If you would, turn with me to
the Gospel of John chapter 19. John chapter 19. I want to look at one verse this
morning and one particular phrase. I want us to consider this. I
mention it in almost every message that I preach. John 19 verse
30. When Jesus therefore had received
the vinegar, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave
up the ghost. Now it is absolutely imperative,
it's crucial for us to know what Christ finished. That's just
imperative to know. In John chapter 17, the Lord
praying to his father said in verse four, I have glorified
thee on the earth and I have finished the work which thou
gavest me to do. What was this work that Christ
finished? What was this work that God gave
him to do? It was the whole will of God. The whole will of God. It was
the redemptive work of perfect righteousness. Christ rotting
out for us what we could not provide for God. God requires
perfect righteousness. And it's the redemptive work
of the perfect righteousness of Christ that he provided for
his people. That's what he's working at.
That's what he worked at. Any sacrifice to God must be
perfect to be accepted. And God accepted the perfect
work of His beloved Son, and He was satisfied, and He was
well pleased. And when our Lord Jesus cried,
it is finished, what He was saying was, it's perfect. It's perfect. The holy law of God has been
fulfilled. God's holy justice has been satisfied. Brother David, you say that a
lot. That's the gospel. That's the gospel. God's law
must be honored. God's justice must be satisfied. The whole purpose of God is accomplished
in these three words. And there's no words in all of
scripture that are more precious to a believer. It is finished. When declared by the God-man,
the words, it is finished, does not mean that God has done all
he can do and the rest is up to you. There are many that think
that's what it means, but that is not what it means. Those words
do not mean that the works of Christ are finished if you believe
them. No, sir. The redemptive work
of Christ is finished whether you believe it or not. But let
me be very clear on this. If you do not believe that Christ
finished the glorious work that no man or woman could do to save
themselves, you'll perish in your sin. That's just how serious
and how crucial this matter is. These words have meaning. These precious words carry with
them the very authority of heaven itself. And they resound to the
glory and the honor of God Almighty. And these words fulfill all the
prophecies of the scripture. All the types and shadows of
all that God had spoken in this book are summed up right here
in these three words. It's finished. It's finished.
Last week, we looked at that blessed verse in Isaiah chapter
43, verse 25, where God said, I, even I am he that blotteth
out thy transgressions for my own sake and will not remember
thy sins. And friends, it's finished. It's
finished. Those who trust in Christ and
His sacrifice have their sins blotted out forever. And their
sin, God will remember no more. As I said last time, God can't
remember what's not there. In, by, and through the substitution
of the Lord Jesus Christ, taking our place on Calvary's cross,
dying the death that we should have died. God's acceptance of
Christ's precious blood has blotted out, forever removed, put an
end to the transgressions of God's people. And he did it for
his own namesake. There was no reason outside of
Himself. God speaking to those whom He gave to Christ before
the foundation of the world says that it simply pleased Him to
make you His people. Simply pleased Him to do so.
Isaiah proclaims, but He, Christ, was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. Do you hear what God is saying
here? The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. It's a done deal. It's finished. Speaking to and
of the people of God, Isaiah continues, and he says of us,
all we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord hath weighed on him. Who? Christ. He's laid
on Him, Jesus Christ, the iniquity of us all. Not all the world,
but all God's people. God shall see all of the travail
of His soul and shall be satisfied. And by his knowledge, and I might
add, by his work, his righteousness, his obedience, his faithfulness,
shall my righteous servant justify many. Not the whole world, not
everybody, but many. How come? For he shall bear their
iniquities. Do you see what's going on on
this cross? God is putting all the sin of
all His people throughout all time on the Lord Jesus Christ. And He's paying that debt of
sin which is the wages of His death. And God is satisfied. What a glorious word that is.
I want God to be satisfied with me. Why do you think God put
Christ on the cross? Why do you think the Apostle
Paul was determined not to know anything else among those to
whom he preached except Christ and Him crucified? Because it
was on the cross that Christ died, the just for the unjust,
bore our iniquity to bring those who are ungodly, to bring them
to God. For He, being put to death in
the flesh, was quickened by the Spirit. And we who are dead in
trespasses and sin are made alive unto God. And the wages of sin
is death, but the gift, did you hear that? But, but the gift
of God is eternal life and it's through Jesus Christ our Lord. No other way. For as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. And Christ
says, it's finished. It's accomplished. It's fulfilled. In Christ, they who believe have
eternal life. And only in Christ is the believer
made alive forever. God is going to have a new heaven
and a new earth. The scripture says, wherein dwelleth
righteousness. And God is going to populate
that new heaven and new earth with a people from every tribe,
kindred, and tongue under heaven. And all of them are going to
be taken from Adam's fallen race, elect from every nation and every
tongue, and they'll be people chosen of God, redeemed by Christ,
brought to God by the Holy Spirit, and believers who have been regenerated,
given new hearts, made new creatures in Christ. And all this redemptive
work, this new creation, this work of restoration, this work
of redemption, this work of righteousness will, now listen, be carried
on in perfect harmony and agreement with God's holiness and God's
holy character. God cannot save us and compromise
His justice. Sin must be punished. The law
must be honored. And Christ says, it's finished. Most glorious three words I've
ever heard. The angels can't do this work. Angels can't bring
redemption. Angels can't put away sin. Angels
can't make men new creatures. Angels can't satisfy God's law. Men can't do this work. Our Lord
Jesus says, with men, this is what? Impossible. Not just unlikely,
but impossible. Impossible. Can the Ethiopian
change his skin? No. Can the leopard change his
spots? No. Can you do good, who are
accustomed to do evil? Men can't do this work. The sooner
we find that out, the better off we'll be. Only God can do
it. Salvation is of the Lord, of
the Lord. The salvation of the righteous
is of the Lord. God is the creator. God is the
restorer. Only God can do this. Now listen
to me closely. God is God only cannot do it. You see, God can't suffer. Man
can't do it because man can't satisfy. God can do this work
only as the God-man. But God determined to restore
Adam's fallen race and God determined to have a people and save them.
And it was necessary that all the righteous requirements be
met. Have to be. For God to remain
just and justify the ungodly. And that's what makes Him just.
If God just swept sin under a rug, be no justice in that. God can
by no means clear the guilty. Why? Because His justice won't
permit it. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die, for God's law and justice requires it. And Christ satisfied
God's justice, and He cries from the cross, it's finished. Paul
told Timothy what these words mean. He said, who had saved
us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works. Stop working. Stop trying to
do a work of righteousness that you think God might accept. He
won't, it's gotta be perfect to be accepted. It's not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. You see
friends, it matters who's hanging on that cross. It matters who
says it is finished. The angel told Joseph, thou shalt
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin.
And 33 and a half years later, the Lord Jesus did just that,
and he cried, it's finished. All that the Father has given
me shall come to me, and I will know why it's cast him out. Every
single one of them will be saved. And I'm telling you that when
God has saved the last elect, He's gonna wrap this thing up
and it's over. And then comes that new heaven
and new earth occupied by those whom God gave to Christ before
the foundation of the world. I can't wait. What's finished? The salvation of God's people.
Everything that God purposed in eternity, He accomplishes
in time. The Old Testament says He's coming.
He's coming. You read the Old Testament and
that's what all those pictures and types, those sacrifices,
they're pointing to Him. He's coming. The Redeemer's coming. The God-man's coming. The Messiah
is coming. The Savior is coming. And the
New Testament says He's come. The angels announced it to the
shepherds. They proclaimed unto you, is born this day in the
city of David, a Savior. A Savior, which is Christ the
Lord. Simeon in the temple said, Lord,
now let your servant depart in peace. Mine eyes have seen thy
salvation. Who was he looking at? He was
looking at that baby, Christ. And now that baby's a man and
he's lived perfectly and righteous before God. Never had an evil
thought, never said an evil word, perfect. And as He hangs on the
cross as His people's substitute and sacrifice, He says, it is
finished. All do you see is finished. John
the Baptist said, behold the Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world. Then when the Lord was baptized
of John in the river Jordan, the heavenly father spoke from
heaven and said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased.
Hear ye him. So have you seen him? He is salvation. Have you beheld him? He is the
lamb of God. And as he hangs there on Golgotha's
hill as the substitute and the sacrifice for chosen sinners,
he cries, it's finished. His first words recorded in the
Scriptures were, I must be about my father's business. What was
his father's business? To save all those that God gave
him before the foundation of the world. I must be about my
father's business. And what are his last words recorded
in Scripture? It's finished! It's accomplished! I've done it! Dear sinner, the
work of His Father, the work of redemption, the work of salvation
is complete. It's accomplished and it's fulfilled. Isn't that the best news you've
ever heard? What must you do to be saved?
You can't do a work that's already finished. You can only believe
and trust that work was accomplished by God the Son and worship Him. His works and His miracles witnessed
His authority. Every picture of redemption in
the Old Testament Scriptures is fulfilled in Christ. Finally,
John comes to the end of the book that has His name and it
says, if all the things that Jesus Christ did had been put
in a book, there wouldn't be enough room in the world to contain
the books to be written. So many things that I'm thankful
for the ones that we have, but the world couldn't contain the
books of all the good that our Lord did and said. And then John
said, these are written that you might believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you might
have life through his name. Are you interested in life? So God came down here in the
person of Jesus Christ as a man. And Jesus of Nazareth is the
very God of very God. All things were made by Him.
Without Him was not anything made that was made. And the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us. Friends, He's God. He said,
I and my Father are one. They took up stones to stone
Him. He said, many good works have I done among you, for which
of these do you stone me? And they said, for a good work
we don't stone you. We stone you because as a man,
you claim to be God. They didn't see. They didn't
understand. This was God. He was God. In John 14, the disciples said,
show us the Father. And our Lord Jesus said, he that
has seen me, he's seen the Father. I and my Father are one. He's
God, friends. He's born of a woman. You might
say, well, I don't know how God can be born of a woman. Guess
what? I don't either. But I know that he was. That's
what the Scripture says, and the Scripture says, God Himself
will give you a sign. A virgin shall conceive and bring
forth a son, and thou shalt call His name what? Emmanuel. God
with us. God with us. God's heavenly messenger
told Joseph, that holy thing born of Mary is none other than
the Son of God. He's God the Son and He's the
Son of God. Do you see what I'm getting at?
Hanging upon that cross, bearing the sin and the iniquity of those
that God gave Him, hangs God in the flesh. And in order to
remain just and still justify the ungodly, He Himself had to
die in the place of chosen sinners. No one else could do that work
but Him. And He says, it's finished. The
work's finished. It's accomplished. Was it accomplished or did He
just make salvation possible? Oh, that's just so blasphemous. That's so dishonoring to God
to say that Christ's death only made salvation possible. No,
it made it certain. It made it certain. He didn't
leave it up to you to accept. What did He say? He said, it's
finished. People need to educate themselves on God. But they can't. God has to reveal it to them.
Men make God out to be one who's too loving and too good to send
sinners to hell. They don't know anything about
God's righteousness. No, sir. It'd be right, it would
be righteous if God sent all of us to hell. We offended His
law, we offended His justice without a cause. We've hated
His Son while we are offensive to God. Hell is what we deserve
and God will punish sin and He deals with some in mercy on the
basis of a sacrifice. No other way. I had a man ask
me one time and I didn't have an answer then. Anyway, he's
now gone, but he asked me where God was when his son died. He's
in the same place when his son died, on the throne, ruling and
reigning and working all things after the counsel of his own
will. Our God's in the heavens. He's done whatsoever he pleases.
Is that your God? That's my God. God has put all this work of
redemption on one man. All his eggs in one basket. God
has put this working out of a perfect righteousness. God has put this
satisfying of divine justice. God has put the putting away
of sin on one man. And in this man is all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. All the things have been placed
in Christ's hand and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand. Only one mediator, only one to
plead your cause, and He's that man which hangs there high and
lifted up on a pole with all the sin of all God's elect upon
Him throughout all time, and the wrath of God extracts the
holy justice of God until every single sin of His people is paid
for, and then God said, it's finished. Sin is gone. He whose visage was marred more
than any man, torn, rabid, shredded like a slaughtered beast, says
concerning the payment of his people's sin, it's finished. And he raises his head with the
last ounce of strength that he has and with the last breath
that his lungs will muster up and he cries with a loud voice,
it is finished. He finished a perfect righteousness
for the people God gave him. I've heard Brother Mahan say
one time that the Greek philosophers took great pride in being able
to say a lot in a few words. One of their sayings was, give
an ocean of thought and only a drop of language. Well, here's
an ocean of truth. and only a drop of words. It
is finished. The ocean couldn't hold the volumes
of truth that it has. It's finished. Oh, how I wish
we could get a hold of those three words in our hearts. It'd
solve a lot of problems for us. We'd put no value on what we
do. If we saw that the work's already finished, We wouldn't
worry and fret over trouble and tribulation if we knew that Christ
has already accomplished our warfare. Would we endeavor to
do a work of righteousness if we knew that our iniquity is
forever pardoned? We would enter into rest knowing
that the works that were finished before the foundation of the
world have now been confirmed on the cross of Calvary. Every
promise of God is fulfilled. Every woman. Every debt of sin
is paid. Every sin is canceled. Every
enemy is defeated. Every single law is honored. And God said to his beloved son,
come up here and sit down. Sit down, your work's finished. Sit down till I make your enemies
your footstool. And this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, he only took one sacrifice from
the Lamb of God. After He had offered one sacrifice
for sin forever, He sat down on the right hand of God from
henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool. For by one offering, one sacrifice,
one life, one death, He, Christ, hath perfected forever them that
are sanctified." What evidence do I have that all this work
is finished? Why, His resurrection. God raised
him from the dead, that's the evidence. Only one who is finished
sits down. Only one who has conquered sin,
death, and hell resurrects from the grave. Now he says, I am
he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore,
amen, and I have the keys of hell and death. O death, where
is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain
in the Lord. How do we know that's so? Because
our Lord said, it's finished. For He, God, hath made Him, Christ,
to be sin for us. He who knew no sin. We who are
nothing but sin. Sin is what we are. God made him to be sin that we
might be made the righteousness of God. Not just any righteousness,
the righteousness of God. Perfect, holy, just righteousness
in Him. How do I know that I have perfect
righteousness? The perfect righteousness of
God? Christ said so when He said it's finished. There's a line that's been drawn
through the ages. On that line stands an old rugged
cross. On that cross, a battle is raging
to gain a man's soul or its loss. The earth shakes with the force
of the conflict, and the sun refuses to shine. For there hangs
God's son in the balance. And then, through the darkness,
he cries. It is finished. The battle is
over. It's finished. There'll be no
more war. It is finished. The end of the
conflict. It is finished and Jesus is Lord. For some, in your heart, the
battle still rages. Not all prisoners of war have
come home. These battlefields are of your
own making. You don't know that the war has
been won. It's been won. Your warfare is
what? Accomplished. Your iniquity is
forgiven. But I tell you that the king
of the ages, he fought all the battles for me. All that victory
was mine for the claiming. And now, praise His name, I am
free. It's finished. It's finished. The battle is over. It's finished.
No more war. It's finished. The conflict is
over. It's finished. And Jesus is Lord. May God be pleased to make His
word effectual to our hearts and enable us to trust in Christ
alone. It's finished. What wonderful
news.