Ep. 145 — Are You Yet Holdin’ On? + “The Author and Finisher”
The Author and Finisher.
This morning, the phrase, “the Author & Finisher of our faith” came to mind in response to my prayer: “God, thank You that You’ve never walked away from me.” He is both the Author, “the One Who takes lead on anything, and thus affords an example, a predecessor in a matter:
(#747 THAYERS). He is the beginning of our faith walk; our journey, but also, the Finisher: “a completer, i.e. consummator (#5051 STRONGS), a perfecter (THAYERS). He doesn’t simply start us off on the road of faith…He’s the One Who sees us all the way to the end!
There is such a menagerie of thoughts and scriptures running through my mind, and I hope I can capture and synthesize them!
Paul wrote to the Philippians and, in the beginning of his letter, proclaimed to them, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6) He’s not a God who leaves things 1/2 done. He is a Finisher. A perfecter. A completer. He finishes what He “authors.”
He, himself, shared a parable/thought/concept: “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—lest after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, “This man began to build a tower and was not able to finish.” (Luke 14:28-30) (This was spoken in regards to the cost/sacrifice of the kingdom of heaven, but the principle applies here…)
In each life, Jesus “counts the cost” when He begins working with us. He knows everything about us and all our flaws when He “authors” our faith. He knows every future stumble…every failure. He sees the deeply imbedded lies and deeply fractured places of our hearts. He knows it all when He signs His Name as “Author.” And He’s willing to begin, because He knows He has what it takes to see us all the way through to the other side…to get us to the final chapter and end product He has in mind. He’s in it for the long haul because He knew the cost before He ever began.
He will never leave you or forsake you. Because He’s not just the Author, He’s also the Finisher.
Another passage that comes to mind as I think of this concept is Jeremiah 18: God sends Jeremiah “down to the potter’s house” and tells him He will speak to him there. Jeremiah obediently goes to the potter’s house and sees the potter working with a vessel on the wheel. Scripture tells us, “And the vessel he made was marred in the hands of the potter: so He made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.” God then speaks to His people through Jeremiah, “Oh, house of Israel, cannot I do with you as the potter…behold, as clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel.” (Jeremiah 18:1-6)
God sends Jeremiah on an errand to give him a visual illustration of how He works…the vessel that Jeremiah saw was “marred” (ruined, spoiled—#7843—BDB), but the potter in the unfolding scene didn’t chuck it out the back door or cast it aside. “He made it again, another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make it.” He remade and reworked what was ruined in the process of getting to the final result. Because He’s a Finisher!!! He’s committed to the end game.
In Psalm 129:16, David conveys, “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them.” God sees our physical and spiritual beings through from start to finish…before any of it “plays out in real time.”
We see this depicted in the life of Peter, the Rock on which Jesus says He will “build HIs church.” (Matthew 16:18) Jesus said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,” knowing the “cost;” knowing how Peter’s story would unfold; knowing all that was required to Finish.
Peter is brash & bold. He’s the disciple who’s quick to speak up, quick to get out of the boat, quick to cut off ears in his loyalty to Jesus. Yet there’s a thread woven into the storyline of Peter’s life, Authored by God, that doesn’t “fit”; doesn’t make sense.
At the “Last Supper”, Jesus turns to Peter and says, “Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you, but I have prayed for you that your faith fail not, and when you are converted, strengthen the brethren.” (Luke 22:31-32)
Peter doesn’t recognize his own frailty and doesn’t know how intense things are going to get, as Jesus does. He responds to Jesus with an assumption of personal strength, “LORD, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.”(Luke 22:33)
But the Author of Peter’s faith knows his inherent strain of weakness, and He’s seen it all play out. He turns to Peter again and says, “I tell you, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt deny me three times.”
The story carries on, and Jesus’ prophecy of Peter comes to pass as Jesus has said…the marring and imperfections in the middle of Peter’s storyline are on display. When Jesus is on trial at the High Priest’s house, Peter denies any affiliation with Jesus. He says, “Woman, I know Him not.” (22:57) “Man, I am not,” and (22:38) and “Man, I know not what thou sayest.” He caved to the pressure and fear of the moment, just as Jesus knew He would. “And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew… (v. 60) and “Peter went out and wept bitterly. (v. 62)
But the Author of Peter’s faith didn’t cut his story short there because He’s a Finisher. After Jesus death, burial, and resurrection, He commissions an angel sitting in His borrowed tomb to say, “Go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that He goeth before you into Galilee.” (Mark 16:7) Jesus would not forsake Peter in the middle of his story.
At the “Sea of Tiberias,” (or Galilee), Peter encounters Jesus in a beautiful series of events and a conversation that I don’t have time to unpack now. Jesus performs a miracle of provision: 153 fish after a fruitless night of fishing. (John 21:5-11) Jesus cook dinner (John 21:9-13), and then engages Peter in a restorative conversation. (John 21:15-23)
Jesus gives three opportunities to reaffirm his love for Him; He offers Peter some insight into his future martyrdom and He then reissues the invitation to “follow me.”
Follow me again, Peter. Follow me from this juncture of your storyline. Follow me, even though things didn’t go like you’d expected. Follow me, even with your fresh view of your personal weakness. I knew what I was getting into the day I first called you. When Andrew brought you to me (John 1:42), I already knew you and how the road would unfold…I knew your tendencies and weaknesses…your short comings and failures, and I still chose to Author your faith.
Now, I’ve prayed your faith won’t fail, and I’ve issued a fresh call. Because I’M A FINISHER.
But you get to decide. Will you follow? I won’t leave you, but will you leave Me? Will you go to the Upper Room and wait for the “promise of the Father” with the rest, or will you go back to your nets? Will you preach on the day of Pentecost, or will you discount My call and commission and count your yourself out? I’m not done with you. But are you done with ME?
He is a Finisher, but am I a finisher? Finishing requires the dual commitment of both God & saint. He cannot finish what I won’t allow Him to finish.
The finishing of Peter’s faith required him to get back up; to leave his failures in the past…to walk away from his nets again and to follow the Finisher. Being a finisher demanded that Peter reaffirm his love for Jesus, even as Jesus told him “What death he should die.” Peter was asked to follow Jesus into a future of which martyrdom was the end. (John 21:15-23) Being a finisher asked that he was willing to wait in an Upper Room, and be the One to pick up the mic and preach to the mixed crowd who heard an observed the supernatural events that unfolded there. It took all of Peter’s faith to stand up that day with the new understanding of his own weakness and say, “Ye men of Judea…these are not drunk as ye suppose…but this is that…” Peter chose to partner with the Finisher of his faith.
This is encouraging on 2 levels:
Jesus is the Author and Finisher, and He’s committed to see each life of faith to it’s full potential to the end goal; the final chapter.
It inspires me to be a finisher and reminds me that finishing may not be easy. But my commitment to finish with the FINISHER will pay off. “He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.” If I give up in the middle, I forfeit salvation & all God’s best plans.
Paul wrote in Acts 20, and shared that he was heading to Jerusalem, “not knowing what I will encounter there, except that in every town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me.” (Acts 20:22-23 CSB) He continues, “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 of which I have received of the LORD Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20:24) That I might finish my course with joy. And he did…he writes to Timothy near the end of his life, “…the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the LORD, the righteous judge shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but into all them also that love His appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:6-6)
Finishing is all about keeping the faith…whether failure, like Peter, or trouble and bonds and affliction, like Paul, we must finish our course. We must get back up time and again, clutching the shield of faith after every blow to heart & mind & soul.
He’s the Author & the Finisher.
I want to be a finisher, too. Thank You for never leaving or forsaking me. By Your grace, I won’t forsake You. And one day, with Paul, I will say, “I have fought a good fight. I have FINISHED my course. I have kept the faith.”
XO!
Thank you for joining me for this journey!
Go grab your Bible and your journal!
I look forward to the power of this habit in your life. This is Unedited.