Good Friday: "It Is Finished"
Pastor Rip Roberts
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.-John 19:30 The death of Jesus Christ on the cross was God’s plan.
He was rejected – so you could be accepted.
He was hated – so you could be loved.
He was crucified – so you could be justified.
The death of Jesus Christ on the cross is central to the Christian faith.
Through the life, crucifixion on the cross and resurrection of Christ, God achieved the redemption of believers and brought hope to the world.
Among the last words of Christ on the cross none are more moving or important than “It is finished”
The Greek word translated “it is finished” is “Tetelestai”. and it is an accounting term that means “paid in full”.
Jesus was declaring that the debt owed to God, the Father, had been wiped away completely and forever…The debt of sin…paid in full.
Not His debt…He didn’t owe one. He never sinned.
Our debt…you and I owe more than we can pay. We all have sinned.
As he talked with His Father, just before His arrest, Jesus said “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do[1]”
His death, and the way He died, wasn’t something that just happened to Jesus.
It was His Divine assignment.
There’s no room for us to see Jesus Christ as a helpless martyr.
His death wasn’t something that might have been stopped or avoided.
His death was the very reason He came.
He told us so.
“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” [2]
Don’t misunderstand this very important truth. The case for our forgiveness is not built merely on the idea that God is our Father and He forgives us simply because He loves us. Thinking like that ignores the fact that God is a just, moral and Holy God. He must judge and punish our sin. Someone must pay the debt of sin.
The payment due for sin is death.
If God forgives us simply because He loves us then it wasn’t necessary for Jesus to die on the Cross.
There was no other way for our sins to be forgiven.
We know.
Because Jesus asked.
At a point when His soul was “overwhelmed with sorrow to death” He asked if there was any other way for God to forgive our sin.
“Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” [3]
God forgives sin only because of the death of Christ.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, - Ephesians 1:7
The only way God could forgive people was by the death of His Son, Jesus.
Jesus is exalted as Savior because of His death.
“But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. [4]” The greatest pronouncement of victory the universe has ever heard was declared on the Cross of Christ— “It is finished”!
The Word who became flesh and dwelt among us and died for us is the final Word in our redemption!
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. [5]”
That’s the message of the Cross. That’s the message of our redemption and peace with God.
“that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.[6]”
We mustn’t allow anything to decrease, distort or destroy the holiness of God, through a view of His love that is contrary to the truth of God as revealed by Jesus Christ.
Yes, God loves you.
He loved you so much that he demonstrated His love on a cross. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [7]”
Everything that is necessary for you to receive God’s forgiveness, mercy and grace was accomplished by Jesus on the Cross.
He has destroyed what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.. [8]
The debt has been paid in full.
Thank God.
It is finished.
[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Jn 17:4). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
[2] The New International Version. (2011). (Jn 12:27–28). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
[3] The New International Version. (2011). (Mt 26:39). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
[4] The New International Version. (2011). (Heb 2:9). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
[5] The New International Version. (2011). (2 Co 5:21). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
[6] The New International Version. (2011). (2 Co 5:19). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
[7] The New International Version. (2011). (Ro 5:8). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
[8] Biblical Studies Press. (2005). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Col 2:14–15). Biblical Studies Press.
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