On Good Friday afternoon, in 2004, I sat in the back of Scruggs Memorial C.M.E. Church in St. Louis listening to my pastor, Rev. Dr. Ronald L. Bobo preach one of the seven last words of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It was the same word that I have chosen to conclude this book with. “It is finished” (John 19:30).
As he was nearing the end of his sermon, I felt my cell phone vibrating. When I peeked at the caller I.D., my heart sank. I recognized the number because I had called it many times during that week. It was the number to Forrest Park Hospital, where my mother had been in hospice care for several days.
As Pastor Bobo talked about how Jesus’ earthly mission had been completed and how the suffering and the pain of Calvary and the cross had come to an end, I thought about my mother. I thought about all of the sacrifices that she had made while raising my brother and me.
I thought about all of the pain and suffering she had endured over the past few months while she was in a nursing home. I thought about the gut wrenching cries and moans that tore my heart to pieces when I’d visited her on the previous day. Then, I heard my pastor say, “It is finished.”
Although I politely waited until the seventh and final word of our Savior had been preached and the benediction was given before I stepped outside, I didn’t hear anything that anyone had said. All I remember was standing on the steps of that church and listening to the message that had been recorded and left on my phone’s voice mail. It was the nurse saying, “Mr. Barr, I am calling to inform you that your mother, Mary Jane Barr, has expired.”
I thought to myself, “It is finished.” Her work down here on earth was completed. Her commitment as a loving mother, a faithful wife, a dedicated worker, and a loyal friend had come to an end. It is finished.
As sad as I was on that fateful afternoon, I was also encouraged because I knew that because of the finished work of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I would see my mother again. It is finished.
My friends, when Jesus spoke those powerful words while He was hanging on that cross, they were not words of defeat.
If you notice, He didn’t say, “I am finished.” He said, “It is finished.” You need to hear that. Those were words of victory. It was not only victory for Christ, but it is also victory for all of us who choose to follow Him and to know Him as our Lord and Savior. It is finished.
Here is another thing. I don’t believe that those words were whispered. No I don’t. I believe those words were shouted. I believe they were shouted because Jesus wanted Satan and all of his demons to know that the battle was over. Satan had been defeated. Jesus had successfully completed His mission, so, before He took His last breath, He shouted, “IT IS FINISHED”. It is finished.
Let’s examine the words of Jesus, “It is finished.” Exactly what was it that was finished? When He received the vinegar and uttered those famous words, what was He saying?
Over the years, I have done a lot of research on this subject. I’ve read a lot of books and utilized the Internet.
One of the things I learned is what Jesus meant when he said, “It is finished”.
First of all, it meant that His life on earth was finished. Although He is God, while He was here on earth, He was a living, moving, breathing human being. He ate. He slept. He walked. He wept. He preached and He prayed. When he uttered those words; all of that was finished.
His holy hands that had healed so many, given strength to the lame and sight to the blind would soon be cold and motionless.
His feet, which had walked on so many missions of mercy, would soon become rigid and unmoving. His voice, that had spoken countless words of grace and love to so many, would soon become silent. His body, which had carried Him through three decades of life, would soon become lifeless. It is finished. Yes, Jesus’ human life had come to an end.
It also meant that His work on earth was finished. All of the Old Testament prophesies were fulfilled. Death and the grave were defeated. Everything that He had been sent here to do was finished.
Let me personalize this thing for you. When I was nine years old, I sat in the back of the Rose of Sharon Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago and listened as my first pastor, the Reverend James A. Murphy, preached a sermon about Adam and Eve. It was the first time I had ever heard the story; so I sat there somewhat spellbound as he talked about the fall of man and the consequences that we all had to suffer because of the fall.
Although my brother and I were in church every Sunday, I think that was the first time one of Rev. Murphy’s sermons really hit home with me. I loved to hear him preach Sunday after Sunday. It was through him that I first heard the story of the three Hebrew boys in the fiery furnace and Daniel in the lion’s den.
There were so many sermons that Rev. Murphy preached that made me feel good. The Prodigal Son, The Good Samaritan, and Lazarus being raised from the dead were just a few. I guess you could call them shouting sermons.
But the fall of man was not a shouting sermon, not to me. Because the only thing that my little nine-year old mind could digest was that because of Adam’s sin and disobedience, I was going to die and go to hell someday and there was nothing that I could do about it.
I felt when Adam fell, I too had fallen. I was a sinner. I didn’t want to be a sinner. I didn’t even know what a sinner was. I was just nine years old.
Rev. Murphy didn’t let the story end there. He told me about Romans 5:19, where it says, “As by one man’s disobedience” meaning Adam, “many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one,” meaning the finished work of Jesus Christ, “shall many be made righteous.” Jesus took a sad story and gave it a happy ending.
Because of His finished work on Earth and on the cross, when we repent and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, God forgives us for our sins. Man’s problem is that we have a hard time forgiving ourselves.
“It is finished!” was His cry. His work was finished. It was complete. It was ended.
“It is finished,” however, refers only to Jesus’ redemptive work. We know from Scripture that His work as Lord continues.
Christ is in heaven right now as Lord of the universe and head of the church. Jesus is hard at work on our behalf and for our good; preparing a place for us, pleading for us before the Father, defending us, and keeping us safe from the attacks of Satan. It is finished.
Jesus has completed the work that God sent Him to do on Earth. What was started when Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem, was ended on Golgotha. Christ’s salvation work was done. It is finished.
This means that Christ’s work of suffering was done. Oh, how our Lord suffered. Think of Gethsemane, the Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod, and then Pilate again. Think of the brutal soldiers, the journey to Calvary, the nails of the crucifixion, those three awful hours of darkness when God forsook Him physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Our Lord suffered so very much.
But now it was finished. The cup of wrath has been drained. The wages of sin have been paid. The disgrace and shame, the suffering and the agony are past. Never again shall He experience pain. Never again shall He endure the taunts and the slaps of those who hate Him. Never again shall He be in the hands of His enemies. Never again shall He be in darkness. Never again shall God’s presence be taken from Him. It is finished.
It is finished means that nothing more could be done or would be required to secure the salvation of sinners.
I read the story about a young man that came forward in a Gospel meeting asking, “What can I do to be saved?”
Knowing the man thought he had to do something dramatic to be saved, the pastor responded, “You are too late.”
“Please don’t say that,” exclaimed the distressed seeker. “I really want salvation. I will do anything or go anywhere to obtain it.”
“I’m sorry,” replied the pastor. “You are too late for that. Your salvation was completed many hundred years ago at Calvary. It is finished. All you have to do now is accept it.
In 1975, after my third court martial, I was given a bad conduct discharge from the United States Marines. That meant I didn’t have any benefits. Whenever I filled out applications for employment or was asked if I was a veteran, I had to say that I was not.
In 2008, I went to the veteran’s administration office and got a copy of my military records. To my surprise, I learned that the major charge that I was convicted of had been overturned on appeal in 1979.
Therefore, my bad conduct discharge had been thrown out and I was given an honorable discharge; but for almost thirty years, I had been living with the guilt and shame of a sentence that had been dismissed.
Man sold himself into sin, but Jesus paid the price to redeem mankind. He became a propitiation for our sins; appeasing God’s wrath and judgment; fully satisfying the demands of a righteous God in respect to judgment upon a sinner.
I’m not worried about anything because I’m a child of God. He adopted me a long time ago when Jesus hung on the cross and said, “it is finished.”
It is finished because the Father was satisfied. It is finished because the Son was crucified. It is finished because the Saints were edified.
At last and did my Savior bleed
And did my sovereign die
Would He devote that sacred head
For sinners such as I
At the cross – At the cross
Where I first saw the light
And the burden of my heart rolled away
It was there by faith
I received my sight
And now I am happy
All the day
It Is Finished.
"He's Only A Prayer Away: 9 Examples Of Praying Until Your Breakthrough" Book in Stores Now!!!
http://www.amazon.com/Hes-Only-Prayer-Away-Breakthrough/dp/0982033036/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1279928966&sr=1-7
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment