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What kind of Person was Jesus? He was not a sinner who had inherited the blood of Adam. He came to this world as the Son of God, having no sin at all.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
(John 3:16)
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If He had said, "It is finished," when He had not in fact taken the sin of the whole world upon Himself, it would have made Him the greatest imposter the world has ever known. However, since He did take the sin of all the world upon Himself as He was nailed to the cross, we cannot help but be grateful. There is nothing that we ourselves can do, and it is not even necessary for us to do anything.
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For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
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Since we have been forgiven freely through God's grace, we cannot boast about anything that we ourselves have done. But try approaching someone who claims to have believed for years and sings the line of the hymn that says, "All so freely given,"8 and ask him, "Are you really going to heaven free of charge?" you will probably find there are people who say, "No, of course not. I'm not there yet. I still have to work hard at it."
But Jesus has accomplished everything for us. All you have to do is let your heart trust in the fact that Jesus has done it all. There is a hymn that says, "I'm believing and receiving, while I to the fountain go,"9 but there is not a hymn that says, "From now on I'll make up my mind to mend my ways, while I to the fountain go."
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For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore. (Hebrews 7:28)
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It is God who makes the oath.
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But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is His footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. (Matthew 5:34-35)
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Only God is qualified to make an oath. God has made an eternal oath for us; our vows to believe are useless.
All you need to do is stand on the Rock that is Jesus and simply believe what Jesus has accomplished. It is as it says in the hymn:
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand.10
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Jesus has completed the task of obtaining eternal redemption. Before you think about "us" or "the world" here, you need to think about yourself first.
Suppose there is a man who has been traveling a long way and is completely exhausted from thirst. In that situation, would he say, "Please, give us some water"?
Or would he say, "Please, give me some water"?
Thirst is the problem of the individual who experiences it; it does not involve other people around him. It is the same for us when we stand before God. It is not the group, but the individual who must receive the eternal truth that God has accomplished.
8 Philip Paul Bliss (1838-1876), Sing Them Over Again to Me
9 William J. Kirkpatrick (1838-1921), I'm Believing and Receiving
10 Edward Mote (1797-1874), My Hope is Built on Nothing Less
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