It is finished
George
finished!" And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit." -John 19:30
What is finished? What is the Lord talking about? Could He be merely
talking about His life, meaing His life is finished? or is there more
than meets the eyes.
"Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He
suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who
obey Him the source of eternal salvation," -Hebrews 5:8,9
Our Lord "learned obediance" through suffering. How does the all
knowing, all seeing, all power Son of God learn anything? the verse in
Hebrews also indicates that He was "made perfect." Again, how does the
perfect Son of God become perfect?
When our Lord said "it is finished" He meant that all that is
necessary for our redemption has been completed. Our Lord lived the
perfect life through obedience, satisfying the rightousness of the
Law. He had to learn obedience, since never before The Son of God had
to submit Himself to anything? He was made perfect as in the perfect
sacrifice for the atonment for our sins. He was that perfect "Lamb of
God who takes away the Sin of the world" - John 1:29
It is totally amazing what Jesus went through for our sake. He gave up
heaven, took on a human nature, went through the trauma of birth,
experienced hunger, fatigue, insults, a mock trial, beating and
finally the incredible pain of loneliness resulting from separation
from the Father when the sin of the world was placed upon Him who knew
no sin.
We take sin so lightly, we are desensitized to sin. We know better,
but we make excuses and rationalization to justify our sinful
behavior. This is known as cheap grace, not the grace of God that
Saves. The grace of God that Justifies the Sinner, but deals with the
sin directly by laying it upon the shoulders of our Lord as He was
hanging on the cross.
It is time for us to consider the incredible price Jesus paid to
redeem us from sin. If we truly belong to Him, we should NEVER, EVER
take sin so lightly, but fully committed to living for Him, to please
Him, to keep His word, and not seek after our own sinful desires. Our
Lord knows what we need, and He will supply according to His will,
that best things for us. It is time seek the righteousness of God.
There is no way that we should sing a hymn like "Stricken, smitten,
and afflicted" without being deeply moved towards a total commitment
to the one who gave up everything to redeem us. Please read the
incredible workds of this Hyman and set your mind on the Lord.
Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,
See Him dying on the tree!
'Tis the Christ by man rejected;
Yes, my soul, 'tis He, 'tis He!
'Tis the long-expected prophet,
David's Son, yet David's Lord;
By His Son, God now has spoken
Tis the true and faithful Word.
Tell me, ye who hear him groaning,
Was there ever grief like his?
Friends thro' fear his cause disowning,
Foes insulting his distress;
Many hands were raised to wound him,
None would interpose to save;
But the deepest stroke that pierced him
Was the stroke that Justice gave.
Ye who think of sin but lightly,
Nor suppose the evil great
Here may view its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed,
See who bears the awful load;
'tis the Word, the Lord's Anointed,
Son of Man and Son of God.
Here we have a firm foundation,
Here the refuge of the lost;
Christ's the Rock of our salvation,
His the name of which we boast.
Lamb of God, for sinners wounded,
Sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded
Who on him their hope have built.
Tom Kirkham
Obedience is certainly part of the Messianic process of Salvation. But
there is also the work that was done above and beyond the Law which
Jesus referred to in Mt 5:17:
Matt 5:17
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I
have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
(from The Holy Bible: New International Version. Copyright (c) 1973,
1978, 1984, by International Bible Society)
In fullfilling both the Law and the Prophets, Jesus freed us from sin
as well as freeing us from the Law. The prophets included detail about
Messiah which went above and beyond the Law, including the way in
which Messiah would bring about salvation-- through the sacrificial
death of a completely innocent and blameless One.
Just though I would bring this up for all those who might be reading
this in the context of Easter.
A blessed Easter to you George!