It Is Finished!

“It Is Finished!”

For me, those words mean satisfaction, relief, and the fact that I can go forward into the next project, need, assignment. I have a sense of well-being and I am proud of whatever I have finished. Sometimes I will go back and look at the “finished” product or project over and over, enjoying the results of my handiwork.

I am guarded over and take care of things that took much time, effort and energy to complete. I understand the process and the difficulty that the project took.

Finally, I want someone else to celebrate with me in it’s completion. If it is something material, I want others to enjoy it… and maybe I would even like to give it to someone who would cherish it.

I cannot help but think that if I feel this way over anything that I do, then how much more does God, our Father, feel towards us, His creation and the redemptive work of His Son at Calvary? How He must anticipate sharing salvation with us, as well as our acceptation of the gift… that Finished Work!

Surely, we are cherished by a loving Creator. Out of His love for us come provision, protection and care. Surely, Jesus bore our weaknesses, our sorrows and our infirmities (Isaiah 53:4) so that we might enjoy a fullness of life and the experience of a cleansing tide of love that washes over us… a wholeness, completion and finished product of a life in Christ, Who makes all things new!

On the cross, Christ cried out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30), and His soul was satisfied knowing that we could live eternally. He knows the cost of that finished work, and His desire is for us to come and celebrate and share in the fullness of His love, peace and joy. He wants for us to cherish our salvation…it is something He wants to give to all who really want it.

I wonder how many people want it?  I wonder how many people grasp what “it” really is? I believe that many people only want the “Ivory soap” part…the desire of a clean conscience, but not truly being sorrowful for sin. Prayer that acts as a “Get Out of Jail Free” card or just a way of “getting something off if your shoulders” offers some mental relief, but not eternal peace of the heart.

The Finished Work of Christ is a gift to be received. Salvation is like a hedge of protection, a house that Jesus built that can be entered into, lived in, and walked in. It is a place where we can “dine” with Him, a placed where we are “washed” in the blood, and a place of rest. Salvation is a place where we should invite others… to come into and enjoy, dine, rest and share in the fruit of Christ’s finished work. It is here that we may share the love, peace and joy that adorn our hearts and homes.

“It is finished!” was a powerful cry that signified Christ’s experience of death, the physical relief of pain and suffering on the cross. For the fact that Jesus knew what was to come, I believe that He also experienced excitement and joy, knowing that His sacrifice completed a cherished gift of God to be freely given to all who would receive it and experience the rewards of its possession.

Our salvation is more than just forgiveness, relief from sin debt and a set of “house rules.” People have difficulty understanding its depth because of its purity…we have never experienced that sort of pure sacrificial love, and so it is viewed as humanly impossible. The human mind and heart tend to reject that which it cannot see and understand.

We must activate the the measure of faith (Romans 12:3) that was freely given to every man. Faith is like a key that unlocks the door to the house…the house of salvation built on the shed blood of Christ… a sacrificial love. Receive Christ's gift and celebrate today…a representation of the finished work that is an entrance into our salvation!     

Be Blessed In Jesus' Name!
Angie