IT IS FINISHED
John 19:30
Morning Meditation 6/23/16
Verse 30 says, “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”
The words in this meditation that I am especially concerned with are the words “It is finished.” They translate one word (tetelestai) and it is a perfect passive indicative verb. The perfect tense represents completed action in the past that completed action having present results. The completed action in the past gathers up all that Jesus did in the plan of God from eternity past, including his incarnation and perfect life, his trial and crucifixion until the point in time where he said “It is finished.” Now at that point of time God is satisfied in and through the person of Christ for the sins of the world so that a finished salvation can be offered to an unsaved world through the preaching of the gospel. The passive voice means that he, as the subject,A0 has been the one on whom redemption has depended, and all that justice demands as a penalty for sin has just been finished in him as man’s substitute, i.e., he received the action of divine wrath and satisfied it completely so that he could say, “it is finished.”
Robertson says in his word pictures: “A cry of victory in the hour of defeat like ‘nenikEAka’ in John 16:33"
There are several words that are used in Scripture that are synonymous with salvation that are finished because of the truth that Jesus declared when he said, “It is finished.”
If Justification is finished, the believer is no longer condemned. Justification removes one from the penalty of the law. He is therefore not condemned. Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. . . ” How could this verse say “there is therefore now no condemnation,” if justification had not been accomplished in such a way as to remove any possibility of change of status in the future? We have a finished salvation so that when we receive Christ by faith we enter into a relationship with God that removes the threat of future change. In other words sin in the life of a believer does not change God’s mind about his justifying act. He chastens us because of sin but we remain participants in a finished salvation that needs nothing added and can have nothing subtracted. When Jesus said “It is finished” he meant it and it stands before God permanently without the chance of change. We are no long condemned.
If Redemption is finished, the believer is no longer in bondage. Galatians 4:3-7 says, “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” The word “bondage” in verse three is “douloo” which means “to make a slave of, to reduce to bondage.” It is a perfect passive participle which means that this slavery had been accomplished in the past and remained that way for those who had not been redeemed. The word “redeem” in verse five is “exagorazo” and means “to buy out of the slave market, to redeem by payment of a price to recover from the power of another, to ransom, buy off.” It is explained in these verse that this is what Jesus came to do. It is referring to the cross and when Jesus said, “It is finished” he meant that the price for redemption had at that point been paid in full.
Before I was saved I was in bondage to sin. All one has to do to realize this is to attempt to live without sin. If you attempt to do that by using God’s plumb line (The Law) you will find you are so crooked that a drunk man could not wobble enough to walk down beside your life. In John 8:34A0 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” The word “servant” (doulos) is the same word and means slave. They had just denied in verse 33 having ever been in bondage to any man. It is amazing how blind unsaved people can be. They had been in bondage to Babylon and they were at the time in bondage to Rome. But Jesus is talking about a much greater bondage that this. It is bondage to sin. But when Jesus died on the cross he said, “It is finished,” and when he did he was declaring that the price has now been paid in full to set all the slaves free. If redemption is finished, the believer is no longer in bondage.
If Reconciliation is finished, the believer is no longer an enemy. Romans 5:10 says, “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Every unsaved man is an enemy of God. He can deny it all day. But God says the unsaved are enemies. If you are reading this and you are not a born again Christian, you may feel like this is a harsh statement. I just want to tell you that you will have to accept God’s diagnosis and admit what he says is right or you will never be saved. God says you are an enemy. The word “enemy” in this verse is “echthros” and means “hated, odious, hateful, hostile, hating, and opposing another.” Have you ever seen yourself as a hater of God? You see, you can’t hate his way without hating him. Jesus came to “reconcile” God and man. In Colossians 1:20-21 Paul says, “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.” When Jesus said, “It is finished” the way had been made for a sinner to be reconciled to God. Nothing else needed to be done. All that was needed for reconciliation to take place, Jesus had accomplished it, and declared it so in the words, “It is finished.”
If Substitution is finished, the believer can be spoken of in the same way as the Substitute. If God accepted Jesus as my Substitute then all that Jesus is as my Substitute I am also. Paul says in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death.” This is what is required of the sinner for his sin. Jesus as my Substitute paid God for my sin by dying. Since God has accepted the Substitute, I am accepted in the person of my Substitute. Ephesians 2:5-6 says, “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)A0 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:” When Jesus said “It is finished” the Substitution was completed so that nothing needs to be added to his suffering and death to make it complete. Jesus, my Substitute is no longer on a cross but is rather on a throne. And what is said of my Substitute is also said of me. This is the reason verse six says, “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” In our Substitute we are already in heaven. We have a finished salvation. Praise his holy name. We must worship at his feet.
May God bless you.
In Christ
Bro. White
