Beginning at the End

Last Thursday was "Maundy Thursday," the traditional somber celebration of Christ's arrest and trial. Friday was "Good Friday," the day we recognize the Crucifixion, the slaying of the Son of God on our behalf. (It's almost ironic that we call that "good.")

The last thing that Jesus said as He hung on that cross was recorded in John's Gospel.

When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished,” and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. (John 19:30)

"It is finished." In Greek, a single word: "Tetelestai" They tell me it was used as an economic term for "paid in full." "It is finished." What was finished?

At that moment Christ became our "propitiation" (Rom 3:25; 1 John 2:2; 1 John 4:10). The term means, in general, "atonement," but the sense of it is the appeasement of wrath. Based on His sacrifice on our behalf and our subsequent justification by faith, , Paul concludes, "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Rom 5:1) The wrath that God has for sin (Rom 1:18) has been finished in Christ.

In Acts the believers pray for boldness in persecution "for truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place." (Acts 4:27-28) In the garden He prayed, "Thy will be done." When Jesus paid that price on the cross, He completed the will of the Father there.

On that cross He fulfilled prophecies and gave substances to Old Testament ceremonies, a reality that sacrifices could not finish. He did. He paid the price for us in full (Rom 3:24; Col 1:13-14).

At the cross He made a substantive change to believers. Before we believed, we were sinners, incapable of anything but sin. Because "It is finished," we, by faith, are justified and born again to new life. At this point we have the possibility of choosing not to sin. We are baptized with Him into death and raised to new life (Rom 6:4). Sin is ended for the believer. We merely await the completion of that reality.

There's more, but you can begin to see the breadth of "It is finished." So today we celebrate His Resurrection, God's receipt for Christ's payment. His resurrected life is our eternal life. His resurrection is our certainty of salvation. His newness of life is our hope. But we begin this story, this journey, this faith at the end: "It is finished." And we rejoice in that "already, not yet" completion.