This post is part of The Seven Words of Jesus series.
“It is finished!” (John 19:30).
This, the culmination of the ages. This, the fulfillment of the first gospel promise heard by Adam and Eve in a once-perfect garden. This, the completion of our Savior’s 33 years of living perfectly in our place and dying the death we deserve for our sins.
Who were these words for?
Certainly they were for you, me, and all people. So we might know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus did everything he set out to do. He came to accomplish his Father’s will, and he did. He lived perfectly for us. He bore the punishment of our sins. His Father’s will was that his Son suffer and die so that we might live.
“It is finished!” assures us that everything is done. There’s nothing left for us to do. Forgiveness, freedom from sin, life, and salvation are ours, all because of Jesus.
But these words were also for the one to whom the first gospel promise was addressed in that once-perfect garden: “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will crush his heel” (Genesis 3:15).
“It is finished!” (John 19:30).
This word of victory would be echoed again when Jesus descended into hell to proclaim his victory. The devil would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had lost. He was beaten. Broken. Crushed.
Satan’s temptations and accusations have lost their icy, deathlike grip on us because sin no longer enslaves us. With the declaration, “It is finished!” we’ve been set free. Our sins are all forgiven, we’re God’s dearly loved children, and there’s a home in heaven waiting for us. There’s nothing left for us to do. Christ Jesus has paid it all.
Now we live in the joy and certainty of knowing that it is indeed finished every day.
Though sin’s most lethal wages to me, O Christ, were due, the guilt of all the ages came crashing down on you. Most surely, “It is finished”—my debt is fully paid; my joy is undiminished; my heart is unafraid.
(CW 436:6)
Click the button below to read the final post in the series.
Scripture references come from the Holy Bible: Evangelical Heritage Version. Click here to learn more about this translation.
© 2021 Michael D. Schultz, admin. Northwestern Publishing House
Did you enjoy this post? Subscribe to the NPH blog for free devotional content every week!
Alex Brown is the marketing and content copywriter at Northwestern Publishing House. He has his Master of Divinity degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in God’s creation.
Leave a Reply