Already/Not Yet

Jesus's last words on the cross were, "It is finished." He said it and died (John 19:30). Finished? In what sense?

Obviously He meant His work here was done. He had done what His Father had instructed, said what His Father had told Him to say. He had accomplished the work He was sent to accomplish. It was ... finished. The author of Hebrews makes a curious statement on that. Contrasting earthly priests and their sacrifices, Hebrews says of Christ,

But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified" (Heb 10:12-14)

Interesting verb tenses there. Christ made "a single sacrifice for sins" that "has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." It's hard to wrap your mind around those words. On one hand His sacrifice has already accomplished perfection in the saved, the elect, those whose names were written in the Book of Life from before the foundation of the world. On the other hand, they are in process. Some translations have altered those verb tenses to make it more comfortable, but those are the actual tenses. Scripture embraces both "has perfected for all time" and "are being sanctified."

It is true, then, that the work of being perfected is already complete for everyone who has been and will be saved. Their sins are cleansed. They are perfectly righteous with the righteousness of Christ. Already. A done deal. We, however, are on this side of realization. The outcome is certain because it was determined at the cross, but we won't see it until we end this process of being sanctified. Because we don't see it ("perfected") doesn't make it less true. It does not depend on us. We are already perfected in God's eyes (Heb 10:15-18). So what we are seeing is the "already/not yet." What we are given is the certainty despite our circumstances, the assurance that He will complete what He set out to do in you, that He "is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy" (Jude 1:24) because, you see, on His end it is finished.