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John 19:28-30 - After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So, when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
It is important that we remember that without the crucifixion there is no Resurrection.
Because He lives, we can now live in relationship to God and free from the curse of sin and death. – He is the resurrection and the life.
What took place on the cross was bloody, violent, and repulsive.
If we had been there to watch it, we would not have only been uncomfortable, it would have left us traumatized for life. It was something that most people couldn’t even watch let alone do to another human being.
The prophet Isaiah described what the crucifixion would look like.
Isaiah 53:3-5 - He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely, He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
(NLT) - He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrowsthat weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.
You cannot read or hear these words as a child of God and not be moved.
While we know that the crucifixion had to happen, we love the Resurrection because the ordeal is over.
While we all love Christmas, we love the Resurrection even more. At Christmas the work still laid ahead. At the Resurrection we are reminded that the work had been done.
The truth is that resurrection helps us understand an important truth – that the end of something is better than the beginning.
Ecclesiastes 7:8 - The end of a thing is better than its beginning; (NLT) - Finishing is better than starting.
It is exciting to start a project, it is much better to know that it has been seen through to completion. (A house, building it – remodeling)
The Resurrection reminds us that Jesus finished what He started.
When Jesus was hanging on the Cross Just before He died, He said three of the most important words ever declared in History – “It is finished”.
Those words “it is finished” is a translation of the Greek word tetelestai, a word that means to end, to bring to completion, to bring to a conclusion, to complete, to accomplish, to fulfill, or to finish.
When it comes to the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross that word tetelestai holds a wealth of meaning. This word is a word full of nuance that actually speaks to many things that Jesus finished on the cross.
The word tetelestai for one of its meanings is a business term.
It is used to signify the full payment of a debt. – Nothing sounds as good as hearing the words – “Paid in Full”. It is good to purchase a car but there is nothing like knowing all the payments are finished.
Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When a debt had been fully paid off, the parchment on which the debt was recorded was stamped with tetelestai, which meant the debt had been paid in full.
This means that once a person calls Jesus the Lord of his or her life and personally accepts His sacrifice, no debt of sin exists for that person any longer.
The debt is wiped out because Jesus paid the price for sin that no sinner could ever pay.
Jesus took our place. He paid the debt we owed for our sin. And when we, by faith, repent and receive Him as Lord, we are set free!
Romans 6:10 (AMP) - For the death that He died, He died to sin [ending its power and paying the sinner’s debt] once and for all; and the life that He lives, He lives to [glorify] God [in unbroken fellowship with Him].
1 Peter 1:18-19 (NLT) - For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.
When Jesus uttered those words “It is finished!” it was His declaration that the debt was fully satisfied, fulfilled, and complete. His blood utterly and completely cleansed us forever.
Glory to God!
We used to sing a song. – He paid a debt He did not owe; I owed a debt I could not pay, I needed someone to wash my sins away.
And now I sing a brand-new song amazing Grace. Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay.
The cry “it is finished” was also a military term. A battle cry of victory!
While Jesus was making a statement of obedience to the Father it was also a declaration of victory!
A true champion doesn’t shout in the face of their enemy. They lower their voice and they make a statement that makes their enemies blood run cold.
There is no greater champion than Jesus.
1 John 3:8 - He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
When Jesus said “It is Finished” He was saying that He had defeated death Hell and the grave.
Jesus hadn’t resurrected yet but He was declaring His intentions.
He was saying to the devil you didn’t win.
Someone needs to hear this, Jesus isn’t going to defeat the devil, the devil is already defeated.
We aren’t going TO a place of victory; We are already IN a place of victory.
In the name of Jesus, WE HAVE THE VICTORY.
Lastly the word Tetelestai is used to depict a turning point.
It is finished means that one season is over and a new season is beginning.
It declares that we are now in a different time, a different epoch.
When Jesus exclaimed, “It is finished,” it was a turning point in the entire history of mankind, for at that moment, the Old Testament (Covenant) came to an end — it was finished and closed — and the New Testament (Covenant) began.
The Cross was “the Great Divide” in human history. When Jesus cried out, “It is finished,” He was shouting that the Old Covenant had ended and the New Covenant had begun!
Remember HIS-Story is divided into BC and AD. Before Christ and After death.
Just like Jesus literal life, OUR lives are divided into two parts.
Before Christ and after we accept Christ and die to ourselves.
The Old has gone, the New has come. We are new creatures in Christ Jesus. This is amazing!
We are in an entirely new season of life.
Three powerful and life transforming words… “It is Finished”.
May the Lord bless you and your family this Resurrection Season.
Remember that you are dearly Loved,
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay