John 19:28-30 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Pastor Herk at my father’s Little Church in the Pines in Bass Lake, California preached that Christ’s final words from the Cross: “It is finished”, was just the beginning of the sin-forgiven life for you and I. What does “finished” mean? Jesus’ atoning sacrifice was not an after-thought or spontaneous. Revelation 13:8b tells us that Jesuswas “the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.” Has it ever occurred to you that nothing has ever occurred to God? The eternal, sovereign. omniscient Creator of Heaven and Earth says in Isaiah 46:9-10 “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done.” From the beginning of the universe and cosmos, God knew what was going to happen. But, Jesus could not come until the time was right; in God’s perfect timing.
Galatians 4:3-6 So we too, when we were children, were held in bondage under the
elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons and daughters. Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!”
At last, when the fullness of the time came, Jesus was nailed to the Cross and His life ebbed away. He knew that all of His work in God’s plan of redemption and salvation was complete when He cried out “tetelestai”, meaning “It is finished”. The Greek word “tetelestai” was also written on business documents or receipts in New Testament times to show indicating that a bill or debt had been paid in full. Jesus’ body had been beaten and tortured for us; because of our sin, we put Him on that Cross. 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.”
God the Father laid the sins of the world upon Him to that Cross. Romans 4:25a “He was delivered over to death for our sins.” Jesus Christ was surrendering under the dearth penalty of God. Romans 6:22-23 “Now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Think about what our Lord and Savior went through for us. The sin debt was paid in full and His redeeming salvation work was finished. In doing so, He disarmed the devil and against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places, triumphing over them at the Cross; it was finished.
Colossians 2:13-15 “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”
Jesus Christ didn’t just redeem us on the Cross and save us from eternal damnation in Hell as a substitutionary atoning sacrifice in our place for our sins, He deactivated, defused, disarmed, and neutralized the opposition. Hallelujah, it is finished!
Let's continue Pastor Herk's message "It is Finished" in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
No comments:
Post a Comment