"It Is Finished For You"
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from
God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
We
gather here to observe the Passion of our Lord.
The thing for which He was born to do; to suffer and to die on the cross
for your salvation. His bloody death is
intensely before our eyes for us to behold.
There, we see the cost for our sins; the sins that we so flippantly commit,
the sins we’ve planned, the sins that are the evil we don’t want to do but keep
on doing. We just sang in Paul
Gerhardt’s beautiful hymn, “I caused your grief and sighing, By evils
multiplying. As countless as the
sands. I Caused the woes unnumbered with
which your soul is cumbered. Your
sorrows raised by wicked hands.” It’s
true. We look down at our hands and
they’re red with the blood of Jesus. My
sin is what pinned Jesus to the cross.
Yet,
this day isn’t about feeling guilt for Jesus’ sake. He doesn’t go to the cross so that you would
feel shame. Jesus didn’t allow Himself
to be nailed to the cross that we would look at His lifeless body and think,
“What have I done!” You have God’s Law for
that!
Jesus’
cross isn’t about feeling guilt over what our sins cost; rather, it’s about
your forgiveness, your salvation being complete. If there’s nothing else that you glean from
this day, let it be this: Jesus, the
only begotten Son of the Father, is sent to carry your sins and to pay for them
in full by His dying on the cross. The
reason Jesus went to the cross wasn’t so that you would feel ashamed but that
you would be given an eternal inheritance.
As proof of this, I point you to Jesus’ own words; three of the most
important words in all of Scripture: “It
is finished.” “It is finished.”
What
is the “it” that Jesus is referring? His
work of salvation for you. Why is this
little phrase so important? Because it’s
either finished or Jesus isn’t telling the truth. Jesus has either completed the work of
salvation or your sins are they’re still with you. It’s either finished or there is still
something left for you to do. Some
little part for you to play. Some small
task that must be done by you. But Jesus
says, “It is finished.” Three of the
greatest Words we could hear. It is
finished. Your sins cling to you no
longer!
The
work of salvation is done. There’s
nothing left to do. There’s nothing that
you can add to Jesus’ salvific work. It
is finished. For you. Your sin atoned for. Paradise’s door wide open through He who bore
His cross for you. It is finished.
That’s
the “good” in Good Friday. Though, to
the world it looks like defeat, God uses it for your eternal good. By the wounds of Jesus you’re healed. By His stripes you’re set free. Be His cross you’re forgiven. The highest good has been won for you!
On
this Good Friday, behold the cross of Jesus that say to yourself these little
words, “It is finished for me. Those are
my sins Jesus is paying for. The devil
can accuse me no longer! For my sins
aren’t on me, they’re on Jesus and if they’re on Jesus, they’ve been paid for
in full!” It’s been finished all for
you.
So this
day, let us leave here not in sorrow on Jesus’ account but rejoicing. For the Words it is finished is our triumphant
cry. In these little words, we proclaim
that Jesus is our Savior who has finished and completed His work of your
salvation. Amen
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.
