Each time that I've dealt with
these sayings on the cross, I put it all under one heading of preaching
from the cross. How we as preachers of the gospel,
we preach the cross. The preaching of the cross, the
scripture says, 1 Corinthians 1. And it said there that the preaching
of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness. But
the preaching of the cross is to those who are being saved,
it's the wisdom of God, it's the power of God, it's the glory
of God. And that's what we're seeing
here in looking at these historical records of our Lord hanging on
this cross, suffering unto death. And each time I've tried to show
it, how this word is to be portrayed. Today, on these words, it is
finished. I call this one the word of glorious
victory. The word of glorious victory.
It is finished, he cried. Now in our English versions,
that's three little words. Three little words. But you know,
in the original, it was just one word. One word, one Greek
word. It's the same word as spoken
in John 1928 when it talked about things being accomplished. Jesus
knowing that all things were now accomplished. It's the same
word. So we know from the word of God that we're not ever to
look at his death, the death of Christ, the cross of Christ,
in any way, shape, form, or fashion as a failure. I've heard preachers say, well
now, if you don't believe in him, he died in vain for you. Not so. And I know this is offensive
to many people, but I don't care, it's truth. And when I say I
don't care, it's not that I don't care that people are offended.
I don't want to consciously or purposely offend people, but
the word of God is an offense. Paul called it the offense of
the cross. So if you're offended, I hope
it's not by me or my mannerism or my personality, but by the
word of God. Christ did not fail. One little
word here really, but so much content, so much meaning, so
much power. One of the most, if not the most
important words in the Bible. If you know what it means, Think
about it. If you know what it means, this
one little word sets forth all these things. Listen to this.
It sets forth the true and living God in his glory and distinguishes
him from all idols. We preach a Christ who not accomplished
something that they call an open-ended work. It's a finished work. It
sets forth the true Christ in his glorious person and work
and distinguishes him from all counterfeits. It sets forth true
Christianity in its most distinctive essence. Our gospel is the gospel
of a glorious person who finished a work. It sets forth the true gospel
in its wonderful uniqueness apart from false gospels which preach
a Christ, a counterfeit Christ, who tries to do something but
can't if you don't let him. This one word answers the great
mystery of the ages. What is that mystery? How in
the world can a holy and just God save sinners like us? How can he justify the ungodly,
give life to and bless sinners, and still be just in doing so?
This one little word answers that. It's finished. This word sums up the gospel
of God's grace in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. He shall save
his people from their sins. That was his name. His name is
Emmanuel, God with us. What was his work? Right here,
it's finished. This word is spoken by our Lord
because of who He is. Because He's the only one who
could finish it. Nobody else could. This word is spoken by
our Lord because of what He actually accomplished by His death on
the cross for God's chosen people. His sheep, He called them. His
church. This word states the only ground
of salvation and hope for eternal life for those who believe in
Christ. The ground of my salvation is not my faith. I have been
given the gift of faith. If you're a believer, you've
been given the gift of faith. You didn't come by that naturally.
That's a gift from God. But here's what your faith is.
Your faith is in Christ. Your faith's not in your faith,
is it? These people say, well, his death was for everybody,
but you've got to cast the deciding vote. You must finish it. No,
it's finished. This word ensures that all for
whom he died are justified, sanctified, and will be regenerated and glorified. That they'll be born again, that
they'll be brought to faith in Christ and repentance of dead
works and idolatry. This word is the basis of our
assurance of salvation. Don't you want assurance of salvation?
How are you gonna get it? Well, I'm gonna try to do the
best I can, and if I measure up, well, I'm sorry, friend.
You're in a mess. Somebody asked me one time, do
you think you've done enough to please God? And I asked him,
I said, well, tell me what enough is. Because I know this. The only
one whom God the Father looked down from heaven and said, I'm
well pleased, is this person here, Jesus Christ. And if I please God in it all,
it's through this person here, Jesus Christ. Hear ye him, he
said. Here he is. God in sinless human
flesh, right here. Dying on that cross. Now what
exactly was finished? Well, we know this. Think about
it too. Think about the repercussions
of this. Every promise and every prophecy
concerning salvation by the Messiah, the promised Messiah from Genesis
3.15 on was fulfilled perfectly right here. Every type, every picture of
the Old Testament concerning the Messiah and salvation from
the first animal that was slain in Genesis 321. Remember when
God slew an animal and made him coats of skin? From that time
on, every type, every picture is fulfilled right here. The
Old Covenant law was abolished. The Bible says he taketh away
the first that he may establish the second, the second in time,
that's the new covenant, it's established and ushered in right
here. But here's what I want us to
understand most of all. What we really need to see here
as finished for our own salvation is this. And here's my point
number one, if you will. The only ground upon which a
holy God saves sinners, that which secures and guarantees
the salvation of all for whom Christ died here is finished. Finished so completely, so perfectly,
so fully that God accepted it. finished so completely and perfectly
and fully that it cannot be added to. In fact, it's a sin to try
to add to it, to add to what Christ finished on the cross.
Paul wrote in Galatians 2, and I believe it's verse 21, he said,
if righteousness comes by the law, by our works, then Christ
died in vain. His, this Christ life work was
finished here. His sacrifice unto death was
finished. His satisfying justice on behalf
of his people was finished. It was prophesied that he would
crush the head of Satan. And here it is. Oh, I know Satan's still alive,
but his death is imminent. He's on death row. Satan and
all of his followers right now are on death row. But if you're
in Christ, washed in his blood, clothed in his righteousness,
you're not on death row. You're just awaiting for the
culmination of what Christ finished. That's it. Isaiah 53 11 says, he shall see
of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. Here it is
by his knowledge. Shall my righteous servant justify
many for he shall bear their iniquities, his knowledge, his
experience, what he was going through right here. Jeremiah
23 and verse five, listen to this. Behold, the days come,
saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch,
a king shall reign and prosper and shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth. That's what he's doing. And verse
six says, in his days, Judah shall be saved and Israel shall
dwell safely. I believe it's talking about
God's chosen people there, God's elect. And this is his name whereby
he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. It's finished. I love the way the prophet Daniel
was led of the Holy Spirit to put it in Daniel chapter nine
and verse 24. Listen to this. 70 weeks are
determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city. That's talking
about the time period between Israel returning to Judah and
Jerusalem and the coming of the Messiah. And what he's talking about here
is this. Here's what the Messiah's gonna do. He's going to finish
the transgression. What transgression? Adam's fall.
When Adam fell, we fell into sin and death. By one man, sin
entered into the world. Death by sin, and death passed
upon all men for that all sin in Adam. But that's finished. Oh, we're still sinners. But
sin cannot be charged to us. Why? Because Daniel said he made
an end of sin, to make an end of sins. Remember what the Lord
told Cain after Cain had his works rejected when he brought
the works of his hands to the Lord? And he said, Cain, now
you know if you do well you'll be accepted. Well, what does
that, what did that mean? Was he telling Cain that, Cain,
if you work hard and try to keep the law and be a good boy, you'll
be accepted? No. What was doing well? Do what
Abel did, bring the blood of the lamb. That's doing well. You want to do well? Come before
God pleading the blood and righteousness of Christ. But he said, now if
you don't, sin lies at your door. waiting to spring upon you like
a hungry lion and it will be your end. But what did Christ
do when he said it's finished? He made an end of sin. He fulfilled
all the sin debt of his people. He paid it in full. And verse
24 in Daniel says, to make reconciliation for iniquity. He reconciled God
to his people and his people to God. It's finished. and then
to bring in everlasting righteousness. What does it take to save a sinner? It takes righteousness. You don't
have it, I don't have it, we can't work it, there's none righteous,
no not one. You say, well, what about all
good, nice, kind, religious people? Except your righteousness exceed
theirs, you shall in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven.
How much of a righteousness do we have to have? We have to have
the perfection of righteousness that can only be found in the
finished work of Christ. God has commanded all men everywhere
to repent because he has appointed a day in the which he will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained,
a person he's appointed, in that he has given assurance unto all
men in that he has raised him from the dead. Will the righteousness in which
I stand before God accepted Christ finished it right here on the
cross by his obedience unto death. My sins were charged, accounted,
imputed to him. His righteousness is charged,
accounted, imputed to me. He's my substitute. He paid my
debt. The sin debt that I ran up in
Adam and by my own personal sins, he paid it in full. He redeemed
it. I found a ransom. Redemption. Seal up the vision
in prophecy. Everything that God reveals in
his word and in prophecy is fulfilled and finished and completely established
right here in Christ. His glorious person, his finished
word. And to anoint the most holy.
What does that mean? Most commentators agree that
that should be interpreted holy place. Think about the tabernacle
or the temple. The holy of holies. separated
by that curtain. You remember what happened when
Christ gave up the ghost? What happened? In the temple,
that curtain was torn from top to bottom because Christ has
made the way into God for his people. That's right. He said, I'm the
way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. When he was baptized, he told
John the Baptist and the people there, he said, suffer to be
so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.
His death, burial, and resurrection, the fulfillment of all righteousness.
It's finished. Salvation is totally, completely
conditioned on the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who
is God manifest in the flesh for his people. As our surety, he took our debt. As our substitute, he took our
punishment. As our redeemer, he paid that
debt in full. And for God's people, given to
Him before the foundation of the world, He completely satisfied
the justice of God against us because of our sins put upon
Him. This one word, three words in
the English language, but one word in the, this word shows
us that Christ's death, now listen to me, Christ's death on the
cross was not just an attempt to save sinners. nor simply making
salvation available or possible if we would do our part, if we
would agree to it, if we would choose it, or if we would finish
it by our believing. No, that's not the gospel. That's
a false gospel. This word shows us that his suffering
under death resulted in what the Bible calls a propitiation. What is it? Three or four times
you find that word in the New Testament. One time, it's not
really interpreted in the English to be propitiation. It's interpreted
as be merciful. And you know who said it? An
old publican, an old hated, sinful, dirty, rotten publican. God,
be merciful. God, be propitious to me, a sinner. What is a propitiation? It means satisfaction. It means
a finished work. It's a sin-bearing sacrifice
that made satisfaction to justice. This means Christ did not die
to make salvation possible for you or me. He died to make salvation
a sure thing for those for whom he died. This means their sin debt was
charged to him and therefore cannot be charged to them. Who
shall lay anything to the charge of who? God's elect. It's God that justifies. Who
can condemn him? It's Christ that died. Yea, he
rather is risen again and seated at the right hand of the Father,
ever living to make intercession for us. This means that his righteousness
established by himself for his people on the cross is imputed
to them so that they're justified before God. and cannot be condemned. This means that spiritual life,
eternal life, must be given to each and every one for whom he
died, was buried, and arose again. They must be born again. Turn
to John chapter 17. Let me show you this. Just back
a few pages. This is the Lord's high priestly
prayer. And listen, we'll just read a few verses of this prayer.
I think one day I'm just going to do an exposition of this whole
prayer. It's a beautiful prayer. It's
Christ praying for His people, the ones for whom He died. And
look at verse 1 in John 17. It says, These words spoke Jesus
and lifted up His eyes to heaven. And He said, Father, the hour
has come. He's speaking in anticipation
of going to the cross and suffering unto death. The hours come, glorify
thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee, as thou hast given
him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou hast given him." Now when were they given to him?
Before the foundation of the world when God chose his people.
And he says in verse three, this is life eternal that they might
know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.
Now what is the basis of all this? Verse four, I have glorified
thee on the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. Now he hadn't actually gone to
the cross yet, but he's going. And you know what he said? It's a sure thing. And here he
says in John 19.30, it's finished. Let me give you this point, second
point. For whom was this work finished?
Well, we read it here in John 17. This work was finished for
all whom the Father gave to him before the foundation of the
world. Didn't he say in John 6, 37, all that the Father giveth
me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no
wise cast out? Didn't he say this is the will
of him which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me
I should lose nothing but raise it up again at the last day?
Put this in perspective. The finished work, this finished
work, is the foundation and ground and power of the fulfillment
of God's whole eternal purpose, to glorify himself. And it's
the ground and power of all redemptive history. This is it. Somebody said, well, you preach
that too much. You can't preach it too much. And to people who say that to
me, I'd say, well, you either don't preach it at all or you
don't preach it enough. Before the foundation of the
world, God determined to have a new heavens and a new earth.
Wherein dwelleth what? 2 Peter chapter 3. Righteousness. The restoration of the first
creation wherein sin would enter in and bring death and condemnation
God's gonna have a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. And here's that righteousness
established right here in which all who will inhabit the new
heavens and the new earth exist forever and ever and ever and
ever. God determined to populate this new heavens and new earth
with a people of his choice and they have to be righteous people.
But there's none among us who by nature or by practice righteous. You remember the words of Psalm
14? God looked down from heaven to
see if there were any who did serve him. He said, there's none
that seeketh after God. That's us by nature. Quoted in
Romans 3.10, there's none righteous, no, not one. There's none that
doeth good, no, not one. There's none that seeketh after
God. What did he say? He's saying that by nature, we're
totally depraved. We will not choose him. If God
left it up to our choice, we would not choose him. How do
you know that? First Corinthians 2.14, the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God. Neither can he know. They're spiritually discerned. So how are we, how are we going
to be made righteous? Qualified. to inhabit this new heavens and
new earth. Where do we find righteousness?
Right here. It's finished. Look to Christ. How am I saved? Look unto me
and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and
there's none else. Who are you, God? A just God and a Savior.
A righteous judge and a loving Father. How can you be both?
Well, I'm just gonna look over your sin and I feel sorry for
you. No, that would pervert justice. How can you be both a righteous
judge and a loving, merciful, and gracious father? Right here. It's finished, based on the finished
work of Christ. How can it be just that one person
could die for a multitude of sinners? Right here it is. Number one, God appointed him
to be the Savior. Number two, he willingly, lovingly
agreed to be the Savior. Number three, he became our surety. He said, whatever they owe you,
put it on my account. And number four, he finished
the work. There it is. We cannot by our works make ourselves
righteous. We cannot by our works wash away
our sins. How then can sinners be made
righteous? Psalm 37, 39, the salvation of the righteous is
of the Lord. He is their strength in time
of trouble. Law and justice must be satisfied by the death of
a suitable God appointed substitute who's willing and able to do
the work required. Here he is, that's not me, that's
not you, that's Christ. This word was often used as an
accounting term, meaning paid in full. The word was a common
one and used by merchants to mean the price is all paid. Shepherds
and priests used it when they found a perfect sheep ready for
sacrifice and Christ died as the perfect lamb of God, a lamb
without spot and without blemish. And servants, when their work
was completed, would use this word when reporting to their
masters. We finished it. We didn't leave
one stone unturned. Christ, the obedient servant,
had finished the work of the Father gave him to do. Christ
willingly and deliberately gave up his life. He laid down his
life for his sheep. Bible says in Mark 10, 45, for
even the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister and to give his life a ransom for many. How many? As many as God brings
to faith in Christ and repentance of dead works. Matthew 26, 28,
Christ said, for this is my blood of the New Testament or New Covenant,
which is shed for many for the remission of sins. How many?
As many as come to him. As many who are born again by
the Spirit and brought to faith in Christ. If Christ paid the
sin debt for everyone, then everyone is out of debt. Isn't that right? And where there is no debt, there
can be no wrath. No more payment required. But
my friend, he died for his sheep. I want to be one of his sheep.
How about you? Look to Christ. Rest in him. And then let me
conclude with this. Summary. The way to God has been
completely paved. Justification, sanctification,
redemption, preservation, The certainty of final glory, it's
all right here, it's finished. All sins have been purged. Transgression
is finished. Satan is finished. As to any
accusation he might hurl at us, he can still attack us. But the
arrows of his accusations will not stick. Why? Because in Revelation
12, what do we do? We plead the blood of the Lamb.
We plead the finished work of Christ. Death and hell are finished. The grave will not have victory.
Our judgment for our sins is finished because Christ was judged
in our stead. And that's why it's so important
that in our understanding of eternal salvation to be sure
that we understand the nature of the finished work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He has accomplished the saving
work by which he has made it certain for his people to be
forgiven. to be justified, to be righteous. He finished the work of establishing
that ground of justification before God, and this ensures
that they will receive him and believe unto righteousness as
they receive him. Christ finished the work. The gospel is the proclamation,
not of a work that you finish or that you add to, but of the
finished work of God manifest in the flesh. May the Lord bless
His word to our hearts.