High upon a rocky crag, three crosses scarred the afternoon sky. On the outer gibbets, hung two notorious thieves. Below, Roman soldiers drank and gambled, waiting for death to overtake the poor wretches suspended above them. It was a public execution, but far more significant than they imagined at the time. Suddenly, the air grew dense and an eerie darkness invaded the scene.*”After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.” (John 19:28 – 30)What the soldiers heard was a single word in the Greek tongue: “Tetelestai!” That shout of victory Christ uttered as He died, translated into English as “It is finished!”, had an even deeper meaning back then. It was an accounting term. When a bill was paid, it was commonly stamped with the word “Tetelestai,” meaning “Paid in Full”. What debt had been paid on the tree? What transaction had been completed? What work had been accomplished? Scripture gives us the answers:”For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38).”For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation,” (Romans 5:6 – 11).Jesus came to make reconciliation between God and man possible. What Jesus did through His perfect earthly existence, sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection fully completed the work the Father had given Him to do. There is nothing more to add–nothing more to be done by God, man, or religious institutions. The undeniable, factual, historic, and eternal work of Jesus Christ has been completed–is complete–and will forever remain completed. “IT…IS…FINISHED!” The sin debt I owed to God was and is PAID IN FULL by my Lord and Savior, my Master and King, Jesus Christ, when He shed His innocent blood on the cross on my behalf!”Christ bore our sins in His own body on the tree,” says Peter (1 Peter 2:24). “He Himself is the propitiation [the full satisfaction of God’s justice] for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world,” (1 John. 2:2). The groaning weight of all the world’s sin was laid on Christ at Calvary. He bore it in our place.On the cross when Jesus cried out, “IT…IS…FINISHED!”, He meant that the work of atonement was now completely DONE. His suffering and shed blood was perfect, so it only had to be done ONE TIME in history. Hebrews 10:12 puts it this way . . . “But this man, (Jesus), after He had offered ONE sacrifice for sins FOREVER, sat down on the right hand of God.” That is the gospel of grace–that God, in love, did for us what we could not do for ourselves.”It is finished!” At the cross, the Great Exchange took place (2 Corinthians 5:21; Colossians 2:13-15). The eternal debt owed for the sin of mankind was paid in full. God the Father looked upon His perfect, precious, and priceless Son as if He had lived the filthy, detestable, sin-stained lives of fallen mankind. And, for those who repent and receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, God the Father looks upon them as if they had lived His Son’s perfect, precious, and priceless life!Yet it is amazing how many people have never given those words serious consideration. The logical implication of Jesus’ final words should be clear. If Jesus finished the work of paying for our sins on the cross, how many sins does that leave for us to pay for? The answer is a big, fat zero. In light of the suffering Jesus endured on the cross, any attempt to offer God something more in the form of religious penance or good works as a way to atone for your own sin is total vanity. Still, many remain brainwashed with the idea that one must earn God’s forgiveness. But the Word of God tells us: “The wages of sin is death, but the GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23).”It is finished!” At the cross, God kept His promise to crush Satan’s head through the bruising of His Son. The power of sin and death was vanquished once, and for all time. The ultimate proof of the finality of Jesus’ offering for sins is His glorious resurrection. After shouting in victory “It is finished!”, He dismissed His spirit from His body, allowing it to be buried in certain testimony that His death was also a physical death. When He returned to the body on the third day, it was imparted with a glorious, eternal, resurrection life. So He demonstrated to all men of all the ages that He indeed was the Creator, that the problem of sin had been solved, the redemption price has been paid, and that death had forever lost its sting. Until the day, when He “makes all things new” (Revelation 21:5), His promise of forgiveness, salvation, resurrection, and eternal life is available on an individual basis to every person who trusts in Him for this salvation.Ask yourself this question: Have you trusted Jesus’ “paid in full” atonement for your sins or is there something else that you imagine that you can do that will impress God instead? Friend, consider the words of the Savior . . . “IT…IS…FINISHED!” He is the Messiah. Just put your trust in Him.To read more on UNDERSTANDING ATONEMENT, see:https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=290911100933496Goodseed also offers the following wonderful free online e-book that thoroughly explains God’s plan of atonement for salvation:What are Christmas and Easter all about?https://av.goodseed.com/free/cne-eng-079001.pdfThe ebook is also available in French! Here is the link:http://av.goodseed.com/books/fr/frn-cbook.pdf*From the article, “Jesus Paid It All: The Story Behind the Hymn” posted at https://www.independentbaptist.com/jesus-paid-it-all1/…
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