John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
On Friday we remembered the night that Jesus was unjustly arrested, disrespectfully slapped, viciously beaten, wrongly accused, disgustingly spit on, illegally convicted, and hung on a Cross and left to die like a criminal. Yet with all of that being done to Him, there was only one thing on His mind at the time. Finishing His assignment, completing the work that He was sent to do; publically displaying the LOVE that He had for each of us (we were on His mind; you, me & everyone). But on that night, what exactly did Jesus finish?
1. Life under the LAW: God gave the LAW to Moses on Mt. Sinai, this LAW was a covenant that God made with the Children of Israel. The LAW was a set of rules that all had to completely uphold in order to be in right standing with God. If for any reason any one of these rules were broken, then it was as if all of them were broken and only a sacrifice could be made in order restore one’s standing with the most Holy God. God had put in place a standard where man would be judged by his own righteousness, a righteousness the bible reminds us in Isaiah “(Isa 64:6) but we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.” How could this be fair, there was no way for anyone to keep this LAW, why would God make such a covenant?
We need God, and the best possible way to see our need, is to measure ourselves to this unbelievably high standard, a standard nobody but God could attain. Jesus came to fulfill this LAW, so that we could stop trying to work for His attention and start trusting in Him as our true & loving Savior. When Jesus yelled It is finished on Calvary’s Cross, He let us know that the LAW was no longer. He had become our High Priest and when we accept Him as Lord “(Heb 8:6)…He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.” This New Covenant, well let me just let God tell you Himself “(Heb 8:10) For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” The LAW, It is finished.
2. Judgment for Sin: Judgment is used 254 times in the bible (NKJV), God’s Judgment is simply put, God’s punishment for sin. The bible shows us that God’s punishment for sin was shown numerous times, when Adam and Eve banished from the Garden; Able was sent away as a vagabond; the great flood came in Noah’s Day; 3000 died the day the LAW was given; the Children of Israel (including Moses) were not able to see the promised land; David’s son to an adulterous affair died; Israel was overtaken by the Babylonians and even the book of Romans tells us “(Rom 6:23) For the wages of sin is death.” Yet, Jesus not only fulfilled the LAW but He also received every one of our sins on that dark day. As if it were not bad enough, all of the beatings and ill treatment he received before crucifixion, while on the Cross all our sins, sicknesses and diseases were placed on him, “(Isa 53:6)…And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Jesus knew that He was coming to the earth to die and be judged for our sin, yet he did it anyway. His love for us and for His Father is amazing and was on display “Phil 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
Jesus yelled out Tetelestai, the Greek term for It is finished, the tem meant that a debt has been fully paid. It signified that whatever someone once owed had at that very moment just been completely paid for. God’s judgment for all of our past, present and future sins had come, He lashed it out on His only begotten Son, and even after all that Jesus was alive (He’s a powerful and awesome Savior) to let us all know that everything we would ever owe (be required to pay) was indeed PAID IN FUL!!!. Judgment for Sin, It is finished.
3. Condemnation: Jesus told Nicodemus of his purpose for coming into the world, “John 3:17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” His purpose was to save us and not condemn us. Paul also tells us this awesome truth for believers “Rom 8:1 there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” Condemnation is the Greek word “Krima” meaning judgment or damnation; essentially it means declaring an evil doer guilty. Satan uses condemnation trick believers into thinking that God disapproves, blames or is angry with us because we have sinned. We have often felt so guilty that we give up on living for Christ and choose to live sinful lifestyles. Even worse we begin to hide condemnation so deep in our hearts that the guilt impacts our health, we begin to see sickness in our bodies, depression in our minds and pain in our hearts. All Lies!!!
God is just and Jesus received all of God’s judgment for our sin on the Cross, everything past, present and future sin. If we were still being judged for our sin today, then it would mean a.) God would be unjust (can’t happen), b.) Jesus’ sacrifice was not good enough (not possible), c.) We are just so bad that God is not smart enough to figure out how to cover our sin (really??). God’s word is true, it will always be accurate, and will accomplish everything is has set out to do. God’s salvation plan in Jesus Christ, was more than enough to cover all our sins and allow us to be loved and adored by God forever; “(Jude 24) Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, 25 To God our Savior, Who alone is wise,Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.” All Condemnation, It is finished.
Feeding His Sheep 