Our Salvation In Christ - "It Is Finished"

"Today's Devotion" For April 14, 2006

Read: John 19:16-30; Isaiah 53:1-12

OUR SALVATION IN CHRST - "IT IS FINISHED

"When He had received the drink, Jesus said, 'It is finished.' With that He bowed His head and gave up His spirit."(Jn.19:30)

At the time of the writing of "Today's Devotion" it is 12:47pm, Central Daylight Savings Time. It's Good Friday and we're almost through one-third of the time (from noon to 3pm - the sixth to the ninth hours) during which Jesus' was hanging on the Cross, being crucified for sins of the world. Based on our current calendars (with some questionable accuracy), we Christians are observing Good Friday for the 1, 976th time.On that day, according to Scripture, we're told the sun disappeared and darkness came over the whole earth. In sharp contrast to the gloom and doom of the first Good Friday, today is a bright, warm, sunshiny day, at least here in Milwaukee.

While there are places in this city and other cities around the nation where there are "killing fields," there's no place quite like Golgotha, the "Place of the Skull," the hill outside of Jerusalem that the Romans used for the execution by crucifixion of the enemies of Rome and criminals that sought to disrupt a peaceful society. It's the place where the Lord of life, the Prince of Peace, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, the Christ, the Messiah promised by God gave His life as full payment for our sins. An innocent man, wrongly convicted through deceit and lies, but all according to God's plan to save the world, His creation, from the power of Sin, Death, and Satan.

It's on the cross, at the end of the three hours of agony, that our Lord finally finished the task the Father had given Him. In a sense, the purpose for Jesus being on the Cross - as the sacrifice for the sins of the world - was no different from the purpose for the moneychangers and sellers of doves and other livestock that Jesus drove out of the temple courts earlier in the week. The original purpose of that "commerce" in the temple courts was to provide the necessary animals for the sacrifices of a repentant and worshipful people. Over time, as Sin continued to do its insidious work in the lives of God's people, that original purpose of the moneychangers and sellers, blurred into the regular commerce of the city. Its primary, original purpose had become blurred and degraded. Instead of being a special exercise of service it had devolved into a money making, clamoring, and tumultuous exercise that disrupted the worship of people, particularly Gentile believers. The words spoken in our text, words we've come to know as the "sixth word from the cross," bear the full brunt of the meaning of Jesus' unjust suffering and death. That unjust suffering and death brought God's perfect justice to bear on the sins of the whole world, on your sins and mine, that we might, once and for all time be declared righteous before Him and enabled to receive His forgiveness, mercy, and love.

After millennia, the final action of God to redeem His Creation, and restore it to Himself was finishing up on the Cross. Jesus was the full and complete, ultimate sacrifice for Sin, once and for all time. His sacrifice wasn't just for those attending the Temple in Jerusalem, but for all people. His sacrifice completelypaid the price God's perfect righteousness, perfect justice, and holiness requires. As our Lord Jesus cries out, "It is finished," He declares that His work is done, the sacrifice for sins is complete, and God's promises to Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and on throughout Israel's history have no been fulfilled.

Jesus' cry, "It is finished," puts a finality on God's Plan of Salvation. Nothing more is needed; no more sacrifices for sin are necessary, and God's perfect justice and righteousness are fulfilled by Jesus. Our salvation is a free gift of God's grace (Ephesians 2:8,9). It has been purchased and won for us by Jesus. We don't earn it and we certainly don't deserve it, but it is nevertheless completed in us by Jesus. No matter what we do in our lives, no matter where we go or what we accomplish, we can be certain we'll never be truly "finished" with anything. There's always room for improvement and there's always something more to do, places to go, people to see, battles to win, fights to fight, and...well, you know the drill. When Jesus' said, "It is finished," His task was truly finished. There was nothing more, nor is there anything more to be done to save the world from Sin.

As we once more wait in anticipation of the Easter celebration on Sunday, we do so with great joy and confidence, filled with the certainty that our salvation is complete and there's nothing we need to do to save ourselves. By faith, God's own gift to us, we are saved. "It is finished." There's nothing more to do. These words of Jesus Christ while on the Cross resound like the clear pealing of a bell. "It is finished" is the dying utterance of the Son of God, the Savior of the world, declaring that once and for all time, God's peace rests upon this world and its inhabitants. "It is finished" sounds the death knell for Sin's power over us. "It is finished" means the job is done, it can't be improved upon, it will never need doing over, nor will it ever fade away.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You gave Yourself as a ransom for many, paying the ultimate price for my sins and the sins of the whole world. On the Cross You suffered the indignity of the innocent being punished in the place of the guilty. You became "guilty" for the whole world so that I and all people might be forgiven and restored to the Father once and for all times. As I remember Your words, "It is finished," help me to also hear the finality and completeness of those words. Help me to understand and believe that there truly is nothing that I can do to save myself, but that You have done it totally and completely for me. Lead me to share that fully with others as I live in its total message of forgiveness each and every day. Thank You Lord for this marvelous gift that gives me life and hope. In Your name I pray. Amen.
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--Pastor Boeck

Copyright © 2006 Rev. Richard J. Boeck, Jr. All rights reserved.