7-5-2026 It is finished

Q: What does the Bible say about Jesus saying 'It is finished'?

In John 19:30, Jesus declares 'It is finished' to signify that His work of redemption is complete. In John 19:30, Jesus' proclamation 'It is finished' marks the culmination of His sacrificial mission on earth, indicating that the work of redemption was accomplished entirely. This phrase, in the Greek 'tetelestai', translates to a completed task, emphasizing that nothing further is needed for salvation. Throughout His suffering, every detail aligns with prophetic scripture, showcasing that His death wasn't a tragic end but a deliberate fulfillment of God's plan for salvation. It affirms that the debt of sin has been fully paid, and believers can rest secure in the finished work of Christ.

Q: Why is the concept of substitution important for Christians?

Substitution illustrates how Christ took on the punishment for our sins, allowing believers to receive grace. The concept of substitution is foundational to Christian faith, as it illustrates the heart of the Gospel. Christ, fully God and fully man, bore the curse and penalty for sin that humanity deserved. Throughout the sermon, it is emphasized that Jesus' suffering was not merely physical; He faced the full weight of God's judgment for our transgressions. This divine act of substitution allows believers to be seen as righteous before God, not because of their actions but because Christ completed the necessary payment for sin on their behalf. Understanding substitution helps Christians grasp the depth of God’s mercy and the significance of grace in their faith journey.

Q: How do we know that salvation is completely finished in Christ?

Salvation is confirmed finished in Christ by His declaration 'It is finished' and the fulfillment of Scripture. The confirmation of salvation being completely finished in Christ is rooted in His declaration 'It is finished' as recorded in John 19:30. This statement signals the completion of His redemptive work, assuring believers that every requirement of the law has been satisfied. The sermon emphasizes the concept of a divine transaction where Christ's sacrifice fulfills God's justice, and hence, no further efforts or sacrifices by humanity can enhance what He has accomplished. The Gospel is anchored in the reality that grace is unearned and available freely to all who believe, further solidifying that salvation hinges entirely upon Christ's finished work rather than human effort.

how much that dear man right there and his wife mean to my wife and I. We've become close friends, and friendship is, especially when it's in the Lord, it's very special. And we've got the most important thing in all the world in common, and that's the Lord Jesus, and that's salvation.

I want to say how much we love you both and appreciate you and this church for having us. As I tried to say yesterday, we know a little bit about what's involved in putting on a conference, big or small, a lot of work, and we truly appreciate it. Thank you. Thank this church, and especially you too.

I want you to turn with me, if you would, to the Gospel of John chapter 19. John chapter 19. I'll read three verses here in the beginning. Beginning in verse 28. And I've titled this message, Finished. That's kind of been the theme this morning. As our brother read there about our sin being put away and then the song of Jesus paid it off. And now the Word finished, or it is finished, as the Lord used it in our text. And this is a word found in scripture that has become very, very dear to me. The word finished.

When can a man and a woman truly rest? When the work's finished. I don't know about you, but when I used to work a regular 40-hour-a-week job, I'd have Saturday off. And I'm, ah, it's Saturday. And then I'm like, yeah, but now I've got to mow the grass. And I've got to weed-eat if my wife's going to be at all happy, because I used to mow. And then by the time I got through mowing, I'd be too tired to weed-eat. But when can a man truly rest? When can a woman truly rest?

When the work's done. in the matters of salvation. In the 19th chapter here of the Gospel of John, let's begin in verse 28, read these verses together. And after this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished. Do you know what that word means? Finished. That the Scripture might be fulfilled. Do you know what that means?

He said, if I thirst. And now there was set a vessel full of vinegar and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon Hisip and put it to his mouth. And when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost.

The word finished, as you very well know, means a work that is done, a work that is completed, a work that is concluded. Several adjectives only. A work that's ended, accomplished, fulfilled, achieved. We all know a little about those words and what they mean. But here, it's especially special. Because it's the Lord using it. And it's because of where He is when He's using it. So it takes on even a greater meaning. Now allow me to endeavor, if I may, to paint the backdrop of our story here.

The streets of Jerusalem are overflowing with people and noise and activity. It's the Passover feast. And men and women and children, they move toward the temple, and they're bringing sheep and goats. You can imagine the racket. And they're doing this for the Passover sacrifices. And vendors fill the streets, selling their food and bread, wine, oil, and feast day Roman soldiers are present and on alert. If any trouble breaks out, it's going to be dealt with immediately. Every road leading to the city of Jerusalem is filled with travelers and families and shepherds and merchants. You can hear people singing the ascent of Psalms. Psalm 119. As they make their way to the temple. Every available guest room is occupied. Homes are packed with visitors and relatives. And many people camping on the surrounding hillsides. And every surrounding village, like Bethany, housed many visitors. And the temple was the center of activity.

But there's something missing Here, the Jewish leaders are vividly absent. The priests and the Pharisees and the scribes and the lawyers of the Mosaic law are vividly absent. They're preoccupied with a far more pressing matter, because on the outskirts of Jerusalem, just outside the city walls, At this particular Passover feast, there's a place called Golgotha.

Can you picture this in your mind? It was a place that the Roman government had purposely chosen for a crucifixion. This particular crucifixion was also chosen at this time on purpose. The time of this execution was meant to be a warning to all who opposed Caesar.

Three crosses stand against the skyline. Nails are driven deep into the hands and feet of the condemned and convicted criminals. Blood is already falling and staining the Two guilty men are there because of their crimes, and they're rebelling with one another, criticizing one another. But the one on that center cross, he's different.

He's been falsely accused. He's been falsely convicted, and there's a strange silence but because the Lord is resolved in His purpose. Amen. No curses come from His mouth. No rage, no bargaining. Only fragments of prayer here and there, and even forgiveness is offered for those that are killing Him.

Soldiers divide His garments. Some sit, the Scripture says, that they sit with satisfaction and they watch him there. They pull up chairs to watch this man suffer and die. And the man in the middle, wounded beyond recognition, it says that his visage was marred more than any man. He didn't even look like a man. He's been beaten and scourged and had a crown of thorns pushed down on the scalp of his head and blood running to his eyes face and mouth and just, ah.

You see friends, this is the moment where sin meets judgment. This is the place where justice meets mercy. And this is where the Lord Jesus Christ cries three words shake eternity. It is finished. Look at verse 28. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, finished as we say it, that the scripture might be fulfilled, completed, saith thy thirst. Now the words there, accomplished, fulfilled, and finished in our text are from the same Greek word, and I think I'm pronouncing it right, it's teleo.

And that's why Paul said and wrote, I am determined not to know anything among you save or except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. You see, in the matter of eternity, that's the only thing that matters. The crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ is all about His people's redemption being accomplished by Him. Nothing is going to be left undone. Nothing. In the end, all that will matter in eternity for those that the Father gave Christ is going to be finished. The Lord Jesus Christ is not merely experiencing pain here.

He's fulfilling Scripture. Verse 28 begins with the words, after this. Well, what had happened before this? Well, we've talked a little about it already. He's been beaten. He's been scorched. He's been crucified and lifted up. He's been nailed to a cross. A public execution is underway. That's what it was. way for a man to die.

Our Lord's not merely suffering physically either. He is consciously and deliberately saving His people. All the soul suffering, we can't even enter into that. He's fulfilling the scripture in every single minute detail. But the deeper suffering The guilt of others is not around Him. The guilt of others is being laid on Him. Every rebellion, every defiance of God's holiness, all the sin of all His people throughout all time is being imputed to Him as if it's His own.

Every detail confirms that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Messiah. And the true humanity of Christ is on display. He says, I thirst. Listen, He really was a man. And He really was God. He wasn't 50% man and 50% God. He's all God and He's all man. And that's what it took to save you and I from our sin. Only God could do what God required. Christ enters fully into human weakness.

He does not redeem humanity from a distance. Years ago, I think it was Ben Midler that had the song out, you know, God's watching us from a distance, don't you believe it? And when it comes to our salvation, He didn't do it from a distance. He became what we were, as we talked about yesterday, so that we might become what He is.

It's substitution. God doing for me what I can never do for myself. He bears the curse to the bitter end. Thirst in Scripture often refers to judgment. It has reference to curse bearing. The Lord Jesus enters in completely into suffering and deprivation. And can you see Him there? Can you see Him there?

That's what you deserved. That's what I deserved. The Gospel is not simply that the Lord Jesus Christ died. The Gospel is that He finished what the Father sent Him to do. He accomplished redemption with precision and intention. This is not chaos. Every detail is unfolding just exactly. It's controlled. It's purposed. being carried out in a providential manner by God Himself, as He had sovereignly intended.

Again, verse 29, now, there was a set of vessel full of vinegar and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon Hysop and put it to his mouth. And listen, this is not just cruelty, this is the unfolding of divine execution. This is God's will and purpose being fulfilled.

And the one who is the living water, the one who is the fountain from whom all life flows, is given sour vinegar to drink. The one who satisfied every single thirst for his people is himself left in thirst. This is the heart of substitution. Christ is treated as the guilty. Not for any sin of His own, but for the sin of His people. He did so that the guilty might be satisfied and healed. His thirst is the price of every true believer's satisfaction. And He drinks the bitter cup so that His people might receive the living water freely.

You know, our salvation is free to us, but it costs God His beloved Son. This is just but a small part of divine substitution. At our Lord's lowest physical moment, nothing's out of control. Nothing here is out of control. God is accomplishing the salvation of His people. and it's through the suffering of His beloved son.

Verse 30, when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, it is finished. And He bowed His head and He gave up the ghost. Did you notice those words? He bowed His head, He gave up the ghost. For the believer, these are the sweetest words our Lord ever uttered. The work of redemption was completed. The debt of sin was paid. The sacrifice was accepted. Nothing, nothing, nothing can be added to Christ's finished work. Did you hear me? Nothing can be added. There's nothing for you or me to do.

These are the words of completion, not collapse. Oh listen, the Jews and the religious leaders And God says it's finished. The redemption of my people was complete. Accomplished. What they thought was a victory was a great defeat for them. Our Lord is not being overpowered here. He hasn't lost control. He's finishing a mission. He gave up the gospel. He laid down his life. No one took it from him. The debt of sin has been paid in full. Now let that sink in for a minute. The debt of sin has been paid in full. Jesus paid it up. Every bit of it.

I remember one time as a younger man before I was married, I was struggling. I had a truck payment I couldn't pay. I went down there a couple times and paid an interest payment. If you was ever broke like I was, you know what that is. You go and you pay the interest, and then comes off the principal. And if you keep doing that, well, they won't let you do it a time or two, but you'll never pay the debt off if you pay just the interest. And I went down one day and put all my money together and went down to make an interest payment.

And she said, Mr. Edison, you're This is paid in full? And I'm like, no, you better check your records again. They said, no, I have a receipt here, or a record here, that shows that Leo Edmondson paid this debt in full. And they said, matter of fact, I'm glad you're here. We were fixing to mail this to you, and you handed me a sheet of paper and stamped in red. It said, paid in full. It's stamped in red. Amen. And it says, paid in full. Nothing for you to do. Nothing for you to do. The debt of sin's been paid. It's finished. This is no tragic accident. This is divine transaction.

Sin always produces a debt. Sin always brings real guilt before a thrice holy God. Real sin and guilt demand real payment. The wages of sin is death. The soul that sins, it shall die. Surely die. You're going to have to pay for your sin. Somebody's got to. Good behavior can't pay it. Morality can't pay it.

And time will never erase it. And when our Lord cried, it's finished, divine justice here is paid in full. No balance remains. No interest accumulating. No judgment is still coming for a believer. For a believer, the law has been fully satisfied. The law of God's not flexible, it's unbendable. That's right. It demands perfect obedience. It requires perfect justice.

The question is never, can I do better next time? What can we do with the law that's already been broken? Already gifted. If I could stop today, What about all the sin that I've committed in the past? I've still got to stand responsible for that. Not in Christ. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. We're new creatures in Christ.

We've already failed in and of ourselves. Already accumulated a great debt. You know, have this guilt. And the issue now is accountability. But those words, you hear? Changes everything. It's finished. It's paid in full. You don't owe anybody. Nothing but gratitude and worship and praise to the one who paid the debt.

At the cross, admitting our Lord He didn't cancel the law. He fulfilled the law. He absorbed the law's penalty. He satisfied God's holy justice. And nothing about God's holiness is compromised. Nothing about His righteousness is reduced. Instead, both are upheld perfectly in His sacrifice. The law has spoken and Christ Complete. Accomplished. Finished.

In redemption, listen, it is not Christ plus our effort. Not Christ plus our sincerity. Not Christ plus our righteousness. If anything can be added to the finished work of Christ at the cross, then it never was finished. But He said it's finished. Amen. Our Lord didn't say it's mostly done. He said it's finished.

And Christ's death brings life. Christ died so that sinners might live. Christ was judged so that the guilty might go free. Christ was forsaken that the redeemed might be received. The crosses were justice and mercy made and neither were compromised.

In closing, what does this mean for the believing center? What's this mean for me and you? It means salvation. Salvation's on the Lord. There's nothing left for us to pay. And let me say this, there is something for us to do. Well, what could that be? Stop trying to pay what's already been paid. You want something to do? Stop trying to pay what Christ has already paid.

You know, if you go out to eat, and you have a full course meal, and when you finish the meal, you get out your billfold, you're ready to pay for the meal, and your server comes up and says, Sir, someone's already paid for your meal. And you're looking around, and you don't see anybody you know, but they say, Your meal has been painful.

Would you still insist upon paying the bill yourself? No, that would be dishonoring to the one who had already paid it. That would be refusing the gift that that person had already given. And it wouldn't be humility to pay it again. It would actually be an insult. to the one who'd already settled the debt. That's exactly what happens when somebody keeps trying to pay what Christ has already finished paying. To continue to try to pay the debt of forgiveness makes it like a debt that's still owed.

Christ is not offering here a cooperative salvation. Where in the world does it say in this book, salvation of the Lord with a little help from you? It doesn't say that. The gospel message is done. D-O-N-E, not do. And that's why these words, it's finished, are so precious to every single believer. It's Christ's finished work. It's not something to be done. It's something that's already done. It's something that is Well, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Are you in Christ Jesus? No condemnation. None.

Before the Lord ever went to the cross, he said to his father, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. It's finished. From our suffering, He went to the cross as the spotless Lamb of God, and it's finished. It's finished. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down. He sat down and the work's finished. It's finished.

7-5-2026 It is finished

What does the Bible say about Jesus saying 'It is finished'?

Why is the concept of substitution important for Christians?

How do we know that salvation is completely finished in Christ?

Sermon Transcript

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7-5-2026 It is finished

What does the Bible say about Jesus saying 'It is finished'?

Why is the concept of substitution important for Christians?

How do we know that salvation is completely finished in Christ?

Sermon Transcript

About David Eddmenson

Comments

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