It Is Finished

Good Friday Meditation

April 17, 1992

John 19:30 When Jesus had received the vinegar, He said, "It is finished!" and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

A STATEMENT ABOUT CHRIST'S LIFE WORK

The cry from the cross, "It is finished" is the final word in the Gospel of John. "Into Thy hands I commend My spirit" is a personal word of faith; this is a statement about what Jesus has done with His life, and where He had finally ended His earthly ministry.

THE VIEW OF UNBELIEF: IT'S ALL OVER

I suppose there are different ways to hear these words. One interpretation, I hasten to say 'Not my own!', might say that with these words Jesus has simply said: "It's all over!"

The agony has ended, but with it also the noble experiment has failed! 'My disciples are scattered, the high and holy-sounding words I uttered have proved empty. Love is NOT stronger than hatred; the people with the biggest army always win.'

But if this had been the true meaning of these words we never would have heard of Jesus Christ except as a tiny footnote somewhere in an historian's notebook about some eccentric Jewish revolutionary.

This is the interpretation we must give these words however, if all that we see is the cross of Christ.

I know it is Good Friday. I know we aren't supposed to celebrate the Resurrection until Sunday. I praise God that the Cross is God's victory for us over the power and guilt of sin. But it takes the power of the Resurrection to unlock the full meaning of these words: "It is finished!"

John 20:9 expresses how helpless we would be to see the full meaning of "It is finished" without knowing, as we most certainly know, that Jesus not only died but rose again from the dead. John 20:9 says:

"For as yet they did not understand the Scripture that [Jesus] must rise again from the dead."

From our perspective this side of Calvary, this side of the resurrection, this side of Pentecost and the living Christ inhabiting His church, we know that Jesus was NOT admitting defeat with his statement from the cross, IT IS FINISHED!

THE PERSPECTIVE OF FAITH: IT IS COMPLETE

The only way we Christians can understand these words of completion is in the light of the mighty power of LIFE ETERNAL, the Resurrection Power that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus.

In His own words in the High Priestly prayer Jesus said: (17:4) "I glorified Thee on earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do."

And what DID Jesus come to do?

  1. JESUS CAME TO SHOW US THE FATHER.

    John 1:1 declared that Jesus is the WORD. In John 14 Jesus tells the disciples, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." God is Transcendent, beyond our full comprehension. Yet forever we know what God is, for God is like our Lord, like our Friend, Jesus of Galilee.

  2. JESUS CAME TO DESTROY THE WORKS OF EVIL.

    I John 3:8 says: "The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil." Satan has set up shop on this planet, and has taken many prisoners. He has propagated lies about what real power and real wealth and real satisfaction might be. Jesus has come to set the prisoners of evil free, and show them His own love, and share with them His own life!

  3. JESUS CAME TO BRING LIFE TO YOU AND ME.

    [Here we come to the truth that from our perspective is central, having to do directly with our salvation:]

    John 10:10 I am come that they might have LIFE, and that they may have it more abundantly. And also John 1:12 He came unto His own and His own received Him not; but as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the children of God, even as many as believed on His name.

    When Jesus said, "It is finished" He was saying that everything necessary was set in place that we might be God's children, heirs of God's grace in Christ, joint-heirs with Christ to all the love of God's family!

    "It is finished!" means that we may be:

    justified - counted as righteous in Christ regenerated - new creatures in Christ adopted - brought into God's family with His Spirit crying "Abba, Father" within us and sanctified - or the actual work of making us LIKE Christ begun within our personality

BEHOLD: THE FINISHED WORK

Perhaps the best news is that this cry of Jesus from the cross means that THERE IS NO MORE THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE BEFORE YOU AND I CAN COME TO GOD, to receive this gift of life (this Gift=Jesus Himself!), and to be received into God's family:

This finished work is ours to receive as the Holy Spirit makes it available to us by God's grace:

John 1:12 " ...as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the children of God, even as many as believed on His name."

I'M SURE THAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED THE LORD JESUS INTO YOUR HEART AND LIFE OR YOU PROBABLY WOULDN'T BE HERE TODAY. BUT IF, BY CHANCE, YOU HAVE COME WITH BURDENS OR DOUBTS OR FEARS, FEARS OF LIFE OR FEARS OF DEATH, LET ME ASSURE YOU THAT WHEN JESUS SAID, FROM THE CROSS: IT IS FINISHED! HE HAD YOUR ETERNAL SALVATION, AND YOUR PERSONAL ASSURANCE AT HEART. HE DIED BECAUSE HE LOVES US, AND HE COMPLETED THE WORK THAT MAKES HIS ETERNAL LIFE OUR OWN!

Prayer: