Jesus says, “IT is finished.” If your IT is stress…Jesus says, “IT is finished.” If your IT is complacency….Jesus says, “IT is finished.” If your IT is racism…Jesus says, “IT is finished.” Whatever your IT is…don’t worry and don’t lose faith. Jesus is not finished! IT is finished!

Scripture Reference: John 19:30