Last week we saw in Jesus his physical and spiritual agony as he said, “I am thirsty.” In that statement we saw that Christ indeed did indeed experience the things that we did physically. He knew what it was like to have a thirst, he had experienced dehydration. He didn’t have some phantom body that didn’t really experience pain like the Gnostics were trying to say. And when Christ took our sins upon himself he faced that separation from His Father and that spiritual thirst so that we could have our thirst filled through the living water of God. Today we come to the sixth statement from the cross. It is one of the most well known statements from the cross.
John 19:30
“It is finished” is translated from one word in Greek. The word is Telestai. It means to be finished, be completed, fulfilled, and perfected. It was a common word that was used. Merchants used to use it to mean that the price had been paid in full. Shepherds and priests used it when they found the perfect sheep, for they were the ones used for sacrifice. And servants used the word when they reported to their masters that their work had been completed. So Telestai was a very common phrase in that culture. So what does the phrase in the way that Jesus used it mean to us today? I believe that there are at least three lessons that we can apply to our lives from this statement.
One thing that we must realize is that this was not a statement of defeat. He didn’t say “I am finished.” He said, “It is finished.” Other words the task is completed! It was a shout of triumph. It was a statement of victory! Jesus Christ took on the role of a servant and He came and completed the task His Master and Father called Him to do. It was not an easy task, it was a lengthy and painful task that took tremendous pain and difficulty. It was a tremendous accomplishment that brings wonderful benefits to you and I. But what if Christ had come and reached the age of 18 and He wanted a little independence and He decided He didn’t want to do what He was sent into the world to do? Or what if decided in that Garden of Gethsemane at the age of 33 that He wasn’t going to go through with it? What if He came so far but decided at that moment of intense agony that it just wasn’t worth going through with it? He didn’t want to do it. He would have never been able to shout the victorious statement, “It is finished.” You see the first lesson that we get from that statement is this: Victory does not come from starting, victory comes through finishing. It wasn’t Christ coming into the world that paid the price for our sins on the cross. It wasn’t the miracles that He did that we have recorded in scriptures. It was He going all the way to the cross, fulfilling every prophecy along the way and taking on every bit of physical and spiritual pain and dying on the cross for our sins that made His task complete. That task is what brought God’s plans and purposes about. Whenever God’s plans and purposes are brought to fruition, that is victory! Christ was driven to finish His Father’s work. When the disciples were trying to get Jesus to eat at one point Jesus responded in John 4:34 “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” Jesus was driven not to begin His Father’s work, but to finish it! You see the question in our own lives should be whether we are driven to finish the task that God has called us to do. Sometimes we lack the determination that Christ had to finish the task. Sometimes we start really strong doing what we feel God has called us to do but then we lose focus and before you know it, we’ve dropped the ball and let it go by the wayside. And there are Christians who do that time after time. They start a project that they feel like God wants them to do, but then they get into it and something happens that discourages them and just like that they give up! You have to realize the victory is not in starting, although that often times takes courage, but the victory is finishing the task. Sometimes it hard for us to do that spiritually because we don’t do it our own personal lives as well. There are some of us that start a project at home and we get sidetracked or discouraged and all of a sudden that project is in limbo. And before you ever come back and finish that one you start another. All of a sudden you have four or five projects going on and not one of them is completed. That’s not a good habit to get into, it’s guaranteed to drive your spouse crazy. But when we do it spiritually I believe that God is not pleased. God wants to use us to accomplish His plans and purposes, but do you think He’s going to keep coming back to someone who starts what He wants him to do but never finishes it. God wants the tasks completed, He’s going to give the assignment to someone who is going to complete the spiritual task so that His plans and purposes can be carried out. God not only gave us the example of finishing the task through His son. But He has also given us the promise that the work that He has begun in our hearts will be brought through to completion. Paul wrote this in Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ.” We may feel so incomplete and a failure as a person of God at times, but God promises us that what He has started he will finish. Since He is doing that for us in our own lives, can’t we at least finish the tasks that He gives us to do. You know how great it feels when you do finish a task that you’ve been working on at home. You know the joy and the relief when you can say, “It is finished!” If you want from now on you can say, Telestai. Then someone might say, “That’s Greek to me!” But when you’ve completed a task that God has called you to do. When you can say, “It is finished” you not only get the joy from completing the task, but you get the joy and the spiritual fulfillment of knowing that God is working through you to bring his plans and purposes about. That’s victory my friends.
The second lesson that comes from this statement is this: We can’t do anything to earn our salvation. It has already been paid. It is finished. The price of salvation has been paid for. Telestai! Just like the merchants used to say, Telestai, paid in full! One time Nancy and I had some youth parents call us and tell us that reservations had been made for us at a certain restaurant. The bill had already been paid along with the tip, and they told us to order anything we want. I certainly didn’t want to abuse that gift, but I did enjoy a very nice prime rib. When we were through if we had gone up and tried to pay that bill they would have told us, “Your bill has been paid in full.” If we had said, “You know I appreciate their gift, but it just doesn’t seem right not to pay anything, here is a twenty.” Not only was it unnecessary but it would have been an insult to the parents who out of loving gratitude arranged that gift for us. Christ, out of the deep love He had for you and I in his heart gave us the gift of salvation and all we have to do is believe and accept it. Salvation was an expensive gift, but He paid the price for it so we wouldn’t have to. For us to say, “I know you gave me this gift Christ, but somehow it just seems like I should have to do something to earn this gift.” That is not only so unnecessary, but it is also a slap in the face to Christ. To say what He went through wasn’t enough, there has to be more to it, is an insult to what endured for you and I. He paid our bill in full. If we trusted in what we could do for salvation, we are making a grave mistake. We must trust God and accept His gift of salvation and put our lives into his hands.
“The citizens of Feldkirch, Austria, didn’t know what to do. Napolean’s massive army was preparing to attack. Soldiers had been spotted on the heights above the little town, which was situated on the Austrian border. A council of citizens was hastily summoned to decide whether they should try to defend themselves or display the white flag of surrender. It happened to be Easter Sunday, and the people gathered in the local church. The pastor rose and said, “Friends, we have been counting on our own strength and apparently that has failed. As this is the day of our Lord’s resurrection, let us just ring the bells, have our services as usual, and leave the matter in His hands. We know only our weakness, and not the power of God to defend us.” The council accepted and the church bells rang. The enemy, hearing the sudden peal, concluded that the Austrian army had arrived during the night to defend the town. Before the service concluded the enemy broke camp and left.” (Source Unknown) Just like these people realized that they couldn’t save themselves with their own efforts, we must realize that trying to save ourselves with our own efforts are useless. It’s only through what Christ did on the cross for us and accepting that gift that can guarantee our eternity in Heaven. Studies that have been done with teenagers that said they have accepted Christ as their Savior show an unbelievably high amount of them believe that if you lead a good enough life that you will get to Heaven. Many of them said they weren’t sure what would happen to them when they died, yet they said they had accepted the gift of what Christ did on the cross. Christ said, “It is finished.” It is paid in full besides accepting that gift there is nothing more that we can do. There are even Christian adults who still do everything they can get their hands on to do because in the back of their minds they still have this idea that need to work for their salvation. They can’t let go of the fact that they don’t deserve it. So they think if they do enough that maybe they will feel a little more deserving. Do what you do because you love God, not because you’re still trying to pay the bill. You will never be able to pay that bill back. You just have to accept that it’s been paid in full for you.
The last lesson that we draw is this: “It is finished” also describes the fate of Satan. Don’t let a defeated foe torment you! When Christ said, “It is finished” the plan of salvation was complete and it destroyed the work of Satan. Jesus came into the world to destroy the work of Satan because it was the work of Satan that brought sin into the world and separated us from God.
“A friend and associate of boxers, American writer Wilson Mizner was himself a talented fighter. One night Mizner and boxer ‘Mysterious” Billy Smith visited a San Francisco bar, where Mizner started a fight with some longshoremen. At the end only one longshoreman was left standing. Although Mizner rained punches at him, he stayed obstinately upright. Suddenly, Smith noticed what was happening. ’Leave him alone, Wilson!’ he shouted. ’I knocked him out five minutes ago.’ On investigation it turned out that a punch from Smith had indeed knocked the longshoreman out cold, but wedged him vertically between two pieces of furniture.
Here’s an accurate picture of our already-defeated but still standing enemy Satan!” (Today in the Word, April 3, 1993) Our enemy may still be standing but he’s already been dealt a knockout blow. He may have a little bit of power left but his work has definitely been destroyed. Christ laid down His body for us and became the bridge that enables us to get to the Father again. It kind of reminds me of Saddam Hussein, if He isn’t dead, he may have a little power left over those who allow him to, but for the most part the people have been freed from his rule and cruelty and his work and rule have been destroyed. It would be crazy for the people of Iraq to fear him now, He has lost his power. It was such a historic moment, one that we will no doubt see for years where Saddam’s statue was brought down in Baghdad. Then to see the little boy riding on his head as they drug it down the street with a chain. Then at other times you saw people taking off their shoes and hitting the head repeatedly time after time. In the Arab world that is the ultimate insult to put someone under your foot. They were even doing it with posters, hitting his face with their shoes. They had lost their fear of Saddam and in their new found freedom they were in a sense kicking around their captor. Isn’t this a picture of the way it should be for Christians? Christ freed us from the grip that Satan had on us. We should be putting his head under our feet. We should be living with no fear of the devil. His power over us has been destroyed. Yet, some of us as Christians still live like Satan has power over us. Some of us just allow the devil to torment us and make us feel like anything but victorious. Yes, the devil is still standing and yes he still has the ability to tempt us. But when he does tempt we just need to remember that He’s already been dealt the knockout blow. As a child of God He has no real power over you. So let’s celebrate that today and crush the devil’s head whenever we get the chance.
So let’s remember the lesson in this statement “It is finished”, Telestai, for us. Remember that victory comes not from starting but from finishing the tasks that God has given you to do. Let’s remember that the work of salvation has been completed. It’s been paid in full and there is absolutely nothing we can do to earn it. And let’s remember that it describes the power of Satan, finished. He is already a defeated foe. Let’s not let him take us down with him.
