Cheryl & I are both fans of the English author Charles Dickens; Cheryl has read a number of his novels, and I have a personal tradition of reading his “A Christmas Carol” every December during Christmas season. Dickens is famous for several of his books, including A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, and many more. But one of his stories, sadly, was never completed. He was in the process of writing The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and he was putting it out in “serials” — that is, a chapter in a magazine every month or so — when he passed away in 1870 without finishing the story. What’s worse is, the book was a murder mystery, and because it was incomplete we now have NO IDEA who the murderer was! People have speculated, and some have written what they think the conclusion to the book should be, but no one really knows. It will always remain unfinished.
Well thankfully, we can know that nothing our God does, will be unfinished like that. God finishes what He starts. In Genesis 1, the Bible describes how God began His work of creation. It tells how He worked for 6 days, and then :31 says, “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” And the next verse, Chapter 2:1 concludes: “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts.” God had completed His work of creation. We can be confident that whatever God starts, He will finish. Our verse for this morning, Philippians 1:6, reminds us of that:
“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
This verse is a favorite for many in the Book of Philippians, and for good reason. It gives us confidence that God will not leave unfinished what He began in you & I when He saved us. Continue reading →
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