When Jesus had tasted it, he said, ‘It is finished!’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. -John 19:30 (NLT)
My father was the toughest man I’ve ever known. Not stern or hard to get to know or unloving. On the contrary, dad wore his heart on his sleeve, had a tender heart, and was always loving and affectionate. But dad had a threshold for pain that I will never understand. The guy was as tough as nails. No one could take a baseball bat to the chin (there were many baseball injuries), a knee to the thigh (there were many wrestling injuries), or a tablesaw to the hand (there were many construction injuries) like he could.
Dad was also a fighter. He fought through years of diabetes, heart attacks, a stroke, botched back surgeries, and ultimately liver failure in a way that defies logic. In his final days, dad held onto life longer than anyone could have ever imagined, surviving conditions to which most healthy people would have easily succumbed. The sheer grit and will of John Scribner in his final days in this world was a marvel to behold.
But in a distinct point in time, he died. In one moment he was alive; in the next moment he was not. I watched it happen. I’ll never forget that moment as long as I live.
He Died a Real Death
As unique as the story about my father’s life may be, the truth is there was nothing unique about his death. It was quite ordinary. So ordinary, in fact, you could say he died the same death we all die. Here one moment; gone the next. In an instant. Whether one suffers from a terminal disease for years or dies suddenly in a car accident, the death of one is the same as the other. Death is death.
In this regard, the death of Jesus Christ was no different. It was a normal human death. It was real. There was a specific moment in time where he was alive and then in the next his spirit departed from his body, just like with dad and just like (someday) you and me.
In all the ways that pertain to our salvation, Jesus Christ was both utterly unique and at the same time utterly ordinary.
If this were not true, it could not be argued he was fully human. As Gregory of Nyssa once said, “He who decided to share our humanity had to experience all that belongs to our nature.”
Human life is encompassed between a definite start and end. If he had experienced one without the other, he would have only half fulfilled his purpose.
His Redeeming Work Was Complete
It would be a mistake to think that when Christ said, “It is finished,” he only meant his earthly life. Yes, it meant that, but so much more. It meant the very purpose and mission for which he had come into the world, including all prophecy pointing toward this moment, had been completed.
What began in his baptism had come to its conclusion: His redeeming work for humanity.
In the words of Martin Luther:
By the departing word, ‘It is finished,’ Christ indicates that all scripture is fulfilled. He says in effect: World and devil have done as much to me as they were able to do, and I have suffered as much as was necessary for the salvation of men…and no one need argue something still remains to be fulfilled.
As Jesus, the spotless lamb of God, gave up his life for the sins of the world, his saving work was complete. On his cross, the saving act had decisively occurred. It was objectively done. It required no further sacrificial work on the part of the crucified Lord. The ransom for sin had been paid. The penalty for sin had been endured. The divine-human enmity was at an end. Redemption was sufficiently and perfectly accomplished.
It is forever finished.
He Saves to the Uttermost
Because his work on the cross is complete, you and I can be completely saved. In an instant. Right now!
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. -2 Cor. 5:21 (NLT)
The complete work of Jesus means you and I can be reconciled to God. Where once there was hostility, now there is peace. What Jesus accomplished objectively on a Roman cross 2,000 years ago for all humanity is subjectively available to you and me by faith in this moment. Nothing more needs to be done. We need only believe and receive.
But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. -Hebrews 10:12 (NLT)
He saves to the uttermost. The words of Gregory of Nazianzus, “A few drops of blood recreate the whole world,” echo in those of Luther, “The person is eternal and infinite, and even one little drop of his blood would have been enough to save the entire world,” and they can be experienced by you.
I invite you to let the him recreate you. Resolve now to trust in his sacrifice on your behalf and in your place. May it be said of your faith in his saving work, “It is finished.”
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