This morning's message will come
out of John chapter 19 verse 30. The title of the message
is It is Finished. It says in verse 30 when Jesus
therefore had received the vinegar he said it is finished and he
bowed his head and gave up the ghost. Jesus Christ is the only
man that was able to look upon his life's work and say it is
finished. and mean it in the full sense
of the word. No one has uttered a greater
truth than when our Lord cried, it is finished. The very purpose
of his coming into the world was now finished. Atonement has
been made for sinners. It was a triumphant cry the Jews
thought that they had finished him, when in reality he did the
finishing. He got the victory. Calvary was
not a tragedy. It was an accomplishment. Accomplishment
made by the Son of God in redeeming sinners. He accomplished what
he came to do. Honor the law and save his people
from their sins. As we read in Psalm 24 9, it
says, Lift up your heads, O ye gates. Even lift them up, ye
everlasting doors. And the King of Glory shall come
in. He shall come in triumphantly,
having finished his work. Now in verse 28 it says, after
this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished,
that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Our Lord never
spoke in idle word. He said, I thirst to fulfill
the scripture that was prophesied of this. Our Lord finished all
that was written of him down to the very jot and tittle. Nothing
concerning him was overlooked. He was to be born of the seed
of woman. Satan was to bruise his heel, and he was to bruise
Satan's head, and this was accomplished at Calvary. He was to be the
seed of Abraham, the son of David, born in Bethlehem of a virgin,
having his garment parted, suffer and die on a cross. And he fulfilled
all that was written of him, right down to the very letter.
And when he had accomplished all things, he said, I thirst. Now all the scriptures and all
the types were now fulfilled by Christ. And then he said,
it is finished. And I want to examine this last
statement that he made. It is finished. What did he come
to finish? He said in one place, I must
be about my father's business. What was that business about
that it required the Son of God to become incarnate? Well, first
of all, it had to do with a law that had been broken and a justice
that had been offended. It had to do with the substitutionary
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The man that was made after the
image and likeness of God, Adam, became a rebel. He became disobedient. He became a lawbreaker. And all
of his children that have been born into this world are just
like him. We have received his sane, depraved nature. So therefore,
the Son of God, in order for him to save sinners, in order
for him to bring a people into God's presence, holy, unblameable,
unreprovable, in his sight, he had to come into this world as
a man and take their place. The first Adam could not do what
the second Adam did, and that's honor God. That's satisfy God's
law, magnify God's law, and make it honorable. Christ by his obedience,
it says in the scriptures, magnified the law and made it honorable.
He satisfied God's justice. I know that men and women, for
the most part, do not think much of God's law, but he does. And
God has not cast away his law. For everyone that is not found
in Christ, a substitute, will have to face that terrible holy
law that says the soul that sinneth shall surely die. The law curses
everyone that continues not in all things written in the law
to do them. Now Jesus Christ was the only
man that was able to keep the law in thought, word, and deed
perfectly. The law required perfection.
Scripture says he knew no sin. If we cannot claim perfection
in nature first, then we cannot keep the law. that man could
never say it is finished who is not first perfect in himself.
You cannot do a perfect work or give perfect obedience unless
you are perfect and Christ is the spotless perfect Son of God. It says in Luke chapter 1 verse
35 that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called
the Son of God. In Hebrew 7.26 it says this And such a high priest became
us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. The law
of God was never so honored as when our Lord stood before it
and met every demand. He gave perfect obedience to
it. It can only be said of the Lord
Jesus Christ, this can only be said of Him, He continued in
all things written in the law to do them. It says in Matthew
3.15, He fulfilled all righteousness as it behooved Him to do. Christ
did all that the law required to be done. And that's why He
could say, It is finished. Now I ask this question. Who
needs this perfect person in work? Well first of all, the
Father needs it in order to be a just God and a Savior. The
only place in scripture where it says that God provided something
for himself is in Genesis 22.8 where Abraham said God will provide
himself a lamb. In saving a sinner, God needs
this lamb as much as the sinner needs the lamb. The only way
that God can be both just and justifier is through the blood
and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only
way. Secondly, we need it. The sinner
needs it. The only way that a sinful man
can stand before God accepted is through this God-man, is through
the blood and righteousness of this one person, Jesus Christ. He was given to Christ to be
the representative of a multitude of sinners given to him before
the world was. He was to be their surety. He
became responsible, it says in Hebrews, in bringing many sons
to glory. We need Christ if we are to be
accepted. We must be found in Him who is
perfect. Now we know by what we have read
in the scriptures that our redemption was very costly, very difficult
work. For us to do it's impossible.
Salvation with men is impossible. You cannot do anything, any work,
or give anything to make salvation possible for you. But God can,
and God did in His Son. He made salvation. He made salvation
a reality in Christ for a multitude of sinners. Now it says in the
Scriptures, He was despised and rejected of men. He was spit
on. He was whipped. He was nailed
to a cross. He was forsaken by God. He suffered
the wrath of God's justice. And all this had to happen before
he could say, it is finished. He had to tread the winepress
of God's wrath alone. And he did all of this willingly. He was a willing substitute. It says in Isaiah 50 verse 5,
The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious,
neither turned away back. He gladly, gladly went to the
cross for a multitude of sinners. And he did not flinch. He did
not turn away from what it took to save sinners. It says he gave
his back to the smiter. That's what his back was for.
It says in the scripture, for by his stripes we are healed.
He gave his face to shame and spitting. To the plucking out
of his beard. That's what it was for. It was
for suffering. And he did it at no charge. Salvation
cost him greatly. But to sinners, it's freely given. It is freely given. Now when
God created the heavens and the earth, I want you to notice something
here. When God created the heavens and the earth, He made all things
ready, and then He created Adam and Eve, and freely gave it to
them. They provided nothing. They brought
nothing into the garden. God provided everything. Even
so, in salvation, God provides all that we need in Christ. God
provided the lamb that both parties needed, and the lamb provided
everything that all the parties needed. Now he says, come and
dine. Nothing left to bring. Leave
all your works, all your ceremonies at home. Everything needed in
redemption, he accomplished. Whatever a sinner needs, he has
in Christ. The scripture says, you are complete
in him. And my friends, we can be sure
that Christ and all that he did is accepted because God raised
him from the dead and seated him at his own right hand. Had
there been one spot of sin in him or his work, he would still
be in the grave. God would have had nothing to
do with him or us. But God raised him from the dead,
and through him the sinner has peace with God. We have no fear
of judgment, for in Christ there is no condemnation. This gospel
of substitution and satisfaction brings great comfort to a weary
soul. This is the word spoken and seasoned
to weary souls. It is finished. or that God would
enable us to rest in the one who said it is finished. We need
to learn more of Him. We need to look to Him. We need
to find in Him all we need. Until next time, may God bless
His Word.