It Is Finished!

It is Finished!

The last words Jesus cried out before dying on the cross were, 

“It is finished!”

What was finished?  Jesus satisfied the holiness of God by living a sinless life as a man under the Law and was now able to put to our account... His righteous life.  He satisfied the justice of God by paying the penalty for our sin, and by taking away the power sin has upon us so that through the Holy Spirit, we are able to resist sin.

Since the time Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden an innocent animal had to be slain every year as a sacrifice to God so that it’s blood would cover the sins, first of Adam and Eve, then later their children, then all others who lived by faith in God’s Word and His promise that He would one day send them a (Messiah) Savior.  (Hebrews 9:22) Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Just before God used Moses to lead the Jewish people out of the land of bondage, God gave instructions for all the Jewish people to sacrifice a one year old male lamb without blemish and to apply it’s blood to the doorposts and over the lintel of their houses so that when the angel of death passed over, the firstborn male in that family would not die, but be saved.  God gave other instructions on how they were to prepare their lamb and how to eat it. (Please read Exodus 12 to see the complete instructions.) In every house that had blood applied to the doorposts and over the lintel, the firstborn male was spared. In every house that did not have blood applied to the doorposts and over the lintel, the firstborn male died.

God told Moses and Aaron that this month would be the beginning of the year for the Jewish people. On the tenth day of this month every man shall select a lamb or a goat and keep it until the fourteenth day of this same month when all the congregation shall sacrifice their lambs together. God said that this day shall be a memorial day and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. This feast would be called the Passover Feast in commemoration of the Israelites freedom from bondage to be able to worship the LORD their God in freedom.

Up to the time Christ Jesus went to the cross the Jewish temple still held these yearly sacrifices of a young goat, lamb, or a pair of birds which would take place at 3:00 p.m. on the fourteenth day of the Jewish year. People travelled from a distance to sacrifice at the temple during the Passover feast because without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Hebrews9:22).

It was at the time of Passover that Jesus was nailed to the cross. On this fourteenth day of the month of Passover, at exactly 3:00 p.m. Jesus, the Lamb of God, cried out, “It is finished!” as He took His last breath. At that same moment, as animal sacrifices were about to be slain and put on the altar inside the temple, the thick temple vail was suddenly torn from the top down to the bottom... as if to repeat the words of the Lamb of God, It is finished! No more animal sacrifices. The sinless Lamb of God, who came down from heaven, is the final sacrifice that removes sin forever. This Lamb of God would not stay in the grave, but would rise up on the third day victorious! And He did!

The shed blood of Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God, would reach back and take away the sins of all those who had lived by faith in God’s Word and His promise of a Messiah/Savior who would one day redeem them from their sins and give them eternal life. The shed blood of Christ Jesus would also reach forward to redeem all those present and future who would (repent) confess their sin and turn from it and turn in faith to Jesus Christ to live for Him.

It was in this way, through Jesus becoming the final sacrifice as the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12). As God’s blood bought, adopted children we can come to the throne of grace to receive mercy, and help in our time of need. God’s throne room has been opened to us as His children to come to 24/7 to confess our sin and receive mercy, grace, peace and a clean conscience from our heavenly Father.  

When Jesus cried out “It is finished” He meant everything necessary for our salvation was done on that cross through His atoning blood.  It is through studying and meditating on His Word that His children, with the help of the Holy Spirit will discover all the many benefits that blood bought, adopted children have been lavished with, and receive by grace through faith. What the Bible reveals is only a taste of what eternity will bring.

As blood bought children of God we have access into the throne room of the Father. We can enter without fear, as we are His children. We should enter with reverence and awe while confessing our sin and requesting His help and grace to change our desires and attitudes to be like His, our will to be His will, and to see everyone through the eyes and heart of Jesus, our Christ.  

He has made many great and precious promises to His children and has given us everything we need for a life of godliness. (See 2 Peter 1:3-10) 

~Annie~