It is Finished, Part Two

 

March 19, 2023

Fourth Sunday of Lent: “It is Finished” - Part Two

 

Some of the last words of our Lord Jesus on that cross were: “It is finished.” But those particular words beg an answer to the question: “What was finished?” And it is to that question I focused our attention last week – specifically to three of the multiple gifts God lavished on us when the Divine Plan of the Ages was ‘finished’ on Calvary’s cross. The gifts on which we focused were Redemption, Remission (of sins), and Justification.

 

If you were here last week, you heard me talk briefly of the backstory to Christ’s proclamation, ‘It is finished.’ So, indulge me a few moments to remind those of you who were here last week, and to inform those where were not here. I do this because the backstory behind Jesus’ last words are very important for us to understand.  

 

When our first parents disobeyed God and transmitted their original sin to ALL of their future progeny, God – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – God was not caught off guard. It was in eternity past, and long before He created the heavens and the earth, even before He created the angels and one third of them, led by Lucifer, revolted against their Creator, it was in eternity past that the omniscient God already knew about the sin that would occur in the Garden of Eden.

 

And when that sin occurred, God did not scratch His head and wonder, “NOW what do we do”?

 

Long before that original sin, God's plan – to use human terminology – His plan to fix what the two had broken had already been prepared. Because the eternal wages of sin must always be death, God the Son would Himself pay that penalty all humanity deserves to pay for their sins.

 

We see a glimpse of this plan in Revelation 13:8, “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.” (NIV)

 

It was toward the fulfillment of that plan that Jesus later told His disciples: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.”  (John 4:34, NASB)

 

And what was that work? Well, that is the theme of today’s message as we move into part two of last week’s look into what was finished on that Cross with the death of Jesus.

 

Today is the fourth Sunday of Lent, the season in the Church calendar during which those who choose to participate focus a bit more closely on the mercy of God to forgive our sins, mercy brought to us on Calvary’s cross and sealed to us by Christ’s resurrection and our faith in God's promise to do as He said He would do.

 

And please hear this: EVERYTHING about the Holy Trinity’s plan centered around Calvary’s cross and the Son of God bleeding, suffering, and dying on it.

 

Jesus said only a few things while hanging there. He said He was thirsty. He prayed for those who nailed Him there. He asked John to take care of His mother. He told the thief he’d be with Him that day in Paradise. He asked the Father why He’d forsaken Him. He told the Father He committed Himself into His hands.

 

But today we are focusing on this text: “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” (John 19:30)

 

So, WHAT was finished? Last week we looked at Redemption, Remission (of sins), and Justification. Today we focus our attention on two more key elements of God's plan: Our adoption into His divine family; And His salvation of all who belong to His family.

 

First, let’s look at our adoption into His family – mine AND yours, if you are a Christian. Yes, God so loved the WORLD, but you and I are part of that world God so loved. So, along with redemption, the remission of sins, and justification, Jesus also finished the so-called ‘legal’ work for our Adoption.

 

By way of application, let me tell you about my legal adoption through the court system of New York state, and in telling you I hope the application to yours and my spiritual adoption will be clear.

 

I was twelve when my mother, my sister Andrea, and I stood before the judge in Queens, New York. We were there so Tommy, who’d just married my mother, could adopt me and Andrea.

 

At the conclusion of the court proceedings, ALL of our legal records were to be changed. The administration of the public school we attended expunged our last name on their records. I remember my sixth-grade teacher, Mrs. Frost, called me to the front of the classroom, placed her hand on my shoulder, and told everyone I had a new last name: Maffeo. All of our doctors and dentists purged our former last name from their records and changed it to Maffeo. Whatever other legal documents that identified us by our former name were all changed to what the New York State court said it now was.

 

Andrea and I were legally Tommy’s children. We had full and complete rights to his name, and as his heirs, we could inherit his estate.

 

Ten years after the New York court changed my last name, I knelt beside my navy barracks bunk and told God I wanted Jesus to be my Messiah. And it was at THAT moment God brought me into His family. I was, as St Paul wrote two thousand years earlier, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

 

To the Christians at Rome, Paul proclaimed the incredible reality: “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs.” (Romans 8:14-17a, NLT)

 

My legal name did not change when God adopted me into His family. I am still a Maffeo. BUT there was suddenly a new name written down in glory, and it was mine. Yes, it was mine. And the white-robed angels sang the story, ‘A sinner had come home.’ God adopted me into His family.

 

But this is not only about ME. It is ALSO about you, all of you, if you also have received by baptismal faith Jesus as your Lord, Master, and Savior.

When YOU confessed your sins to God and asked His forgiveness for Christ’s sake, He ALSO adopted you into His family.

 

Here is how St Paul described this spiritual truth: “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” (Galatians 4:4-6, NIV)

 

‘Abba’ – It is the Spirit Himself dwelling in each believer who cries out with the affectionate Aramaic word for ‘Father,’ or as we might use it, “Dad.’

 

So, when Jesus breathed His last, shouting aloud, “It is finished” He finished the work of redemption, the remission of our sins, our justification, our adoption . . . and our salvation. But some might ask, “Salvation from what?”

 

Scripture makes the answer very easy and very clear. Jesus saves all who come to Him from the wrath of God.

 

God's wrath is an affront to many modern sensibilities. God is love, they say. Why would we speak of His wrath? Well, we SHOULD speak of it because He Himself speaks of it – and that very often. I’ve read that the Bible speaks more about God's wrath against sin and sinners than it does about God's love.

 

Here are only a few texts: “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:35:36)

 

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.” (Romans 1:18-19)

 

God's wrath is a fearful, horrible, unspeakable, and eternal thing everyone on earth should dread. But God's love moves Him to call ALL to repentance, Here is what He says: “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” (Romans 2:4-5)

 

How does Jesus’ death save us from God's wrath against our sin? Because Jesus willingly received God's wrath on Himself. That means that all who trust Christ for salvation will NEVER experience that wrath. Listen to this prophecy spoken by Isaiah 700 years before Calvary: “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” (Isaiah 53:5-6)

 

God's wrath against OUR sins fell like a crushing boulder on Jesus. No wonder He was so grieved at the thought of going to that cross – NOT so much because of the physical suffering He would endure, but because of the SPIRITUAL suffering He knew He would endure when His Father would turn His back on Him who, at that moment, BECAME our sin and would bear the full wrath of God against Himself so WE would not have to bear it.

 

Both Matthew and Mark record it this way: “At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34) And St Paul tells us: “[The Father] made [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

 

When Jesus cried out, “It is finished’ He saved from God's wrath all who come to Him – God's wrath both now AND throughout eternity.

 

We must not ever miss the point that Scripture makes again and again – surely so we don’t miss the point – everyone is going to live forever. Everyone. Forever. And what each person does during this temporary life with what he or she knows about Jesus will determine where he will spend forever. I say this “temporary’ life because when we consider our earthly lives in light of eternity, the word ‘temporary’ takes on an important perspective, doesn’t it?

 

How long will our temporary lives last? The Psalmist tells us what we all know: “We can expect seventy years, or maybe eighty, if we are healthy, but even our best years bring trouble and sorrow. Suddenly our time is up, and we disappear. (Psalm 90:10, Contemporary English Version)

 

James also reminds us: “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (James 4:14)

 

Please hear this again: Heaven is for real. And hell is just as real. And just as heaven is not empty, neither is hell – DESPITE what false teachers and liars in pulpits tell us.

 

As I said earlier, Satan knows his time is short, and so he has raised up false teachers like Roman Catholic Bishop Robert Barron of California to confuse the biblically illiterate. Barron tells his multiple thousands of followers: “There is a reasonable hope that hell is empty.” And don’t think for a moment that the devil has not also raised up such liars and seducers in the Protestant realms as well. He has.

 

Hell is for real. And the ONLY way to avoid God’s eternal wrath in hell is to obediently and faithfully follow the One who said on that cross, “It is finished!”

 

What is hell like? Scripture gives us only a glimpse of that destiny, but even that glimpse should frighten everyone – especially the non-Christian. Hell is a place of hopelessness and abject loneliness because God's mercy, kindness, love, and grace will NEVER enter that domain. It is a place of utter darkness because the Light of the World will never enter hell. It is a place of eternal consciousness of fiery torment, of terrible and unending thirst and the gnashing of teeth because the person knows he or she will never, ever, know hope or peace or comfort.

 

About hell, the Lord Jesus warned: “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:41-42)

Writing about the destiny of the non-Christian, Paul writes: “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” (2 Thessalonians 1:9)

And, of course, we only need to look at the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus to understand some of what awaits the non-Christian. Many of you know the story so I will not repeat it in its entirety now. But I include the text from Luke 16 in your handout to read later at your leisure.

God's plan from eternity past came to its conclusion on Calvary’s cross. When Jesus shouted out, “It is finished,” God's merciful offer of redemption, remission of sins, justification, adoption, and salvation became available to every man, woman, and child on earth and throughout history.

All that is required of every man, woman, and child is that they – we – receive God's offer by faith – faith that His promises are true; and by faithful obedience to His commandments, none of which are burdensome to the one who truly loves God.

Today is the fourth Sunday of Lent, on our way to the celebration of Christ’s resurrection – the definitive event in the history of earth’s existence that demonstrated God's ‘stamp of approval’ – so to speak – on what His Son did on that Cross when He cried out, “It is finished,” bringing us redemption, the remission of sin, justification, adoption, and salvation.

When was the last time you thanked Jesus for what He did for you? When was the last time you offered yourself, your time, your talents, your treasures to the One who died in your place? Will you do it now, again?