“It is finished.” These words of Jesus signified “Mission Accomplished!” The moment the crucified Jesus spoke these words — his last — many Old Testament promises became New Testament facts.
“By whose wounds you ARE healed,” spoke the prophet Isaiah, looking forward in time (Isaiah 53:5). “By whose wounds you WERE healed,” wrote the apostle Peter, looking backward in time. Isaiah prophesied the promise; Peter emphasized the fact.
“For the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth, those who have done good in the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, in the resurrection of damnation.” (John 5:28,29) This is a future promise and refers to the time of the physical resurrection of the dead.
“Truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear shall live.” (John 5:25) The words “now is” make this statement a present fact. They refer to those who are dead in their sins but hear Christ’s voice, respond to it, and come alive spiritually (Ephesians 2:1).
This refers to hearing the Lord speak to our hearts through the gospel as we identify with his death and burial in water baptism — and then “rise” from the “grave” to live anew spiritually.
My point is that if we believe that all prophecies are yet to be fulfilled, we will not appreciate them as facts. (Of course, prophetic prophecies relating to Christ’s Second Coming are not as yet fulfilled.)
Jesus said, “John was the promised Elijah, if you will receive it.” Many would not receive this; they wanted a physical return in power of that powerful prophet. Today many prefer to live on future promises. Why? Because present facts require the acceptance of them as present realities.
I’d rather live in the reality of present facts, wouldn’t you? The key is to “receive” — to accept that many prophecies we thought of belonging to the prophetic future have long been present facts. View a debate on Daniel, chapter 9, between a well informed Historicist and an equally well informed Futurist and you’ll get my point. How much belongs to the past and how much to the future? (“I’ll simply wait and see” reply is an unworthy cop out.)
How many promises in the Bible that you long ago filed under Future Event can you now refile under Accomplished Fact? Here are a few helpful hints:
1.) Switch from fantasy fiction novels to informative Factual books;
2.) Quit viewing trashy free-to-air television and view brain-stimulating content on the channels that present credible content. (3.) Instead of gathering individual proof texts as ammunition for your arguments with other Christians, read them in context with the verses before and after them. Better still, read the entire chapter. There’s an old and true saying that bible teachers love to quote: “A text without a context is a pretext.” 4.) Don’t thumb endlessly in search of second hand rhema revelations from prophets and teachers online but “search the scriptures” daily and get your own from the Lord! Searching on your handheld device is nowhere as satisfying as opening the pages of your bible. Enjoy the novelty!