So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. John 19:30 (NKJV)
We are concluding our series today concerning “Famous Last Words (of a Dying Savior)”.
In the first week, we discussed those famous last words, Father, Forgive Them. Calvary is all about forgiveness; Forgiveness that is extended to the undeserving; Forgiveness for sin that had taken us farther than we wanted to go. And forgiveness that is good for eternity.
In the second week, we looked at his words, My God, My God, Why…?. He provided a wonderful example for us, trusting that God loved him and would complete his purpose – even when he seemed far removed. Today, we are going to talk about that completion.
Last week, on Easter Sunday, we rejoiced in the comfort of those words, Today, You Will Be With Me… I’m grateful for the promise of his abiding presence, effective the moment we call upon his name in faith.
Today, we are finish our series appropriately, by examining more of his last words – possibly the very last words - to leave his lips. He lifted up the weight of his body on those nail-pierced hands and feet one more time, to shout these words into my life. He shouted them into your life. He shouted them for all of heaven, and all of hell, to hear. He used the last of his strength to scream out a final cry of victory… “It is Finished!”. And then he died.
The power of those words – the truth of those words – shook both heaven and earth. On the strength of that proclamation graves burst open. As those words left his mouth, the veil in the temple was rent in two, from top to bottom. (see Matt 27:50-53)
Why were those words so significant? What was finished?
At a glance, his suffering was finished
In the last days of his life, Jesus had endured more misunderstanding, more rejection, more disappointment, more pain, and much more shame than any of us could imagine. One of his closest friends had sold him out. His remaining friends had fled, denying that they knew him. The people that he had come to save hated him. He had been mocked, beaten, and hung naked before the crowds. We tend to forget that he felt all of that acutely. But now – in a few seconds, he would have relief. His suffering was finished.
While that may be the explanation of the casual observer, those who listen more attentively will hear more.
His purpose in life was finished
The words become much more significant when we realize who it was that was speaking. This was the Son of God. This was Emanuel, God with us.
In 1 Cor 15:45, Jesus is called the last Adam. The first Adam had failed his purpose. So God robed himself in flesh, and became the last Adam. He came to set right what the first Adam had made wrong. And Jesus succeeded where Adam had failed. And at this moment – Jesus is shouting out his success.
God had sent him to bridge the gap between God and man, created by the sin of the first Adam. And now, that gap was bridged. Jesus had completely fulfilled the very purpose for his existence.
Now, those words sound more like a victory cry than a surrender to death. Jesus is not saying “Finally, it’s over…” He is saying “I did it! I won!”
Now, I have a little different sense of the emotion behind those words. Jesus had finished His purpose in life. What satisfaction… What encouragement! I would like to think I will end my life in victory, after having been spent in some great purpose. Bring suffering on! Bring death on! My life has meant something!
But the significance of these words go far beyond the declaration of a life lived on purpose. You see - His very purpose was to carry some things to the cross with him, and when his mortal life was finished – those things were finished as well.
So what else was finished?
The law was finished
The Bible teaches us that Christ is the end of the law.
Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. Romans 10:4 (NIV)
What was The Law? The law was a series of commandments, given by God, to help man understand what God wanted. In general, we think of the law as the commandments given by Moses. But it goes beyond that. Every generation since Adam has had some set of commandments that governed their lives.
What was the first commandment (not the greatest commandment - the first)?
The very first commandment was – “Don’t eat of that tree…” Man disobeyed it. And that opened the door to a flood of new commandments.
In each dispensation of time, God reveals more about himself. He progressively reveals himself through his Name. And he progressively reveals his Holiness through his Commandments.
And in every dispensation, man demonstrates his inability to achieve God’s holiness… No matter how easy, or how difficult, the body of law is, we are going to violate it. And we are going to suffer the consequences.
But Jesus came to remove lawlessness – by removing the law.
…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. Col 2:14 (NKJV)
You might say, “How does that work? Is that the appropriate way to deal with lawlessness in society – by getting rid of the law? ” Well – only if we can figure out how to replace society’s laws with a change in society’s heart!
For instance – we only have traffic laws because we are not courteous, considerate drivers. If we were all considerate drivers, most of the traffic laws would be necessary, would they?
It’s not that the law was bad. Quite the contrary, the law was good. The law revealed how holy God is, and how sinful we are. But it brought death, because its very existence caused us to want to break it. Look at how Paul explains this to the Romans…
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet." 8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. 9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. 10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. 11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. Romans 7:7-11 (NKJV)
You see – the commandment does little more than reveal how much we need a Savior. But that’s a good thing, because at the end of the law, there is a Savior. His name is Jesus!
Now that I know the Savior, I don’t need the law.
You see - Jesus offers me a change of heart. For illustrative purposes – he makes me a courteous driver! (Some of you are thinking – obviously only for illustrative purposes…)
Does the removal of the law mean I can do anything I want, without regard to anyone or anything? No. Quite the opposite is true, actually… I don’t need a law that says, “Don’t steal”, because in Christ I really don’t want to steal!
Now, I trust in Jesus. I trust in Him to help me do the right thing. I trust in Him to help me want to do the right thing. And I trust in him to forgive me when I fail to do the right thing.
But I stay in Jesus, because in Jesus, the law is finished.
Jesus carried the law with him to the cross – and it is finished.
My Atonement was finished
From the first time man sinned in the Garden, his sin had to be atoned, or covered, by the shedding of blood. Adam tried to use fig leaves, but God said that wasn’t enough. Something had to die!
For the wages of sin is death... Romans 6:23 (NIV)
…and without shedding of blood there is no remission. Heb 9:22 (NKJV)
And so we see a pattern throughout history, of man being covered, or atoned, by blood. But Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. And when he died, he removed the need for the atonement we gained through the blood of sacrificial animals. Jesus became our atonement. Jesus became the covering that we had been looking for ever since Adam tore those fig leaves off of the tree.
At Calvary, my covering for sin was finally finished! Notice this…
This was the last Passover
The last plague in Egypt was the death of every firstborn child, in every home. This plague would be executed upon the Israelites, as well – unless they followed very specific instructions. They were to kill a lamb, eat it, and put the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their house. The Lord promised them that when the death angel saw the blood, it would pass over them.
After that actual event, the Lord instructed them to remember this deliverance with a holiday every year – called the Passover. On a certain day, at a certain time – they were to kill a lamb and eat it with their families.
Did you know that Jesus died at 3:00 in the afternoon on the day Passover would begin? This was the hour that the Passover lamb, to be consumed in the evening Passover meal, was prepared. All over Israel, lambs were dying. But on Calvary – the perfect Passover lamb was dying.
This was the final Day of Atonement
Ever since God gave Moses the Law, and the plans for His dwelling place called the Tabernacle – he had provided a special way that sins could be dealt with. It was called the Day of Atonement.
Once each year, with all of the people in the camp of Israel looking on – the high priest would prepare a special sacrifice. He would go through the tabernacle, sprinkling that blood on the various instruments – until he finally would step behind the veil and stand before the ark of the covenant.
One man, once a year, would carry the sins of the people of Israel symbolically to God. If everything was done correctly, God would honor the sacrifice, and the sins would be forgiven.
When Jesus died, that veil was rent in two. It was God’s way of saying “Atonement is forever granted”. I accept the sacrifice of Jesus for the sins of mankind – please come into my presence.
You see why I am so excited now about these words, “It is Finished”? The Law was finished. But my atonement was finished, as well! My sins were perfectly and eternally covered!
Jesus carried my sins to the cross with him – and the atonement for my sin is finished.
My Healing was finished
Remember that before Adam and Eve sinned, everything was perfect? They never felt any pain or discomfort. Their bodies functioned exactly like they were designed to function.
What happened!?
The moment that Adam and Eve sinned, death began in their bodies. Now – they lived for several hundred years, but after centuries and centuries of sinful living, our life expectancy is much shorter.
Sickness and infirmity is the result of sin. Not necessarily your sin. I mean to say, you are not necessarily experiencing this sickness, or this pain, because of a specific sin that you committed. It’s just a general principal – sickness is a side-effect of sin.
While Jesus carried our sin with him to the cross, he was also carrying its damaging effects on both our body and our spirit.
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:4-5 (NIV)
Jesus carried the side-effects of my sin to the cross with him – so my healing is finished.
What else can we learn by this?
God always finishes what He starts
Jesus came to save us. His mortal life had begun 33.5 years earlier, and all along he was doing God’s work. And as expected, he finished… He accomplished what he set out to do. Because God always finishes what he starts.
But the plan for redemption had been formed long before Jesus was born. As we have seen, this is something that God had been working on since Adam fell, around 4000 years earlier.
That brings us to another concept:
God works through the process of time
Time is a component of mortality. And God, working amongst mortals, is not afraid of time. So – the start of something is not the same thing as the finish.
Sometimes, we pastors are afraid of time. We get people in here, and we want to get them baptized, filled with the Holy Spirit, and living Holy lives before the service is over! It’s as if we feel like we’ve not accomplished anything until the work is finished.
But God makes provision for time. He could have come and died the day after Adam sinned… Why did he kill that deer, instead of just coming himself? Instead, he waited 4000 years. And when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his son… (Gal 4:4)
You see – the world wasn’t ready for Jesus yet. It took time.
And not everyone that will come in this door is ready for everything I have in my hip pocket. And I don’t necessarily feel compelled to give it to them!
Here in our church, we recognize that lives are changed gradually, through the process of time. We’re willing to be patient. And we’re willing to trust God to be present all the way through the process. He’s there at the start. He’s there at the finish. The inference is that he is there all the way through, also. And I trust him to save you, from start to finish. You should trust Him, too!
God works through time… And he always finishes what he starts.
We receive His salvation through faith.
Last week, we talked about the immediate effectiveness of faith. His life begins to work in us the moment we believe.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. Romans 1:16 (NKJV)
But the Bible is also clear that faith will take us through a process. The start is not the finish…
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith." Romans 1:17 (NKJV)
The thief on the cross didn’t have time to follow, or even obey – but you do. I’m convinced that if the thief would have had more time, he would have followed Jesus.
And so you can expect your faith to grow over time. Just get in Jesus, and you will see his work at Calvary take you from faith to faith… That’s one of the reasons we’re always talking about the next step around here. What he started, he will finish. All you need to be concerned about is this – “What is the next step for me?”
For some, the next step may be identifying with Christ in his burial, through baptism. For some, the next step may be receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that you can walk in his resurrected power. But for every one of us, there is something that God is calling us to do next.
And we should just do it… because regardless of where we are in that process, we know that our faith will be finished.
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith… Heb 12:1-2a (NKJV)
His Finish Assures Your Finish!
Because He served his purpose, you can serve yours.
I don’t know exactly what your purpose is. I want to help you find it. But first and foremost you find it in Jesus. But I am
…confident of this, that he who began a good work in your will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ. Phi 1:6 (NIV)
Jesus already purchased your success. |
