“IT IS FINISHED!”
Those are the three most powerful words ever spoken!
They are the last words of Jesus while He was still in His earth suit. They are three words that are clear and easy to understand.
JESUS MEANT WHAT HE SAID!
Jesus breathed His last breath, said those words, and evacuated His earth suit. Then all of the prophecies about Him and ALL of His promises were completed.
There is now nothing that we can do to make His work more complete!
At that moment, God’s promise to Malachi came true. He indeed opened up the flood gates of heaven and poured out a blessing on us so great that we can not contain it.
Works Died, and Belief and Grace Through Faith were born again!
When Jesus taught the disciples and the Jews and Gentiles in the Synagogue that He would fulfill and replace the Law of Moses (the ten commandments and the attached 603 man-made ordinances), they freaked out, panicked, and ran away. The haters, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes scoffed and asked Jesus this question.
“Then they asked Him, “What are we to do so that we may habitually be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered, “This is the work of God: that you believe and believe in the One whom He has sent.”
(John 6:28-29)
Instantly our relationship with God went from performance to belief. ALL of our blessings including salvation are received by only one thing now, BELIEVING AND BELIEVING IN JESUS!
A LOUD EXCLAMATION POINT
After Jesus said those words, three huge miracles happened. First, the veil in the temple that separated men from God was torn from the top to the bottom.
Then the earth shook, and an earthquake happened. Finally, many graves opened, and dead people came forth and began to walk the streets of Jerusalem.
(Matthew 27:50-53)
It is essential to understand the three critical ingredients to our relationship with God.
BELIEF...A choice that we make.
GRACE... GOD’S willingness, ability, and power that has done those things for us that we can not or will not do
for ourselves.
FAITH… Living in this present moment (Now) with joyful celebration (hope) of receiving the Great and Precious Promises of God. (the evidence of things not seen)
(Hebrews 11:1)
Faith like grace is a free (meaning it can not be earned, added to, multiplied, divided, subtracted, grown, or expanded) gift from God. We receive faith when we believe Jesus; it is given to us not by our works but by His righteousness, and without using it, it is impossible to please God.
(2Peter1:1, Hebrews 11:6)
When Jesus declared that He had completely finished His work and paid for and guaranteed all of our blessings with His blood, everything about our relationship with God was changed from performance to Grace through Faith.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, delivered from judgment, and given eternal life through faith. And this is not of yourselves, not through your effort, but it is the undeserved, gracious gift of God; not as a result of your works nor your attempts to keep the Law, so that no one will be able to boast or take credit in any way for his salvation.
For we are His workmanship, His own masterwork, a work of art, created in Jesus reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared for us beforehand so that we would walk in them living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us.
Therefore, remember that at one time, you Gentiles by birth, who are called “Uncircumcision” (Us, all non-Jews) by those who called themselves (Jews) “Circumcision,” itself a mere mark which is made in the flesh by human hands— remember that at that time you were separated from Jesus excluded from any relationship with Him, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. Strangers to the covenants of promise with no share in the sacred Messianic promise and without knowledge of God’s agreements, having no hope in His promise and living in the world without God.
(Ephesians 2:8-9)
MEANING
Before Jesus paid the price for our righteousness, our right standing with God, and justified us before Him, we Gentiles were lost. We were never under the ten commandments or God’s compacts or ordinances with the Jews.
BUT THEN JESUS WAS LIFTED UP ON THE CROSS AND
“Now judgment is upon this world; the sentence is being passed. Now the ruler of this world (satan) will be cast out. And I, if and when I am lifted up from the earth on the cross, will draw ALL PEOPLE to Myself Gentiles and Jews.”
NOW
Holy Spirit speaking to us through Paul about Abraham’s faith being credited to him as right standing with God, dictated these words to him about us:
“But for our sakes too. Right standing with God will be credited to us also who believe in God, Who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, Who was betrayed and put to death because of our misdeeds and was raised to secure our justification (our being found not guilty by God)
THEREFORE, SINCE we are justified through faith, let us grasp the fact that we have the peace of reconciliation to hold and enjoy peace with God through our Lord Jesus.
Through Him also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, And let us rejoice and exult in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God.”
(Romans 4:24-5:2)
So much was accomplished in that split second of time
that as John wrote:
“And there are also many things, which Jesus did. If they should all be recorded one by one in detail, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written“.
(John 21:25)
ONLY REMEMBER, ALL THAT JESUS DID WAS BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU, PERSONALLY THAT MUCH, REGARDLESS OF YOUR BEHAVIOR.
