It Is Finished (10-Pack)

"It Is Finished"

Jesus Christ's final words, hanging upon that cross, were: "It is finished" (John 19:30). What does that mean?

It means that when Jesus Christ showed up twenty centuries ago, he had not come to start a new religion. He had come to end all religion.

Religion is about what we do for God. The message of Jesus--what he called "the gospel" or "happy announcement"--is about what God has done for us.

Religion hands us a stack of bills to pay. The gospel hands us a blank check.

The Central Message of Christianity

The central message of Christianity is not what many people think--including many people who have been attending church their whole lives. Like an adopted orphan who has trouble accepting that his new parents really love him, we all deeply believe that God deals with us on terms of religion, not gospel.

What then is the central message of Christianity?

The core message of Christianity is not that God condemns or judges or punishes. The primary message of Christianity is not that God teaches or commands or instructs. The main message of Christianity is not even that God helps or strengthens or empowers. The central message of Christianity is that God substitutes.

We understand this in theory from everyday life. A substitute teacher fills in for the regular teacher who is out sick that day. A basketball player comes off the bench to sub in for a tired or injured player.

And what was happening when Jesus was on that cross, uttering his final words, "It is finished"?

He was completing his work as our substitute. He was subbing himself in for us, if we will have him. But this was not like one basketball player for another. It was more like a king subbing himself in for a condemned prisoner.

On the cross, Jesus was suffering the death, the sentence of condemnation, that all of us deserve. He exhausted the full penalty that our sin deserved, for any who desire it. And so he said: "It is finished."

The Devastating Problem

How does this land on you? Maybe it sounds interesting, but not all that compelling.

Perhaps you believe there are people out there who really need some major forgiveness from God--our prisons are full of them. But you're doing okay. Maybe the notion of a king substituting himself for a condemned prisoner raises your eyebrows--I'm not a guilty prisoner, you may think.

You're friendly with your neighbors and drive the speed limit. You don't know what handcuffs feel like and you never dropped out of school. You vote as any thoughtful citizen votes and you try to look out for your fellow human beings. Maybe you've even given some money to charitable causes from time to time.

May I be so bold as to share a bit about myself?

All of the above is true of me too. And I'm violating the commands of the God who created me left and right.

Take the Ten Commandments, for example. The first commandment is, "You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). In other words, God should be the number one person in my life that I'm trusting in. But I find myself trusting in myself all the time--counting on my own abilities, trusting in my reputation, enjoying what others think of me, drawing strength psychologically from financial savings. Not a single day goes by that I do not break that command.

The sixth command is, "You shall not murder." I've never killed anyone. But Jesus said we've broken that command if we get angry with another person (Matthew 5:21-26). I get angry all the time, even if I'm usually able to keep it beneath the surface.

The seventh commandment is, "You shall not commit adultery." Once again, Jesus got to the heart of things and said that we've broken that command if we lust in our heart toward a woman (Matthew 5:27-30). I've broken that one countless times.

I've broken the ninth commandment, not to lie, many times--a little bending of the truth, a shaded explanation of something that casts me in a slightly better light. I've broken the tenth commandment, not to envy, anytime I've looked at another person and wished I had an ability or possession of theirs.

Truth be told, I've broken all the commandments.

I'm breaking God's commands left and right. So are you.

The Even Deeper Problem

But our problem is deeper than just breaking God's commands.

Breaking God's rules is the symptom, not the disease. The disease is what the Bible calls "sin." Sin is the dark twistedness within that causes us to live for ourselves. As we go through life, all we know is to live for Self. Even acts of love or neighborly friendliness, when honestly examined, are really just so that we will feel better about ourselves or so that others will think well of us.

We may not feel that sinful--just as a fish doesn't feel that wet. But we don't feel it only because we're immersed in it all the time.

Think of it this way. If sin is the color blue, it isn't as if convicted felons have lots of blue and the rest of us are pretty much clean and white. Rather, everything that every one of us says, does, or even thinks has some taint of blue to it. We can't turn our sinfulness off any more than we can change our eye color.

But when Jesus showed up, he was different. He never broke any of God's commandments. He was the one person who didn't live for himself. He lived for others. He laid his life down for others. We view other people in terms of how they can serve the purpose of making my life better. We live a "your life for mine" existence. Jesus stands out brightly across the millennia of human history as the one person who ever truly lived a "my life for yours" existence.

He had no blue.

"I Want to Trade Places with You"

You and I break God's commands all the time. And deeper than that,