It Is Finished

Jesus, before shouting “It is finished” (Jn.19:30), experienced such great anguish of soul that He cried out “My God! My God! why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mat.27:46). We are told that there was a thick supernatural darkness over the land for three hours. It denoted the wrath and curse of God alighting upon the Lord Jesus as the sinner’s substitute. It is after this time of forsaking and darkness that Jesus cries out “It is finished”. Some would say that this is a cry of despair from a man who has suffered all he could bear and is pleading with God that his suffering might come to an end. Others say it is a cry of defeat of a good man who tried to change the religious status quo, but discovered to his cost that all his efforts had been a failure. They say that this is the pathetic cry of a man who has been overcome by his enemies and “It is finished” means “I’ve done everything I could and it’s come to nothing”. However, when we look at the Greek word which is translated here, we find it means “It is completed”. But what is He saying is completed?

Redemption
He is saying that the work of redemption is completed. We cannot separate this work from the death of Jesus. There are many who teach that Jesus was an excellent example for us to follow and that this is what will save us. Yet the Bible makes clear that you cannot separate redemption from the death of Jesus. It was not enough that Jesus lived for sinners and even fulfilled the law for sinners. He had to die for them, and without that death there could have been no salvation at all. So the context here is of Jesus giving His life as a ransom for his people (Mk.10:45). He was hanging on the Cross, not in a private capacity as a defeated or failed individual but as the representative and the substitute for His people. Many hate the idea of a blood atonement and that the Son of God had to die. Possibly it hurts their pride to think that for them to get into heaven somebody had to be slaughtered in their place, yet this is the teaching of Scripture. The cry “It is finished”, must be seen in the context of one who has put Himself under the wrath of God and is facing death on behalf of His people. So what we have here is not a cry of despair but of victory, because as Jesus is about to face death and complete what He had set out to do He has the sure and certain knowledge that death cannot have a hold upon him for He is confident that God will raise him. He had already faced the intensity of the wrath of God and experienced the Father turn His face from Him. But that has passed. The death He now faced held no terror for Him. As the sinner’s substitute, He paid the price and discharged the debt. Death could not hold him within its bands. He is able to proclaim with confidence “It is finished”. The salvation of His people is guaranteed.

The Moral Law
This cry also has reference to the claim of the law upon His people. The law is fulfilled with respect to them. By nature we stand before God under the covenant of works. Adam, our first parent, represented us in the Garden of Eden. God in His covenant said to him that he was not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen.2:17). Adam disobeyed and as a consequence all of us find ourselves standing before God as law-breakers. But Jesus Christ has come as the second Adam. Because of the virgin birth He did not inherit Adam’s guilt. The law said, “Do this and live”. He has done all that the law required of Him in its minutest details. Voluntarily He placed himself under the law, taking its obligations upon Himself for us. He said to the Father: “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (Jn.17:4). Obedience is the key note of His life. So here we have the declaration that with respect to the obligations that He had to the covenant of works as His people's substitute and representative, He had finished all that the law demanded.

The Ceremonial Law
He has fulfilled and brought to completion the ceremonial law of the Old Testament. These ceremonies pointed forward. The Day of Atonement sacrifice pointed towards the death of Christ for His people. The scapegoat pointed toward Christ as the One who takes away sin. The High Priest in the tabernacle pointed toward the One who bore the sin offering into the presence of God on behalf of His people. Even the tabernacle and the temple were a type of God’s presence among men that was fulfilled in Emmanuel, God with us in human flesh. It does not matter what aspect of the ceremonial law you consider, you will find it fulfilled and completed in Christ. In the cry “It is finished” there is a bringing to completion of all these types and shadows. The way of access to the Father's throne has been opened through the blood of Christ, the real Lamb offered by the real High Priest.

The Penalty
Christ’s cry denotes the fulfilment of the penalty of the law due for the sins of His people. He has borne the unmitigated wrath of God on their behalf. His people broke the law but He endured the punishment which God demanded. Christ achieved what seemed impossible by opening a way whereby sinners could approach God and be accepted by Him. Christ has lived a life that fulfilled the law in every degree. He is now about to die the death that His people deserved and that would have separated them from God eternally. In dying on their behalf, He is saying “It is finished”, it is completed.

Victory over Satan
Another aspect to this cry is Christ’s victory over Satan. Clearly the evil one considered the Cross to be a demonic victory. There was nothing in the run-up to the crucifixion that gave him any reason to doubt this. The kings of the earth were combined and princes plotted together against the Lord and His anointed (Ps.2:2). Everything seemed to indicate that this was Satan’s greatest moment of triumph. But his victory was turned into his destruction. Christ took the cross and He wielded it like a mighty sword for the destruction of Satan and his dominion. It was the undoing of all Satan’s strategies. The evil one could not grasp that on the cross God’s glory shone greatest. There the Son of God achieved His people’s deliverance and sin was dethroned. The cross was the greatest manifestation of human sin in this world. We may think of many vile actions as a display of wickedness but these pale into insignificance in comparison with the crucifixion of the Son of God. If you wanted to say where in the history of man has sin most abounded you would have to say it was at Golgotha. But Paul says, “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Rom.5:20). That is what happened at the cross. Sin had reigned over mankind unchallenged, but there on the cross sin was dethroned. “It is finished” and Christ reigns supreme.

Defeat of Death
The defeat of death follows quickly on the heels of the dethronement of sin. Death was Satan’s most powerful weapon. Through death he held the nations in terror. Death was the result of sin in the life of men. On the cross Jesus is shouting that its sway and domain is finished. Death is robbed of its sting and the grave is robbed of its victory. This is not a cry of defeat but of triumph. It is the cry of the King of kings still standing on the battlefield when Satan lies conquered in the dust. Sin is dethroned and death is no longer a threat to his people. This cry is a declaration that the work of redemption is complete.

The Evidence
But is the work of redemption complete, and has Christ truly been victorious? Satan is still active and there is much sin in the world. Yet something wonderful did happen. We are told that when Jesus died there were certain signs that followed immediately. The veil of the temple was rent. It was a supernatural rending, not from the bottom to the top but from the top to the bottom. God did it and so declared that access to Him was no longer through ceremonies but through the new and living way opened by Christ. There was the earthquake and the opening of the graves. People who had been dead were brought to life. This showed that Jesus Christ through His death had procured life for those who were in their graves. He had triumphed over death. The darkness was dispelled, demonstrating that the Father was no longer forsaking the Son. On the third day Jesus rose and forty days later ascended into the Father's presence. These things declared that the debt had been discharged. There was nothing more due from Christ for our sins. The sinner’s Surety had been discharged because the debt that the sinner owed had been completely paid. The wickedness that still prevails in the world is the lashing out of a dying and defeated foe. Satan has been cast down. Christ cries “It is finished”.

Implications
The Unconverted: The first implication is that God demands no more sacrifice for sin. All the debt has been paid. You may be trying to win the favour of God. You know you must have faith in Christ but you are trying to add something such as more sorrow for sin. Or maybe you are trying to work up a repentance that you think will be acceptable to God. You are saying, “When I feel my repentance strong enough and real enough then I will come and cast myself on Christ”. But there is nothing you can add to what Jesus has done. You may feel you should be more sorry for sins, and so you should. You may feel your repentance is shallow and hypocritical, and it is. But that must not keep you from Christ. He died for all our sins, even our shallowness of repentance and lack of sorrow for sin. Come to God with all your grief over your deficiencies in these things. Come and trust that Christ has done all that is necessary. Do you lack righteousness? Then in Christ you have one who has lived a righteous life for the sinner. God calls upon you to rest and rely upon what Jesus has already done for sinners.
The Christian: God’s people, too, feel weak. They are afraid the good work has never been completed in them. They wonder will they ever make the shores of heaven because of their own sin and unfaithfulness. But do you not believe that Jesus in His death did everything for you? Could He have done more? If He has done everything for you, is He not able to do everything in you? He that begun a good work in you, will He not complete it? Jesus did not just make men salvable and give them a chance to be saved. He saved us. His death gives us an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled. Everything is provided in Christ. Do you find it difficult to confess to God your sins? Well, go to Christ. He has purchased the grace of confession for you. Do you find it difficult to repent? Then go to Christ and ask Him to grant you the grace of repentance. Is your sorrow for sin shallow? Then go to Christ and ask Him to give you grief for sin. Is your faith weak? Then go to Him and ask for faith because He has purchased faith for His people. Are you afraid you will not persevere? Then go to Christ because He has purchased the necessary perseverance for you. It does not matter what you require, Christ has purchased it all for His people.
Praise God: In the light of what Christ has done how can we respond? Praise God! He has freely given us everything in Christ who is the greatest possible gift. The free offer of the gospel is extended to all. It is for you and me by faith to lay hold on that finished work and experience the joy that comes when we know that we are accepted in the Beloved and that death no longer has a claim upon us. Praise God because Christ cried, “It is finished”.

Any comments or questions please E-Mail me or Rev William Macleod the Editor.

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