Later, knowing that all was now completed, and
so that the Scripture would be
fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there,
so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant,
and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When He had received the drink, Jesus said, "It
is finished." With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
John 19:28-30
"It is finished!" One of the
most powerful verses in all scripture! It suggests an act of the will. He gave
His life as a ransom for us! After saying that, Jesus gave up His spirit and
died. But what was finished?
His life,
His ministry,
His mission, or
His hopes
?
Jesus said that He had won the battle. However, Satan thought he
was the winner. After all, he had been able to inspire people to have Jesus
put to death. So who really won?
Satan was in for a great surprise, for Jesus descended to Satan’s realm
and took from him the keys to death, hell and the grave.
| "Since the children have flesh and blood,
He too shared in their humanity so
that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death--that
is, the devil--and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by
their fear of death. For surely it is not angels He helps, but Abraham's
descendants." Hebrews 2:14-17 |
| Wherefore he saith, "When He ascended up on high, He led captivity
captive, and gave gifts unto men." (Now that He ascended,
what is it but that He also descended
first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same
also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things.)
Ephesians 4:8-10 |
| "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge
fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of
the earth." Matthew 12:40 |
| "When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. Then He placed His
right hand on me and said: ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I
am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!
And I hold the keys of death and
Hades.’ " Revelation 1:17, 18
|
Prior to becoming a man, Jesus, as
the preincarnate Son of God, had all power and authority. He set that aside to
become a man. Part of His role is to serve as the second Adam. He came to live
the sinless life that Adam was intended to live. Because the first Adam gave
power and authority to Satan, Jesus had to redeem the power and authority in
His role as a human. Thus He refers to Himself as the Son of Man.
Jesus shows us how to live a perfect life by depending upon God for all
things. He then died for our sins, followed by a resurrection from the dead by
the power of the Holy Spirit to show that He indeed conquered death – the
second death.
Mankind then takes up the responsibility of responding to God’s love.
Just as Jesus willingly died for us, we exercise our free choice to receive
Jesus as Lord and Savior, and we live our lives as a "living sacrifice," doing
and being what God wants us to be.
Jesus’ work is finished; ours is
not.
He conquered death FOR us; we
conquer life THROUGH Him!
How?
Receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior!
Refuse to let your emotions rule you!
Life in the natural:
It is normal to have times of low energy.
If low energy comes at a time when things are difficult, we often get
discouraged.
Discouragement turns into despair when we lose sight of God’s love,
power and purpose for our lives!
Life in the spiritual:
Meditate on God’s word
- To "murmur," to talk it over with yourself
- To imagine, study, talk about it with others
To ponder God’s word
MAKE A DECISION
to always love and obey God
Jesus decided to obey God – and sweat drops of blood in the struggle. We
will struggle as well!
Know that there will be occasional times of crises.
Abram struggled – he had his wife tell the king she was Abram’s sister.
David had to kill the lion and the bear so he would know he could stand
against Goliath.
King Saul flunked the test and God rejected him as king.
John the Baptist had a struggle of faith after he spent time in prison
Judas flunked his test and killed himself!
Peter struggled and denied Jesus, but he sought and received
forgiveness.
For us, "It is finished" means we have made up our
minds – the struggle whether or not to obey God has been made for eternity!
Once that
decision has been made we discover that God will marshal of the powers of
heaven to help us continue growing in the Lord! |
