Finish: You’re Not Done Until You’re Done

Finish what you started! Resolve to finish whatever God places in your hands.

Let’s face it. You can have a great dream, prayed over it daily, put in order your priorities, persisted over it regardless of risks, pursued it with all your heart, and performed well, but if you don’t finish it, everything you’ve done amounts to nothing.

We find some men in the Bible, used by God, had good beginnings but didn’t finish well. Men like Samson, Eli, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, they all started well, followed God’s direction but stumbled near the end.

But there were people who started well and finished well. People like Joseph, Caleb, Nehemiah, Paul and many others who finish well. God gave them dreams, pursued their dreams with passion, trusted God every step of their ways, persisted at any cost, and by God’s grace and their determination, they finished well.

These men and women are… “like palm trees, flourishing and growing, planted in the house of the LORD, still bearing fruit in old age, and they will stay fresh and green.” (Psalm 92:12-14)

And clearly, the greatest finisher in the Bible is none other that our Lord Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:2).

Jesus’ entire life and ministry was motivated by a commitment to finish the work that the Father has given Him to accomplish. As what He said, in teaching about the cost of following him as disciples,  

Luke 13:

(28) “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? (29) For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, (30) saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

John 5:

(36) “For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me.”

And when we come to His crucifixion, we hear Him cry out the very pinnacle of His life and ministry:

John 19:

(30) When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

God wants you to finish well!

Five Principles to Finish Well like Jesus

1. Focus on your Dream with Steadfastness.

 In our pursuit to accomplish our dreams, it’s so easy for us to get distracted along the way. “Something came up” is an easy excuse. But Jesus stayed focused on his mission. 

In John chapter 4, after his evangelism moments with the Samaritan women, the disciples came to him.

 John 4:

(31) Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

(32) But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” (33) Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”(34) “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work. (35) Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 

Here we find the disciples were distracted by food and recreation. Jesus, however, makes it clear that doing the work of the Father and finishing it must be our steadfast focus. It’s so easy for us to be sidetracked with recreation that we miss seeing around us a continual harvest waiting to be reaped. Don’t let Jesus find you making the same excuses. Look around. You will find people ready to hear God’s Word.

Luke 4:

(41) And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, (43) but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”

It’s not that Jesus wasn’t concerned about the physical needs of people. He knew His time was limited and so He knew what was urgent and needed to be done asap.  

Matt. 16:

(21) From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. (22) Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” (23) Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” 

Peter, who had just eloquently proclaimed that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of the Living God (v.16), sought to stop him from the suffering he prophesied. Sometimes stumbling blocks can come from those who love us and seek to protect us. Be cautious of advice from a friend who says, “Surely God doesn’t want you to face this.” Often our most difficult obstacles come from those who are only trying to protect us from discomfort.

2. Fight temptations with the Sword.

Sometimes, when our journey is tough and rough, we are tempted to go for shortcuts and the easy road. Jesus also experience the same temptations but prevailed.

How did Jesus fight temptations?

Matt. 4:

(3) The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” (4) Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ 

Jesus fought the devil with a double-edged sword, the word of God. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 that as armies of God we have to arm ourselves with the full armor of God, particularly we have the Bible as our sword to fight temptations.

Eph. 6:17

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

3. Face your fears with Surrender.

Now, along the way, we will face great fears and extreme anxieties that will try to discourage us or stop us from moving forward. Jesus wasn’t exempt from these fears. 

On the last night before his death, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.

Mark 14:

(33) And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed. (34) Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.” (35) He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. (36) And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”

4. Fix on the goal with Sureness.

In John 17, we have here the longest prayer of Jesus that was recorded. It is said that this is the content of His prayer made in Gethsemane before His arrest. Notice how Jesus began His prayer.

John 17:

(1) After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. (2) For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. (3) Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (4) I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. (5) And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

Notice that the word “glory” is repeated 5 times. Jesus knew with sureness the goal of his dream, that is, to glorify the Father. His mind and heart were fixed to that goal. Everything He did, His preaching, His miracles, His suffering, and His death was for the glory of God the Father.

Jesus finished well because His eyes were fixed on reaching that goal of glorifying the Father.  

Remember what Paul said in

Rom. 8:18

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Brethren listen. Jesus’ goal is our goal as well. We were created and saved to glorify God. If we simply keep on fixing our eyes upon that goal then we are sure of finishing well. Amen?

Phil. 3:14

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

5. Forward your dream with a Strategy.

Jesus didn’t just finish and complete his mission, he passed it on to us with a specific strategy - disciple-making.

Matt. 28:

(18) Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (19) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Remember that “Success without a successor is a failure.” Do you want to continue the legacy of Christ-followers in your family? Teach them to love the church. Start discipleship in your own family and pray that the succeeding generations will also love and serve the Lord.

Closing

Brethren, God never promised that the journey to the finish line is going to be easy and comfortable. Just like what Noah went through, what Paul went through, what Caleb went through, what Nehemiah went through, what Jesus went through, the road is going to be bumpy and hard and difficult. But God did promise one thing…

Phil. 1:6

“Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Brethren, what God ordained, He will do. What He shaped, He will complete. what God started, He will finish.