Lessons From Jesus on the Cross #7 - It is Finished

 Last week we talked about the statement, “I thirst.”  That once again pointed to the fulfillment of prophecy.  Immediately following that statement Jesus Said:

(John 19:29-30)

Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

This is the moment of Jesus’ death.  “It is finished.”  Then He gave up His spirit. 

There was a work that Jesus did on the cross.  There was something He was there to complete.  Today I want to examine that work.

If I asked you why did Jesus have to die on the cross, I would bet that you all have an answer.  Right? So, why did Jesus have to die on the cross.  To free us from sin! Let’s look at some scriptures that explain that.

So, let’s start with the Old Testament;

Sin Separates Us from God

(Genesis 2:15-17)

  Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

Because of Sin we are separated from God.  God commanded Adam that he could eat of any tree in the Garden with the exception of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Look what happened after Adam and Eve did exactly that and sinned:

(Genesis 3:22-24)

Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"—therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

God drove them out of the Garden.  He separated Himself from them. He no longer walked with them in the cool of the Garden.  What is His reasoning?  It’s right there in verse 22: “Lest (in case) He put out his hand and take also of the fruit of the Tree of Life and live forever.”

(Psalm 14:2-3)

The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.

Mankind turned away from God and was corrupted.  So, after this mankind was separated from God.  God’s perfect creation was corrupted.  You can think of it like divorce.  The relationship becomes corrupted, it’s become unworkable, the couple must separate and can’t be together unless there is some kind of reconciliation.

Adam and Eve sinned and became corrupted and that corruption passed down through them to all generations.  We all have that taint or iniquity of sin on us.  Jesus came to earth to overcome sin, and separation from God.  To reconcile us with God.  Reconcile means to bring us back together.  But how dos His death reconcile us with God?

Sin Requires Atonement

In order to be reconciled with God there must be an atonement for sin.  Atonement means that there is an action that makes amends for a wrong, in this case, sin.  In the Book of Leviticus God created a system of sacrifices that atone for sin.

(Leviticus 17:11)

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.'

This scripture tells that the Key component of atonement is BLOOD.  There is a day of atonement that takes place once a year.  Look at how it plays out:

(Leviticus 16:15-16)

"Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness.

A goat is killed and its blood is sprinkled on the altar and on the MERCY SEAT.  The Mercy Seat is on the top of the Ark of the Covenant and is the place that God He would meet with His people.  So blood is sprinkled there to atone for our sin. 

(Hebrews 9:22)

And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

The book of Hebrews tells us that only blood can cause the remission of sin.  Remission comes from the word remit which means to send away.  Our sin is sent away through blood atonement. 

One final word about atonement is that the word translated as atonement mean to cover.  We as Christians say, “I’m covered by the blood of Jesus.”  In other words, Jesus’ blood atones for our sin.

The Passover Lamb

I want to look for a moment at the Passover Lamb.  In the book of Exodus, there are ten curses that God put on the Egyptians in order to get Pharaoh to release the Israelites.  Water turned to blood, Flies, Lice, Frogs, Death of livestock, Boils, Fire and Hail, Locusts, Darkness and the Death of the Firstborn. 

The ritual od Passover was instituted for the last plague, the death of the firstborn. We did a study once before on Passover.  But here is the part that I want you to see:

(Exodus 12:6-7)

Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.

Okay, so the lamb is killed and blood is put on the doorposts and the lintel of the house.

(Exodus 12:12-13)

'For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

When God passes through the land, He will see the blood on the doorposts and pass over those homes and not kill the firstborn there.  It is like a mark or a seal on them that protects them.  Now let’s flash forward to Jesus’ time.  Jesus is about to begin His ministry.  John the Baptist is out preaching “Repent for the Kingdom of God is near!”  Jesus walks up and:

(John 1:29)

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

  This is a reference to the Passover Lamb.  If you draw a line from the blood on the lintel to the ground below it, and a line from one doorpost to the other.  The blood makes the shape of a cross. As Jesus is hung on the ross there is blood from the wounds on His head and feet and from His Hands.  It is similar to the smears of blood on the lintel and doorpost on Passover.  Jesus is the Passover Lamb for us!

The Work of the Cross

Let’s look back at what we have said here today.

1.      Our sin separates us from God and requires atonement in order to reconcile with God.

2.      The Price of Atonement is Blood.

3.      Ther blood of the Passover Lamb preserved the life of the Israelites in Egypt.

4.      Jesus is the Passover Lamb

So, what did Jesus do on the cross and who did he do it for?

(Romans 3:23-25)

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,

We are all sinners.  All of us have done things that violate God’s commands to us.  Even after accepting Jesus’ sacrifice and redemption we still sin.  It is our nature as human beings.

(1Timothy 1:15)

This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

This is Paul saying this but I think we can all put our own names on this. We have all sinned and we all put Him on the cross.

(1 Corinthians 15:3)

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

Christ Died for OUR sins!

(2 Corinthians 5:21)

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

 In the atonement ritual, not only is one goat killed and his blood spread on the Mercy Seat, but there is a second goat.  The High priest lays hands on the second goat and transfers the sins of the people on to that goat.  In a sense making him to be the sin of the people.  He was then led into the wilderness and the sin removed from the people.

(Ephesians 1:7)

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

His death and blood spilled is the price of atonement and reconciliation with God.  This is the work of the cross. Finally, look at this:

(Matthew 27:51)

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,

The veil in the temple was the symbol of our separation from God.  That veil separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple.  The Holy of Holes is the place where God dwelt in the Temple.  That veil enforced the separation but on Jesus’ death the veil was torn in two.  We were no longer separated from God.  This is the work.  He paid the price of atonement and reconciled us with God.  He cried out “It is finished!” at the completion of that work.