January 12, 2015 IT IS FINISHED
Luke 19:30: “When Jesus had therefore received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit.”
The three words Jesus spoke from the cross, “It is finished”, have to be the most comprehensive, the most powerful, the most far reaching, the most dynamic, the most final, and the most victorious words ever spoken. In our sometime shallow thinking, we think that the words “it is finished” simply refers to our salvation and our going to heaven. That is certainly true, but there is so much more packed into those three words. When Jesus said “it is finished”, to what was He referring? Jesus was saying that He had accomplished all that the Father had sent Him to do-He had fulfilled the mission perfectly and all had gone as planned. We must remember that while Jesus was all God, He was also all man. As man, he experienced life as a human-having joy and having pain, enduring trials and rejection, feeling the hurt of others, being tempted to sin-yet He never committed a single sin. So, He was the perfect Lamb that was sacrificed for us. Jesus fulfilled the Law and by doing so, grace was ushered in and forgiveness was extended and the power of sin was broken forever as Satan was disarmed. While living on earth, Jesus was the light and He demonstrated the Kingdom of God. Jesus cast out demons, healed the sick, raised the dead, gave sight to the blind, set the captive free, fed the multitudes, forgave sins, rebuked, admonished, rejoiced, wept, taught—and much more. One of the overriding reasons of His coming to earth was that of redeeming His brothers and sisters-those that the Father had given Him. In order for Jesus to accomplish all that He did, He had to endure much; separation from His Father, rejection by His own people, encountering opposition, betrayal, and finally, being crucified. I don’t think we can fully comprehend just what all Jesus did accomplished through His life on earth, and His ultimate crucifixion, but what we do know should be the greatest life-changer for us. Because Jesus finished what the Father sent Him to do, we are blessed more than we can fathom. We have all sinned against God, but we have been forgiven-made clean. We have been set free from the power of sin. We have been transferred from darkness to His kingdom of light. We have been made new-given new hearts, new minds and a new spirit. We have a living hope. We have the Holy Spirit living in us. We have been made overcomers in life. We have been gifted and placed in the body of Christ. All of this, and much more, is ours only because Jesus came and finished what He set out to do. Jesus calls us His brothers and sisters and He has said that we have the same Father-and that is what it was all about all the time. The ultimate price has been paid-we are redeemed-there is no more that needs to be done because “It is finished”! May we truly find rest in the finished work of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:3-6: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him, In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise and glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”
Colossians 2:13-15: “And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
Blessings,
Buddy
Luke 19:30: “When Jesus had therefore received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit.”
The three words Jesus spoke from the cross, “It is finished”, have to be the most comprehensive, the most powerful, the most far reaching, the most dynamic, the most final, and the most victorious words ever spoken. In our sometime shallow thinking, we think that the words “it is finished” simply refers to our salvation and our going to heaven. That is certainly true, but there is so much more packed into those three words. When Jesus said “it is finished”, to what was He referring? Jesus was saying that He had accomplished all that the Father had sent Him to do-He had fulfilled the mission perfectly and all had gone as planned. We must remember that while Jesus was all God, He was also all man. As man, he experienced life as a human-having joy and having pain, enduring trials and rejection, feeling the hurt of others, being tempted to sin-yet He never committed a single sin. So, He was the perfect Lamb that was sacrificed for us. Jesus fulfilled the Law and by doing so, grace was ushered in and forgiveness was extended and the power of sin was broken forever as Satan was disarmed. While living on earth, Jesus was the light and He demonstrated the Kingdom of God. Jesus cast out demons, healed the sick, raised the dead, gave sight to the blind, set the captive free, fed the multitudes, forgave sins, rebuked, admonished, rejoiced, wept, taught—and much more. One of the overriding reasons of His coming to earth was that of redeeming His brothers and sisters-those that the Father had given Him. In order for Jesus to accomplish all that He did, He had to endure much; separation from His Father, rejection by His own people, encountering opposition, betrayal, and finally, being crucified. I don’t think we can fully comprehend just what all Jesus did accomplished through His life on earth, and His ultimate crucifixion, but what we do know should be the greatest life-changer for us. Because Jesus finished what the Father sent Him to do, we are blessed more than we can fathom. We have all sinned against God, but we have been forgiven-made clean. We have been set free from the power of sin. We have been transferred from darkness to His kingdom of light. We have been made new-given new hearts, new minds and a new spirit. We have a living hope. We have the Holy Spirit living in us. We have been made overcomers in life. We have been gifted and placed in the body of Christ. All of this, and much more, is ours only because Jesus came and finished what He set out to do. Jesus calls us His brothers and sisters and He has said that we have the same Father-and that is what it was all about all the time. The ultimate price has been paid-we are redeemed-there is no more that needs to be done because “It is finished”! May we truly find rest in the finished work of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:3-6: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him, In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise and glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”
Colossians 2:13-15: “And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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