3 It Is Finished

A MAN FOR ALL TIME––THE INCOMPARABLE CHRIST By Mark Finley of It Is Written Television (www.iiw.org) Sermon 3 Outline “It Is Finished” INTRODUCTION Nineteen sixty-eight was a difficult trying year for America. The capture of the U.S.S. Pueblo by North Korea, the extensive casualties of the Vietnam War, and the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy dominated the news. There was one significant bright spot for the nation. For the first time in history, Americans orbited the moon. On Christmas Eve, 1968, they read those immortal words, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) When God completed His creation, He joyfully exclaimed to the whole universe, “It is done.” There are three major incidents in the Bible where God declares, “It is done” or “It is finished.” These “It is finished” statements speak of our creation, our redemption and our destiny. I. At Creation God said, “It is done.” (Gen 2:1) To undervalue ourselves is an insult to the One who made us. In the light of a loving Creator, we never need to feel unknown, unwanted, uncared for, unvalued or unloved. Abandonment, estrangement, loneliness and low self-esteem are gone forever. “Now you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” (Ephesians 2:19) In Isaiah 43:1-4 God encourages us with hopeful words. He says, we are “precious,” “honorable,” and “loved.” He declares, “I have redeemed you.” (Isaiah 43:1) Somebody wants you. Somebody loves you. Somebody paid an infinite price for you. Romanian orphans regularly wander the streets of Bucharest with no home. The authorities find these homeless children under bridges, in back alleyways and in apartment hallways. Sometimes these orphans are left as babies on the steps of hospital entryways. They have no name, no birth certificate and no passport.

Our passport is written in blood, and our identity papers are stamped with the Cross of Calvary. Our birth certificate is signed by the Creator and initialed in red ink by the Cross. II. When Christ hung on Calvary’s Cross, He too cried out, “It is finished!” (John 19:23-30) On the Cross, Jesus demolished guilt and condemnation. Fear of the consequences of sin was eternally banished. At the Cross, Jesus broke the bondage of Satan’s temptations. The clutches of sin are finished. Sin’s stronghold is broken through the power of Calvary’s love. Grace is greater than sin. “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” (Romans 5:20) “But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.” (Romans 6:22) “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37) In Jesus we are free from the guilt of sin, free from the bondage of sin and free from the eternal consequences of sin. III. “It is finished”––God’s last words regarding the destruction of a rebellious planet and the establishment of His eternal Kingdom. One day we shall see Him face-to-face and be secure in His presence forever. “Behold I make all things new.” (Revelation 21:5, 6) “It is done.” (Revelation 21:5, 6) War and worry and want are over forever. Pollution and pestilence and poverty are over forever. Disease and disaster and death are over forever. Crime and corruption and cancer are over forever. Heart attacks and homelessness and horror are over forever. It is finished! The reign of sin––with its horrible consequences––is over. Jesus returns. He rules. He reigns. He redeems His people.

Love, joy, peace, hope and security fill the land. His grace perfumes the atmosphere and we enjoy His presence throughout all eternity.