Our scripture this morning will
be taken from the book of John, the 19th chapter, verse 30. Now,
here's the title of the message, It Is Finished. I want you to
listen carefully to this message. I'm going to put forth every
effort to make the things which I'll say today to be as simple
as possible. Now, I know you can't simplify
the Word of God. I know that redemption is the
most profound subject. It's called in the Word of God
a mystery, the mystery of Christ, the mystery of the Gospel. But
I believe even these mysteries can be expressed in simple language,
in everyday words, so that people, whether they believe the Bible
or whether they believe what we preach or whether they believe
Christ, at least they'll understand what we're saying. Now, listen
to the Scripture, John 19, 30, and I want you to listen to me.
I'm going to speak to you this morning very simply and plainly. You know, Paul said this in 2
Corinthians 11, 3. He said, I'm concerned and worried,
lest Satan, like he beguiled our mother Eve, will beguile
you and deceive you and take you away from the simplicity
of Christ, from the singleness and oneness of Christ. Now, I
want you to listen to this message, and just take the time now to
sit down and listen to the entire message. I'm not just going to
fill in time and say words. I'm going to deliver to you some
things from God's Word that are important, imperative, and essential. In John 19, 30, it says, When
Jesus, therefore, had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished. And he bowed his head and gave
up the ghost. Now, someone said that the ancient
Greeks boasted prided themselves in being able to speak much in
few words. Something like this, they said,
give an ocean of thought, give an ocean of matter in only a
drop of language. An ocean of thought in a drop
of language. Now, what they only sought is
here found, right here is found in these three words. It is finished. an eternity of purpose, an eternity
of promise, an eternity of plans is contained in these three words.
It is finished. Our Lord Jesus Christ prayed
before the cross. In John 17, 4, he said, Father,
I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished. I have finished the work you
gave me to do. Very simply, listen to me, the
Lord God of heaven from all eternity." This is true. From all eternity,
the Lord God of heaven, according to the Bible, has determined
to have a new heaven and a new earth. Now, you know that's so.
The Lord God of heaven from all eternity has determined to have
a new heaven and a new earth. He said heaven and earth shall
pass away. He said the earth shall melt
with a fervent heat. Heaven and earth, because sin
has contaminated both. shall pass away, and there will
be," isn't this what the Bible says, a new heaven and a new
earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. There'll be a new earth and a
new heaven. Now, is that clear? That's not too hard, is it? The
Lord God from all eternity determined to have a new heaven and a new
earth. You remember when Noah landed in the ark, God put the
rainbow in the heaven. And He said, this is my covenant.
This is a sign. I'll establish it with you. I'll
never destroy the world by flood again. I'll destroy it by fire,
but not by flood. That rainbow tells you that every
time you see it in the sky. But when you see the rainbow
and you know God won't destroy the world by water, remember,
He will someday destroy it with fire. That's what the Word said.
And there's going to be a new heaven and a new earth wherein
dwelleth righteousness. There'll be no more sin. There'll
be no more darkness. There'll be no more disease.
There'll be no more death. There'll be no more evil or potential
evil. Everything and everyone in this
new heaven, new earth, will be perfect, absolutely perfect. Even the trees will be perfect,
the flowers will be perfect, the streams will be without pollution,
in perfection. Every thought, word, and deed
shall be perfect, just like God. That's what the Scripture says.
Is that very hard? Well, let that point be established
now. Let's lay that foundation and leave it there. God's going
to have a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. No anger, no fierceness, no malice,
no greed, no hate, no death, no disease, no sin. All right? Secondly, Almighty God, from
all eternity, according to the Bible, has determined to populate
that new heaven and new earth. He's going to populate it. It's
going to be populated with people. Where are they going to come
from? The Bible says from every tribe, every tongue, every kindred,
every nation unto heaven. God took Abraham, the father
of the faithful, out one day and told him to look at the sky.
He said, you see the stars? A lot of them you can't see,
billions of them. He said, so shall your seed be. He said, look at the sands of
the seashore, so shall your seed be. There'll be in heaven and
earth, the new heaven and new earth, a multitude, the scripture
says, which no man can number. out of every tribe, kindred,
nation, and tongue unto heaven." That's what the Bible said, that
God will destroy the old earth and the old heaven. There'll
be a new heaven, new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, holiness,
God's holiness, and it'll be populated by people from every
tribe, kindred, nation, tongue unto heaven. All right. Thirdly,
that's not too hard, is it? Lay that foundation. All right.
Thirdly, the Lord God has determined to redeem these people. He's
not going to make a new race to populate heaven and earth.
There'll be new creatures, but from an old race. He's determined
to populate heaven and earth from Adam's race, from Adam's
race. That's right. There'll be a holy
people with a perfect holiness and perfect righteousness from
Adam's race. They're going to be changed,
transformed, made anew, regenerated, recreated, a new creation in
Christ Jesus. That's right. He's going to restore
them from their fall. He restoreth my soul. And those
new people with new hearts and new natures, new creatures, there'll
not be one word or one thought or one action in them or about
them or from them that will not be in perfect harmony with God
Almighty's holy nature. They're going to be just like
Jesus Christ. That's when the word predestination
is used in the New Testament about four times. That's what
it says. We are predestinated, or predetermined,
or determined beforehand, everyone whom God saves to be just like
Christ. Predestinated to the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ, just like the Redeemer. And those
people will have the mind of God in regard to holiness. Imagine never thinking a wrong
thought. Imagine never feeling or having
a wrong attitude. Imagine never in any way disagreeing
with God's Almighty's perfect holiness, perfect holiness. And not only that, but these
people will have the mind of God toward his judgments, toward
his holy providence. They will forever praise him
for his mercy, and they will say amen to his judgments. Even
as God condemns the wicked, whoever the wicked may be, the people
of God are going to be so like God in His holiness, and so like
God in His wrath against sin, that they're going to be able
to say, Amen, even to God's judgments. You read that in Revelation 19,
when He judged the great whore, the great religious system, and
cast it into hell, and the Scripture says, the smoke of her torment
ascendeth up forever, and the people of God said, Amen. Hallelujah,
true and righteous are His judgment. We're going to be changed. We
shall not all sleep, Paul said, but we shall be changed. Those
who populate that new heaven and that new earth, those who
populate God's kingdom in the future, when the old heaven and
old earth have passed away, are everyone going to be just like
His Son, in perfect holiness, in mind, in spirit, in attitude,
in nature. We shall be changed. We're going
to lay aside this body of flesh. this man of sin, and we're going
to be just like Christ. He said in 1 Corinthians 15,
Paul did, listen, so when this corruptible, and I don't care
who you are, you are in a corruptible body, when this corruptible shall
put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality,
then shall be brought to pass the saying, death is swatted
up in O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Someday there'll be no more death.
Someday there'll be no more sin. Someday there'll be nothing in
heaven or earth contrary to God's immaculate, infinite, perfect
holiness in nature. That's right, Satan's going to
be cast into the bottomless pit, into eternal fire, and all that
follow him and all the enemies of Christ shall be his footstool.
There'll be a new heaven, new earth, populated by new creatures. just like Christ. Now, wait a
minute. Two things that must be noted,
and I want you to note these most carefully. First of all,
these are of great importance. Now, those, I laid those three
or four foundation stones. Will you remember them? God's
going to have a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. God's going to populate that
new heaven and new earth with a people, with a people from
every tribe, kindred, nation, tongue unto heaven. And those
people are going to be taken from Adam's race, elect from
every nation and every tongue. We sing about it. There'll be
people chosen of God, redeemed by Christ and brought to God
by the Holy Spirit, believers who have been regenerated, made
new creatures in Christ Jesus. They'll have the mind of God
and the heart of God and the grace of God and the love of
God and the holiness and righteousness of God forever, forever. But two things are important.
Now, remember this, this is not just going to come to pass. God's
not going to just pull this out of the air. God's not just going
to speak and it's done. God's not going to reverse the
whole thing and start over again. From all eternity, two important
things. Number one, all of this redemptive
work, this new creation, this work of restoration, this work
of redemption, all of this work will be carried on in perfect
harmony and agreement with God's holiness and God's holy character. Now, the angels can't do it.
The angels can't do this work. They can't keep themselves. God
has to keep them. Angels couldn't do this work.
Angels can't bring restoration. Angels can't bring redemption.
Angels can't put away sin. Angels can't make men new Christians.
Angels can't satisfy God's love. Men cannot do it. Our Lord Jesus
Christ said, it's impossible with men. Can the Ethiopian change
his skin? Nope. Can the leper change his
spots? Nope. Neither can you do good that
are accustomed to doing evil. Men can't do this work. Only
God can do it. Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute.
Only God can do it. Salvations of the Lord, the salvation
of the righteousness of the Lord. God is the creator. God is the
restorer. Only God can do it. But now,
wait a minute. God Almighty As God only cannot do it. As God
cannot do it. You see, God can't suffer. God
can't suffer. Man can't do it. Man can't satisfy. God can do this work as the God-man. As the God-man. That's right.
He, as God, can satisfy, and as man, he can suffer. As Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up. The Son of Man must need to go
to Jerusalem. The Son of Man must die. Christ
must suffer. You see, when God determined,
when God determined to have a new heaven and a new earth, when
God determined to save a people, now stay with me, God didn't
have to have a new heaven and a new earth. God didn't have
to have a people out of Adam's race. God didn't have to save
you and me. Our Lord Jesus Christ said one
day, God's able of the stones to raise up children to Abraham.
He didn't have to have you and me. But when God did determine
to restore Adam's fallen race, when God did determine to have
a people out of Adam's race and save them, it became necessary
for all of his righteous requirements to be met. That's right. It became necessary. You see,
determination. brings about this necessity.
Once God determined to save, it became necessary because of
who He is and what we are to satisfy His holy law and honor
His justice. So then, we have to have a surety. We have to have a representative.
We have to have a federal head. We have to have a Redeemer. We
have to have a Savior. This is what Job is saying. Job,
who realized his sinfulness after a while, said, I know that my
Redeemer liveth. My Redeemer. and that he shall
stand on this earth in the latter days, and in my flesh I'll see
the Lord." I have a Redeemer. Moses and Isaiah, David, all
of them talked about the coming Christ, the Messiah, the Redeemer.
So these two things are necessary. God's going to have a new heaven
and a new earth. God's going to populate with people out of
every tribe, kindred, nation, tongue, and heaven. God's going
to redeem Adam's race, some people out of Adam's race. But he's
going to do it in full harmony and accord with his holiness,
with his justice, with his righteousness, with his truth. And that can
only be done by God becoming a man. And Almighty God in the
person of Jesus Christ became a man, and the Father put all
of this work All of these purposes and plans for eternal life, the
new heaven, the new earth, the saving of a people, the redeeming
of a race, God put all of this in the hands of Jesus Christ. That's who Jesus Christ is, God
and man in one. That's who Jesus Christ is. Are
you with me? I'm saying that from all eternity,
the eternal God, you say, how do you know these things? This
is what He declares in His Word. Heaven and earth shall pass away.
but there'll be a new heaven and a new earth. And it says
in the scripture in the book of Revelations, I saw a multitude
in heaven which no man can number out of every tribe, kindred,
nation, tongue unto heaven. And they said, Who are these
and whence came they? And they said, These are they
that have washed their robes and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb. They're redeemed from Adam's race. Thou hast redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every nation, kindred, tribe,
and tongue. And God has made them like Christ. And he's put
all this work in the hands of his son. You see, God cannot
compromise his character. And his holiness must be satisfied,
his justice must be satisfied. So he put all of this redemptive
work, this work of restoration, this work of the bringing a kingdom
to pass in the hands of Christ. Listen to these scriptures. In
Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Listen
to this scripture, the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand, in his hand. It says, God hath committed all
judgment to the Son. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me. No man
knoweth the Father save the Son, he to whom the Son will reveal
him. You see, this is what the whole Old Testament is declaring,
that someone's coming, that someone's coming to do a work of redemption,
to perform a work of recreation. to restore our souls. If someone
is going to be a prophet like Moses to reveal God, God who
at sundry times and in divers manners spake to our fathers
with the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by his
son. He'll be a prophet like Moses.
This is my beloved son. Hear him, God said. Hear him. He'll be a priest like Melchizedek
to offer a perfect, suitable, sufficient sacrifice to God for
all who believe. He'll be a king like David. to
reign over us and give us victory. So the Old Testament says, He's
coming. He's coming. He's coming. The Redeemer's coming. The God-man's coming. The Messiah's
coming. The Christ is coming. And the
New Testament says, He's come. The angels announced it to the
shepherds on the Judean hillside. They said, that day many years
ago, unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior,
who is Christ the Lord. The angels announced it. And
then when he was baptized of John in the river Jordan, the
Heavenly Father spoke and said, this is my beloved son in whom
I'm well pleased. Simeon said, Lord, now let your
servant depart in peace. Mine eyes have seen thy salvation.
John the Baptist said, behold, the Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world. His works and his miracles witness
to his authority. Every picture of redemption in
the Old Testament scriptures is fulfilled in Christ. And finally,
John comes to the end of his book and he said, If everything
that Jesus Christ said had been put in a book, the world wouldn't
contain the book. But these are written that you
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living
God, and that believing you might have life through his name. Do
you understand? Do you understand the person
and work of Christ? Do you understand what I'm saying?
God has determined to have a new heaven and a new earth. That's
so. It's going to be populated by a multitude which no man can
number. And God's going to redeem them
out of Adam's race, redeem them, restore them, make them new creatures,
to love what Christ loves and hate what He hates, to be like
Him, to have no potential to fall, no probability of a fall. We'll be better off than Adam
ever was. You see, Adam had the potential to fall. He did fall.
But in Christ, in His kingdom, in the new heaven and new earth,
when the last enemy destroyed shall be death, and God will
put away all evil and all possibility and all potential to evil. We're
going to be just like the Son of God. Joint heir with Jesus
Christ and heir of God. Now, to do that, Almighty God
has to work in harmony with His holiness. He has to work consistent
with His justice. God can't jump his hole in this.
He can't cease to be God. Whatever he does, he must do
right. The judge of the earth shall
do right. You see what I'm saying? And
in order to redeem a people, he had to honor his law. It can't
change. He said, Christ said, I didn't
come to destroy the law, I came to fulfill it. Got to honor his
justice. And so God came down here in
the person of Jesus Christ as a man. Now watch this. Jesus
of Nazareth. He was very God of very God.
Scripture says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. And 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. He is 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? Well, they said, we're not stoning
you for good works. You're a man, and you claim to be God. They
couldn't understand it either. In John 14, the disciples said,
show us the Father. Our Lord said, he that hath seen
me hath seen the Father. So he's God. All right? He's
born of woman. You say, I don't understand how
God can be born of woman. I don't either. But that's what
Scripture says. Scripture says, God himself will
give you a sign. A virgin shall conceive and bring
forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Emmanuel, God with us. And God said to Joseph, that
holy thing born of Mary is none other than the Son of God. Now,
he was born of the virgin, that he might not partake of Adam's
sin. He was born of the virgin, that he might not have a human
father. He was born of a virgin because he was conceived by the
Holy Ghost, and he's not the seed of man, he's the seed of
woman. But he's a man. He's a man. He did not partake
of Adam's sin. Unto us a child is born, but
a son is given. And in that same body is none
other than God himself. And his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace." You say, that's a mystery. It's exactly
right. But that's the incarnation. God
became a man. And he was tempted as a man.
Even Satan tempted him on the matter of temptation after his
period of fasting. And our Lord was tempted. This
God-man, this person, who's God in human flesh, Two natures in
one. This God-man was tempted and
tried under the law, before the law, in every point as we are,
but never sinned. You see, God's going to have
a new heaven and a new earth and a new kingdom and a new race
of people and populate that heaven with a people like Christ, but
He's going to do it in such a way that His law will be honored,
and Christ honored that law. And then our Lord Jesus Christ,
all our sins, God calls to meet on Him. All we like sheep have
gone astray, we turned everyone to his own way, but the Lord
hath laid on him or caused to meet on him all the sins of all
believers of all generations. Jesus of Nazareth, when he died
on that cross, judicially speaking, was the greatest sinner that
ever lived. The greatest combination, the greatest accumulation of
sin that had ever been accumulated in one spot was in Christ, and
God turned his back on him. And God's justice slew him, and
God's righteousness slew him, and God visited him alone. He walked the winepress of God's
wrath. He drank the very bitter dregs
from the bottom of the cup of God's wrath. He satisfied God's
wrath for every believer. That's what the Scripture said.
Our sins were laid on him, and he was wounded for our transgressions.
bruised for our iniquities, chastisement of our peace was upon him by
his stripes, we are healed." Now, God's law has been honored,
His justice has been satisfied, Jesus Christ, when He died on
that cross, bought the world. It's His world, it's His heaven,
it's His earth. It's His kingdom, they're His
people. He died that He might be Lord of the dead and the living.
God by decree made Him Lord, God by design made Him Lord,
and He by death became Lord, every man's Lord. He said, all
authority is given unto me in heaven and earth, heaven and
earth. I have all power over all flesh
that I should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given
me. Now, when Jesus Christ died on that cross, coming back to
my text now, God's purpose, a new heaven, new earth, populated
by a multitude no man can number, all just like Christ out of Adam's
He came down here as a man. God put all of that purpose and
plan in the hands of Jesus of Nazareth, the God-man, not just
an ordinary man, the God-man. And he came down here and he
did all that God's law demanded, all that God's justice demanded,
all that God's character demanded, all that God's purpose required,
he did it all. And when he finished that work
on Calvary's cross, he screamed three words. When he had borne
our sins and fulfilled the holiness of God, he cried, it is finished. And brother, that's an ocean,
an eternity of matter in three words. It's finished. All God's
purpose, every prophecy is fulfilled, every promise is fulfilled, every
debt is paid, every sin is counseled, every enemy defeated, every law
is honored, every purpose and plan is guaranteed. It's finished. And the father said, come up
here and sit on my right hand. Sit down, your work's finished.
Try and make the enemies your footstool. This man, Hebrews
10, 13, 10, 12 through 14, this man, after he had offered one
sacrifice for sin forever, sat down on the right hand of God
from henceforth expecting that his enemies be made his footstool,
for by one offering, one sacrifice, one life, one death, He hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified. You say, Preacher,
what evidence do you have that all this work is finished? His
resurrection, God raised Him from the dead. That's the first
evidence. Paul said, We declare unto you
how that the promise which was made to our fathers, God hath
fulfilled to us His children in that He raised up Jesus of
Nazareth from the dead. Second evidence is His ascension.
The Father said, Come up. And sit thou on my right hand,
till I make thine foes thy footstool. And the third evidence is the
song of the redeemed in heaven. Almighty God taught them all
the same. Worthy is the Lamb. Unto him
be the power and the glory forever and forever.