Word of Salvation – Vol.50 No.30 – August 2005
It Is Finished!
Sermon by Rev John Haverland on John 19:30
Scripture Readings: Hebrews 9:23-10:18; John 19:28-30
Congregation…
There are times when you have been fully occupied with a major task that has taken all your attention. When you complete such a large job or project you can have a great sense of relief and satisfaction.
Maybe you have had a big project from school that took up a lot of time – you spent many evenings on it – then finally, it is done. Perhaps you had a large assignment from university or polytech (technical college), and you have spent days working on it, but at last you complete it, and hand it in.
Perhaps at work one of your customers placed a very large order and you have been busy for some weeks trying to complete the job, but eventually you finish it and send it off. When that happens you feel a sense of achievement. The job is completed, finished, done! You don’t have to go back to it. It’s over!
If we state this with reverence, we could say that God felt this when he had completed the work of creating the world. “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good… Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.” (Gen 1:31 & 2:1-2)
The Lord Jesus had the same sense of completion in the late afternoon of that Friday as he approached the end of his suffering. His work was almost over; his task was almost done. Having done all that the Father wanted him to do, he could go home to heaven. So he cried out, “It is finished!”
Jesus had in mind all the work his Father had sent him to do and all his work of preaching and teaching to make the Father known. But he especially had in mind the work of his suffering.
The gospel writers know this because they concentrate our attention on the suffering and death of Jesus. In this gospel story, John covers the three years of the ministry of Jesus in 12 chapters, but then spends 7 chapters (13-19) on the last 24 hours of his life. This was the high point of his work – this is what he had come to do. He was born to die.
In these seven chapters John describes the crucifixion of Jesus that began at 9 in the morning. In those first few hours Jesus prayed for those who were crucifying him; he promised eternal life to the criminal next to him; and he spoke to his mother.
From noon till three he went through the agonies and torments of hell symbolised by the three hours of darkness. In his desolation he had cried out, “My God, my God, Why have you forsaken me?” Then, coming out of that terrible time, he expressed his physical agony, “I am thirsty.”
By this time it was later on that Friday afternoon and Jesus knew that it was almost over. All that remained was his physical death. This prompted his sixth word from the cross.
The other three gospel writers tell us that he “cried out with a loud voice”. John tells us the actual word Jesus used: “It is finished!”, which in the Greek language is one word.
We aren’t told the tone of his cry but considering all that had happened we can safely say that he said this with relief. The terrible suffering was almost over. The excruciating pain was coming to an end. He was glad it was almost finished. There was a note of joy in his voice, despite his shocking physical condition.
But there was also triumph in this word from the cross! He cried this “with a loud voice!” (Matt 27:50). To the disciples his death seemed like a hopeless defeat but Jesus knew that this was his moment of victory!
Our Easter hymns reflect this note of triumph:
The strife is o’er, the battle done; the victory of life is won;
the song of triumph has begun. Alleluia!
In this single word Jesus gathered up everything he had done so far – all that he had done in his life and ministry and especially all he had done in the last 24 hours.
Notice that he said; “It is finished”, not “I have finished”. As the servant of the Lord he had completed the task his Father had given him. As the Son of God he had made his Father known. As the Messiah he had finished the work he had been anointed to do. The focus was not on himself but on what he had done in obedience to his Father.
As we explore this further we will see how Jesus had finished his active obedience to his Father and his passive obedience. (If you know some reformed theology you will recognise this way of describing what Jesus did). Then we will go on to see how this applies to us.
We see here first of all that Jesus completed HIS ACTIVE OBEDIENCE.
He came into this world to live as a man in obedience to God.
He came as the new representative of humanity; he came as the Second Adam.
Sin had come into the world through the disobedience of the first man, Adam; then Jesus came into the world as the Second Man, to deal with sin.
He was like us in every way, except for sin.
He was the Son of God and so he was perfect.
Adam had disobeyed God’s command; Jesus kept God’s commands.
Adam had rebelled against God’s law; Jesus submitted to the law.
Adam had sinned; Jesus lived a righteous life. He obeyed God the Father in every respect.
In theology we call this active obedience. He actively obeyed the law of God and so earned righteousness for us (Heidelberg Catechism Question 17)
The second point we want to see is that Jesus also completed HIS PASSIVE OBEDIENCE. “Passive” means that people do something to you rather than you doing it.
Jesus allowed evil men to do him physical harm.
They flogged him, spat in his face and struck him with their fists.
They put a crown of thorns on his head and struck him with a stick.
Then they took him out to Golgotha and they nailed him to a cross. Jesus suffered physical pain.
But Jesus also suffered spiritually.
He died there as the sacrifice for sin. Every one of us deserves to die for our own sin, but God has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He “sealed my pardon with his blood.” Jesus took on himself the sins of all believers. He died in their place. He is our substitute. “In my place condemned he stood.” This work, too, was finished.
He also completed the suffering of hell.
Sometimes someone will talk about having been “to hell and back”. They mean they have been through a lot. But no one has been “to hell and back” except Jesus. He experienced the full isolation and torment of hell. He bore the wrath of God for sin. He carried the curse. He satisfied the justice of God by being punished in our place.
He went through the loneliness and agony of hell so that you and I would not have to go there.
In dying on the cross for our sins Jesus also fulfilled the whole Old Testament system of sacrifice. God had given the people of Israel detailed laws describing a whole range of sacrifices they had to offer and many ceremonies they had to follow. There were specific laws for the burnt offering and the guilt offering and the fellowship offering. There were detailed commands for the daily offerings in the temple and the monthly offerings and the annual sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. God told them how to celebrate the Passover, and the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Feast of Trumpets, plus many more.
All these animals that were killed pointed forward to Jesus. When Jesus came and died on the cross he completed all this. All those Old Testament regulations were finished in him. They couldn’t take away sin, but Jesus did. They couldn’t pay the price for sin but Jesus did. The moment he died the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. This symbolised that Jesus had opened up the way to God in heaven. The Old Testament system had gone.
All of this was in the mind of our Lord when he cried, “It is finished”. He had actively fulfilled the law of God and he had suffered the punishment for sin.
As we consider WHAT THIS MEANS FOR US we will look at two negatives and two positives.
First of all, don’t go back to Old Testament sacrifices. This isn’t really a problem in Reformed church circles but there is a tendency to do this in some Jewish Christian movements. There are Zionist groups that put a lot of emphasis on the rituals and feasts of the Old Testament and want Christians to practice these.
This is also part of the teaching that has been popularised in the Scofield Bible and is known as Dispensationalism. They believe that we are now in the dispensation of the church but when Jesus returns the people of Israel will be restored as a nation, the temple will be rebuilt and the sacrificial system will begin again. They supposedly get this out of the books of Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation.
But to go back to the temple and to the Old Testament sacrifices is to go backwards in biblical history. It is to reverse the plan and progress of God’s salvation. In his death on the cross Jesus brought all of that to an end – he fulfilled it. His declaration, “It is finished!” put an end to all these types and shadows of that period.
Old Testament believers lived in the Old Covenant and looked forward to Christ’s coming. We live in the New Covenant established in his blood and we look back to what he has done on the cross and remember this in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. This is our New Testament ceremony, not those of the Old Covenant. So don’t go back to the Old Testament system to practice those.
Secondly, Don’t add anything to Christ’s sacrifice.
Many of the heresies and errors in the church have come up because people have tried to add something to the finished work of Christ. Any teaching that has Christ plus something else is an error.
Most commonly people have tried to add their own works and efforts. Christ’s work plus my work. Most people want to be able to contribute something they have done to their salvation. All of us suffer from this temptation. The letter to the Galatians was written specifically against this error.
The hymn writer Toplady captured the right approach to God with these words;
Nothing in my hands I bring,
Simply to thy cross I cling;
Naked come to thee for dress,
Helpless look to thee for grace;
Foul I to the fountain fly,
Wash me Saviour, or I die.
Trust in Christ’s sacrifice alone. Others have taught that you need:
Christ plus baptism in the Holy Spirit, or
Christ plus speaking in tongues, or
Christ plus prayers to Mary, or
Christ plus the mass, or
Christ plus my decision.
Just before he died Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Finished”! With that single word he declared that his work was complete. He had done all that was necessary for your salvation and mine. This Greek word was often used in the first century to describe the payment of a debt and it was often written on receipts – “Paid in full”. Receipts today are still stamped with the word PAID.
This is what Jesus has done for us – he has paid for our sin – in full. Nothing more is owed. Jesus has done it all. Don’t try to add anything to his finished and complete work.
Well then, what do you need to do?
The Philippian jailer asked a similar question: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul and Silas replied: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:30).
The Heidelberg Catechism reflects this same response when it describes the righteousness gained for us by Christ and says, “All I need to do is accept this gift of God with a believing heart” (Q. 60)
This is still what God requires of you today. You must believe that he was and is the Son of God who became a man to rescue you from eternal punishment. Trust in the Lord Jesus. Believe that what he did on the cross was for you.
Many can’t accept this. They think this is too easy. They can’t accept that Jesus has done it all. They won’t accept it, because they want to do something. They want to earn the right to be saved. They cannot accept this free grace of God. So they refuse it. Don’t you make that mistake. Here is a free gift – the gift of eternal life, promised to all who believe in Jesus. Accept it as a gift from God.
And finally, continue to live in this confidence in Christ. If you believe in the finished work of Jesus you will know a peace that passes all understanding. And you will be able to face death with hope and trust in the Lord Jesus.
Can you do that? Can you face death with a calm spirit and with hope for the future? Do you trust in what Jesus has done? Will you die with faith and confidence in him?
We began in this sermon by looking at the work God finished after six days of imaginative creative activity. We have seen that by his suffering on the cross Jesus finished his work of obedience and sacrifice.
But that wasn’t the total end of all of his work.
After his death he rose from the dead, ascended into heaven where he now sits at the right hand of his Father.
Lifted up was he to die.
‘It is finished’, was his cry.
Now in heaven exalted high,
Hallelujah! What a Saviour!” (PsH 381 vs 3)
From that exalted place he is putting all his enemies under his feet until the day he returns. Then our Lord Jesus Christ will hand over the Kingdom to God the Father – so that God may be all in all.
Then we will hear these words, once again, for the final time: “It is finished! It is done!” And we will enter our heavenly rest and forever enjoy the completed work of our triune God.
Amen.