It Is Finished by Lou Lots

It Is Finished February 24, 2019 Read: John 19:28-30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (v. 30) Hanging on the cross, wracked with pain, suspended between heaven and earth as though neither one wanted him, Jesus cried out, “It is finished.” This is not an expression of defeat. It is not a death rattle. It is not a gurgle of surrender. Rather, it is an expression of achievement and completion. The Lord did not say, “I am finished.” He said, “It is finished.” What is finished? The work of redemption, that’s what. The Latin says it splendidly: Consummatum est. It is consummated, completed. As Charles Wesley puts it in one of his hymns: “Love’s redeeming work is done; / fought the fight, the battle won.” At the very moment when it appears he is defeated, Jesus announces that he is actually the victor. He has done what he came into the world to do. The battle is won. The debt is paid. The work of redemption is done, accomplished, perfected. It is finished, and nothing can happen now to undo it. Every day the news is awash with sin and sadness. War, terrorism, political scandal, disease, poverty—everywhere it seems that evil has the upper hand. This hurts my heart, but I do not despair, and neither should you. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). Why? Because the work of redemption is done, and it can never be undone. It is finished. —Lou Lotz  As you pray, thank God for finishing the work of redemption.