“It is Finished” – What Jesus Christ Achieves in His Death

From the outside looking in, Christianity can seem like a weird and even morbid religion. We are fixated on the death of a person who lived thousands of years ago and talk about it in a positive way. In fact, Jesus' death is the worst thing that ever happened and the best thing that has ever happened.

The reason it’s such a big deal can be summed up by what Jesus himself said just before He died (John 19:30): “It is finished.” In the original Greek, this phrase is just one word. Today, that’s all we’re going to look at, what Jesus meant when He said this.

“It” – Christ’s Atonement for Sin

Atonement describes what Christ’s death means in relationship to our sin. The concept of substitution is very important to the concept of atonement. We are familiar with substitutes in the realm of sports and education. The key is that there is a replacement – one person must be removed, while the substitute comes and takes the place of that person. There isn’t really the possibility of “partnering” or “playing together.”

In the atonement, Jesus took our place. He didn't partner or cooperate with us. Isaiah 53:3-9 says, “He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows… He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities… He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgressions of my people… My servant will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities… He Himself bore the sin of many.” His substitution provides spiritual healing: “…the chastening for our well being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed” (verse 5). This is also clearly stated in 2 Corinthians 5:21 – “God made Him who had no sin to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God.”

John wrote his Gospel account later than other New Testament writers. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were available to his readers, as were the letters of Paul and Peter. All those writings can inform our understanding of what Christ's atonement provides.

1. Christ’s Atonement Means Redemption, since without it we are in bondage to our sin – Ephesians 1:7
2. Christ’s Atonement Means Reconciliation, since without it we are separated from God because of our sin – Colossians 1:21-22
3. Christ’s Atonement Means Removing our Guilt, since without it we are guilty because of our sin – 1 John 1:7
4. Christ’s Atonement Means Removing God’s Wrath, since without it we are under God’s wrath because of our sin – Romans 3:21-26

“Is Finished” – Christ’s Work is Done (and Stays that Way)

The one word that Jesus said on the cross contains both the subject (it) and the action (is finished). The word means “to complete” or “to bring to perfection.” Jesus had fully done the work God the Father sent him to do. Our salvation is sure because Christ’s death totally defeated the effects of Adam’s sin completely.

The tense of the verb brings out even more of what Jesus was saying. The perfect tense describes an action that was fully completed and has present-day consequences. Jesus could have used a different tense to simply say “the work is done.” But there is more: there is hope for you and for me. Because Jesus fully completed his task, the ongoing effects are that you and I, 2000 years later, are offered the free gift of salvation so that we can be with Him forever.

Since the effects of the cross are complete and will continue perfectly forever, Christ's work does not and never will need maintenance. Just about everything in our finite life requires maintenance; but what Jesus accomplished on the cross is finished, once for all.

Conclusion

This is why a man dying 2000 years ago commands so much our attention: because Jesus achieved something for you on that cross – he provided redemption and reconciliation, and he removed guilt and wrath. But that is only true of you if you admit that you need those things.

Jesus’s death on the cross means that you must admit these things:

• Without Jesus you are bound to your sin, and you need Jesus to set you free from it.
• Without Jesus you are an enemy of God, and you need Jesus to make you right and to restore your relationship.
• Without Jesus you are guilty in God’s sight, and you need Jesus in order to be forgiven.
• Without Jesus you are under God’s wrath, and you need Jesus to take the wrath that your sin deserves.

For those of us who have admitted these things, told God that we needed Jesus to save us from our sin, and asked Him to be our Lord and our Savior, our status is settled. Jesus was our substitute, and we don’t need to maintain Jesus’ work for us by adding to it.

If you have yet to do so, this is not an invitation to a life of good works; this is an invitation to a person who loves you so much that He gave His life for you. It is an invitation to a relationship rooted in faith and belief for what He did on the cross for you. Will you accept that invitation today?

Application Points

• Jesus’ work does not need anything added to it. Sin is completely atoned for; you don’t need to make up for anything; you can’t make up for anything. You do not need to pray to any saint; you don’t need anyone to confer any more grace to you. In Jesus, you measure up. In Jesus, you are not the sum total of your failures. In Jesus, God sees you, but He sees the work Christ did on your behalf, not all the work that you do to make up for all the sins of your past. It is finished, because Jesus finished it. 1 Peter 3:18 says this: “For Christ also suffered for sins once for all time, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.”
• Christ's work on the cross is finished, but our understanding, appreciation, ability to explain it to others, and desire to share it with others needs maintenance. How can you do that?