John 19:30: So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
What did Jesus mean in His last words before giving up His spirit on the cross, “It is finished!”? The Lamb of God had been perfectly obedient to His Father and willingly laid down His life as a propitiation for our sins. He had finished His end of the bargain, or the work the Father had set forth as a result of His great desire for those who believe to enter His kingdom now and fellowship with us throughout eternity. This is sometimes referred to as God’s plan of redemption.
We have a choice to accept this plan. If we accept, what’s involved in our end of the bargain? The plan has three critical steps, and the ultimate success of each subsequent step is totally dependent on how complete we have “finished” the previous step. The first step is dealing with our past. Romans 3:23 states that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Before we can ask Jesus into our hearts, we must come to grips with the truth of our sinful past and present, confess it to God, and then ask for His forgiveness. Acts 10:43 proclaims, “that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Before moving on to the next step, do we really believe that we’re forgiven? Forgiveness through Christ’s shed blood means that our sins are blotted out completely. In God’s eyes, there’s no reason for us to hold onto the shame, the guilt, the pain, or any other burdens that always come with sin. He now sees in the image of His Son. True acceptance of this kind of forgiveness should result in an indescribable freedom and huge load off our shoulders. Unfortunately, many either do not, or will not, fully accept this truth, so their ability to obtain all that the next steps have to offer is limited.
The first step, dealing with the past, is really a team effort – Jesus and us. The next step continues as a team effort but our new teammate is the Holy Spirit. We need Him to help us with our wills – dealing with the present, or repentance of our sinful ways. Repent means “to turn around”. Imagine two boats are preparing to turn around – one is carrying a full load of cargo and passengers, the other is carrying no passengers and no cargo. It only makes sense that the ship without the extra load is going to make the easier turn. This is the case in the relationship between true acceptance of forgiveness (how heavy the load) and one’s ability to turn away from our sinful ways, or repentance. If we really believe that we’re forgiven, that natural feeling of relief and freedom will overwhelm any desire to return to those sins that so burdened us. There will be temptations to lure us back, but the person who has truly accepted God’s forgiveness, will find “finishing” the second step – repenting – much easier.
The final step has to do with our future, and once again, it’s a team effort. Jesus said, “It is finished!” – He did not say, “I am finished.” Jesus was/is a man of action, and He desires that for those who believe in Him. With the aide of the Holy Spirit, we are to step out in faith in serving the Lord. If we slide back into our old ways, we are restricting the Spirit’s ability to minister to us and, therefore, our ability to minister to others. On the other hand, if we remain “complete” in steps 1 & 2 – which deal with the issue of holiness, we obtain the power – through the Spirit (Zechariah 4:6) – to serve the Lord in ways we cannot imagine. So the more “complete” we finish each step of our end of the bargain in God’s plan of redemption, the better we’ll be able get started in getting all that is possible in a right relationship with a loving God. Are you ready to start?