Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.highlandparkbaptist.net/sermons/95099/it-is-finished/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] John 19, verses 17 through 30.

[0:21] So they took Jesus, and he went out bearing his own cross to the place called the place of the skull,! which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.

[0:38] Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this inscription for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek.

[0:53] So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, Do not write the King of the Jews, but rather this man said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written.

[1:06] When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier, also his tunic.

[1:18] But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said to one another, Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be. This was to fulfill the scriptures which said, They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

[1:36] So the soldiers did these things, but standing by the cross, of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

[1:47] When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son. Then he said to the disciple, Behold your mother.

[1:58] And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said to fulfill the scripture, I thirst.

[2:12] A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, It is finished.

[2:26] And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. I've joked before that I think a great title for a book on Jesus' crucifixion would be It.

[2:39] Because you could fill so many pages with all that It, in It is finished, means for believers.

[2:52] And I know there's another book out there with the title It, but this book would be so much better. The It, in It is finished, is loaded with so much theological truth.

[3:08] And I want to share some of those truths with you tonight as we remember our Lord's sacrifice on the cross. But before doing that, it's important that you understand the Greek word that is translated, It is finished, in our English Bibles.

[3:29] In the Greek, it is finished, is one word. To telestai. And it comes from the verb teleo, which means to bring to an end.

[3:41] And to complete. To accomplish. It's a word that signifies the successful end to a particular course of action.

[3:52] It's the word a mountain climber would use once they reached the summit of Mount Everest. It's the word you would use when you make that final payment on your car loan or your mortgage for your house.

[4:08] It's the word you would use when you cross the finish line after you competed in your first 10K or 5K. For me, it's the word I'll use whenever I finish my dissertation.

[4:21] The word means not just that I survived. It means that I did exactly what I set out to do. But there's more here for us to understand than just the verb itself.

[4:36] Tetelestai is written in the perfect tense in the Greek. That's significant because the perfect tense speaks of an action which was completed in the past, but has results that continue into the future.

[4:53] It's different from the past tense, which looks to an event, looks back to it and says, that happened. The perfect tense adds the idea, this happened, and it still has an effect today.

[5:10] When Jesus cried out, it is finished, he meant it was finished in the past, it is still finished in the present, and it will remain finished in the future.

[5:25] Jesus did not say, I am finished. That would mean he died defeated and exhausted. No, he said, it is finished. Meaning I successfully completed the work that I came to do.

[5:40] Jesus' last words before he died were not a message of defeat, but a message of victory. When he died, he left no unfinished business behind.

[5:55] It is finished. Tetelestai is one word with a lot of mass. It's dense. It's weighty.

[6:07] It contains the whole of the gospel. The entirety of the scriptures that Jesus came and that he fulfilled. The entirety of our salvation.

[6:19] The it in it is finished means Christ's work of redemption has been totally completed. It means that every redemptive prophecy has been fulfilled.

[6:33] It means that every requirement of God's law has been satisfied. It means Satan has been defeated. It means that God's holy, just, and righteous wrath has been satisfied.

[6:47] It means that the debt for our sin has been paid and it's been paid in full. It means peace with God and that eternal life is available to all who place their faith in him.

[7:02] His sinless life. His atoning death. His victorious resurrection. It means that in Christ we have life.

[7:12] A life that begins at salvation and goes on forever and ever and ever. It is finished summarizes the great purpose of God in redemptive history, which is now accomplished.

[7:28] It means that the curse of sin has been overcome by the one who came to be a curse on the cross to atone for our sins.

[7:40] It means that the promised seed of the woman has come and he has crushed the head of the serpent. The deliverer has come and he has delivered.

[7:52] I want to read a portion of a sermon from Charles Spurgeon on this verse. He said, Our Redeemer's glorious cry of it is finished was the death knell of all the adversaries of his people.

[8:09] The breaking of the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword in the battle. Behold, the hero of Golgotha using his cross as an anvil and his woe as a hammer, dashing to shivers bundle after bundle of our sins.

[8:25] Those poisoned arrows of the bow trampling on every indictment and destroying every accusation. What glorious blows the mighty breaker gives with a hammer far more ponderous than the fabled weapon of Thor.

[8:41] How the diabolical darts fly to fragments and the infernal bucklers are broken like potter's vessels. Behold, he draws from his sheath of hellish workmanship the dread sword of satanic power.

[8:54] He snaps it across his knee as a man breaks the dry wood of a twig and casts it into the fire. Beloved, no sin of a believer can now be an arrow mortally to wound him.

[9:06] No condemnation can now be a sword to kill him. For the punishment of our sin was born by Christ. A full atonement was made for all our iniquities by our blessed substitute in surety.

[9:19] Who now accuses? Who now condemns? Christ hath died. Yea, rather, hath risen again. Christ has emptied the quivers of hell, has quenched every fiery dart, and broken off the head of every arrow of wrath.

[9:35] The ground is strewn with the splinters and relics of the weapons of hell's warfare, which are only visible to us to remind us of our former danger and of our great deliverance.

[9:50] Jesus did not whimper, nor did he whisper, It is finished. He shouted in triumph from the cross, It is finished.

[10:08] Now, I'm sure that statement must have perplexed his enemies, but it should never perplex us. Friends, in Christ, it is finished. There is nothing left for you or for me to do to be saved or to keep ourselves saved.

[10:25] Jesus paid the debt in full. I've heard that archaeologists have found ancient fragments of papyrus in Egypt that dates to the time when Jesus lived on earth.

[10:41] And those fragments of paper were business transactions. And Tetelestai was written on them to note that the debt had been paid in full.

[10:53] No more payment was required. On the cross, Jesus paid the debt for our sin in full. Past sin, present sin, future sin was vanquished by him on the cross.

[11:14] He took the debt of sin on the cross. And it's as if he took that contract, that debt that we owed, and he wrote on it with his own blood, Tetelestai.

[11:32] It's finished. Signed. The King of kings. The Lord of lords. The great I am. The Son of God. The Lamb who was slain. And the Lion of Judah who roared from the cross.

[11:45] Yes. It is finished. And because Jesus said it is finished, those who believe in him, those who have trusted in him for salvation, they can say, I am redeemed.

[12:03] I am saved. I have eternal life. I want to close with a prayer or a poem from the Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers and poems.

[12:17] That I think is just so beautifully written as so many others in that book are. It says, Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy.

[12:28] Cast off that I might be brought in. Trodden down as an enemy that I might be welcomed as a friend. Surrendered to hell's worst that I might attain heaven's best.

[12:41] Stripped that I might be clothed. Wounded that I might be healed. A thirst that I might drink. Tormented that I might be comforted.

[12:52] Made ashamed that I might inherit glory. Entered darkness that I might have eternal light. My Savior wept that all tears might be wiped from my eyes.

[13:04] Groaned that I might have endless song. Endured all pain that I might have unfading health. Bore a thorned crown that I might have a glorious diadem.

[13:17] Bowed his head that I might uplift mine. Experienced reproach that I might receive welcome. Closed his eyes in death that I might gaze on unclouded brightness.

[13:30] Expired that I might forever live. Amen. Will you bow your heads with me? And let's pray. Heavenly Father I pray that everyone in this room this morning.

[13:43] This evening. Would understand. And would know. That in you. It is finished. That by faith in you.

[13:54] In who you are. In what you have done. On the cross to redeem us. That there is nothing left for us to do. God at times we are tempted to believe.

[14:05] I think that it's too good to be true. At times we are tempted to believe. That there is more for us to do. God I pray in those moments. That you would remind us of your words. Your battle cry.

[14:16] Your victorious shout from the cross. That it is finished. There is nothing left for us to do. In regard to our salvation. But simply to trust.

[14:28] And have faith. Lord we thank you that you came. We thank you that you were willing to. To despise the shame. Knowing what it would accomplish for you on the cross.

[14:38] As you conquered. Satan. Sin. And death. And Lord the victorious truth. We know that on Good Friday. We don't remember you. As if this is some kind of funeral service.

[14:50] This is a celebration. That on the third day. Lord you rose again. And so God we pray. That you would remind us. Of the wonderful truth. This wonderful hope.

[15:01] That we have in Jesus Christ always. That for us. It is finished. Thank you Lord. That it is finished. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen.

[15:11]