Title It is finished / John 19:28-30
content has been completed
John 19:28-30
One week before Passion Sunday, I would like to reflect on the words “It is finished” among the seven words of the Lord on the cross today.
The word "finished" is the Greek word "tetelestai", which means "to finish completely at once".
The Lord is saying that these short words have been accomplished, as if a climber had struggled to conquer the top of a mountain and expressed the feeling of conquering it with the words “Yah!”.
Just as those who have to conquer the top of a mountain, after overcoming pain and adversity, inevitably climb to the top, cry out for victory.
On the cross, the Lord endured a lot of pain in order to say “It is finished”.
In addition, he has overcome many human temptations and contempt, broke all Satan's schemes, and is telling this moving cry.
This shout of the Lord was the dog of victory over the devil, and it was the moment when God's wish came true. It was also the moment when all the problems in our lives were solved.
Truly, in these words, we discover the core of the gospel, and we can realize that all the secrets of Christianity are hidden in these words.
What is the Lord saying now that it is finished?
What does "completely finished at once" mean literally?
First, he said, “It is finished” because the problem of sin in our lives has been completely solved.
In the saying that it is truly finished, it teaches us that many of our life's problems have been solved. Among them, the most representative fact is that the problem of sins in our lives has been resolved.
In the Old Testament, in the image of Jesus Christ, as an ox, sheep, or goat, it was made to atone for people's sins, but such atonement was one-time and incomplete. In other words, there was no fundamental ability to forgive sins.
It was merely a foreshadowing that Christ would shed His blood to completely and eternally atone for the sins of men, through the shed blood of animals in their stead to forgive the sins of men.
This great proclamation is a blessing not only for you who are sitting here today, but also for those who are wandering in the other world.
It was a grace that applied not only to those who were with him at the time of Jesus, but also to those at the far end of the earth.
Also, this blessing is a blessing given to countless generations of people who are born and die on this earth.
Just as one man Adam sinned and sin entered all mankind, so the grace of forgiveness of sins was proclaimed to all mankind through one man, Jesus Christ.
Please believe that the Lord has already taken care of your sins and paid the price for your sins, so He has solved all the problems of your sins.
However, we would like to listen carefully to the end of today's sermon and draw a true conclusion on how this blessing of free grace can be applied to us.
In any case, the word of the Lord that it is finished reminds us that the truth of the atonement for the sins of all mankind is implied.
Second, it teaches us that all the problems of disease have been solved.
Diseases here include diseases of the soul, mind, and body.
In John 5, a 38-year-old man was lying in the pool of Bethesda. He had to lie down because no one had been able to heal him for 38 years.
The Lord healed him.
As Matthew 8:17 says, He Himself took our infirmities and carried our diseases.
In curing our diseases, the Lord heals us with the power of the Lord directly for physical healing, and He also heals us through medicine or medicine, just as He healed us by making mud and putting it on our eyes and telling us to go to the Pool of Siloam and wash.
However, what is clear is that the Lord wants our diseases to be healed by any means as the saying goes, “I, the Lord, am a God of healing” (Exodus 15:26).
The Lord did not reject a single weak person who stood before him, but healed them cleanly.
In this "It is finished" word, we believe that He took on all our infirmities and diseases and gave us the blessing of healing, and when we are sick in spirit, heart, or body, do not hesitate to seek the Lord's grace and obtain a solution. I sincerely wish you the best of luck.
The third is that He has resolved the futility and suffering of life.
No one was able to solve his own problems, the feeling of despair and loneliness and emptiness in Zacchaeus' heart.
He wanted to climb a mulberry tree and meet Jesus Christ to solve his empty heart.
After Zacchaeus met the Lord, all the problems of his life were resolved. His actions clearly show that.
His emptiness and loneliness disappeared without even a shadow. He found the true meaning of life, and his lonely heart was filled with poor and unfair neighbors.
Think of the woman you met in Suga, Samaria.
She was a woman who lived in the emptiness of life more than anyone else. The fact that he had six husbands shows how hard he worked to solve his problems.
But his conclusion was "I have no husband." It was content.
It is a confession that there was nothing that could solve the problems in his life.
But we know that that woman was also solved through Jesus Christ.
Isn't the fact that the suicide rate is higher in developed countries than in developing countries proves that human problems cannot be solved with material, pleasure, or civilization?
When the emptiness in our lives and the problems in life are resolved, we can truly rejoice, be grateful, and love. Like Zacchaeus and the woman of Sychar.
For those of us who believe in the Lord Jesus, it would be a real pity if our goals and goals in life were not clear and we were swayed by the waves of the world.
Our sorrow, emptiness, loneliness, and anxiety have all been solved by the Lord so that we can be solved in Jesus.
The fourth is to say that the material problem has also been solved.
In 2 Kings 4, the wife of a prophetess came to see Elisha. It was the story of two sons being sold due to debt.
Elisha solved the woman's material problems. A bottle of oil in the woman's house fixed it. What does this oil mean?
Isn't it only Jesus Christ Himself that we have?
When we enter the closet and meet him on a deeper level, the material problem will be solved.
Why did the Lord solve the material problem? Because the power of matter is so great.
The Lord puts material and Himself on the same line and compares them. In other words, he said that he cannot serve two masters and that he cannot serve both God and material things.
Matter is the master of many people. Materials give joy to those who have them, raise their status, and cause pain and anxiety to those who do not have them.
Therefore, this substance can seriously threaten the faith of Christians.
Even in the Bible, there are many people who have fallen because of material things.
Even Achan and Ananias and Sapphira, who were filled with the Holy Spirit, including Gehazi, Elisha's servant, were tempted by material things and became losers in their faith.
Because material things can knock down many of God's people, the Lord wanted to solve the material problem fundamentally, and you have to believe that the material problem is also included in the content of the word that it has been completed. .
It has a great suggestion to us how Elijah dwelt in the house of the widow of Zarephath, and how, in a drought of three years and six months, with a handful of flour and a drop of oil, Elijah, the woman, and her children did not run out of food for more than three years. What is the lesson for us that the Lord fed more than 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish and there were still twelve baskets of bread left? It is showing that material problems can be solved in the Lord.
Therefore, by saying that worrying about what to eat and what to drink is what Gentiles do, the children of God are emphasizing that the material problem is solved in the Lord.
Fifth, the problem of death has been fulfilled.
The problem of death becomes a fundamental and dreadful problem in our lives.
Also, although it is a problem that cannot be solved, the Lord showed how the problem of death was solved by raising Lazarus from the dead, the daughter of Jairus the synagogue leader, and the son of the widow of Nain.
Therefore, now the Lord said, "He who believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die" (John 11:25-26).
All of these blessings of eternal life were fulfilled in the death of the Lord on the cross.
In this way, we considered the contents of the Lord's words, "It is finished."
I have confirmed that the words of the Lord contain blessings that are truly blessed and cannot be expressed in human words.
Many people cannot help but be moved by these blessings, and they cannot help but rejoice.
Let us now consider how this blessing of the Lord applies to people.
As I said, the Lord has done this for all mankind. Whether you believe in Jesus or not.
However, if this fact is misunderstood, we may fall into the so-called “theory of salvation for all people” and fall into the error that ultimately all people will be saved regardless of whether they believe in Jesus or not.
We need to know that this false theology is not biblically valid.
You must believe in order to receive the blessings that have been fulfilled.
God cannot grant forgiveness of sins or any blessings to unbelievers.
But, gentlemen, it is the fact that in order for our faith not to become knowledgeable and self-deceptive, we must repent and believe in the Lord Jesus.
God gives faith as a gift to the repentant heart. In the absence of desperate repentance, people try to accept this good news merely intellectually or doctrinally.
And we are infinitely grateful for the grace of the Lord, but only when we become humble enough to be given faith, that is, when we become a repentant spirit, are we worthy of receiving this blessing from the Lord.
What did you say to the many who were pierced after hearing Peter's sermon? “Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus”.
Wasn't John the Baptist and Jesus Himself urging them to repent before accepting the kingdom by saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"?
The real problem today is that people are taking this good news cheaply.
without repentance. That is, while still having a worldly mind and not stopping the evil things.
In addition, while following the world and continuing to follow the decaying old customs, we are trying to acknowledge and accept this blessing only as the truth itself.
New wine should be put in new bottles, but they are still trying to put new wine in old bottles, but they are throwing away the alcohol and throwing away the bottle as well.
If you want to receive this new wine, the "finished" blessing, come out of the world.
Make a new spirit, a new army.
Then the new wine will pour itself out.
To those who repent and believe, the blessing of the word “It is finished” will shine truly beautifully. End.