It is finished

In Bible days, when a bill had been paid, the creditor wrote “It is finished” across the invoice. This is significant because each sin is a debt to God. However, when Jesus died on the cross, He loudly declared, “It is finished!” The price or penalty for all sin was paid. At this amazing grace, I weep.

“For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” (Hebrews 9:24–28)

Christ bore my sin. His sacrifice was made once — to cover it all: past, present, future. The debt is paid, it is finished. How can I respond to this? The psalmist poured out praise . . .

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:1–14)

As today’s devotional reading says, Jesus Christ came into the world for this express purpose: to redeem hopelessly sinful people and put away our sin. He came to establish peace between us and God by the sacrifice of Himself.

Do I realize the evil of sin? This morning’s news verifies its reality. Sin says ‘no’ to God and by doing so, sinners so easily slide from pride in their own righteousness into unspeakable evils. Read the headlines. Humanity tries to rule itself and what is happening with that?

It starts at birth with ‘I want what I want when I want it.’ Good parents try to train selfishness out of their children, yet it pops up again and again. Why would a child grow up to be a terrorist, or a rapist, or a drug runner? It is the sin that we are born into, and even if that child never goes that far, doing my own thing and ignoring God is still sin, no matter how I strain at self-righteousness.

All the costly sacrifices in the Old Testament could not finish sin. Religious zeal and devotion cannot finish sin. Not even repentance, faith and a holy life can do it, nor can suffering the wrath of God in eternity do it. But the Lord Jesus Christ did it! By His one all-sufficient, perfect and eternally sufficient sacrifice at Calvary, the Son of God has put away all sin forever! It is finished.

There is only one remaining sin, the sin of rejecting Jesus and what He has done. That one seems to prevail, yet it is possible to be finished with it also. All it takes is a simple ‘yes’ from a heart that wants its sin to be done with, totally finished.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Lord Jesus Christ, what can I say to this? You have removed my sin. I stand before God, not in my own righteousness, but in You, and in all that You are. My debt is paid, my sin is finished, even what I may do next week is already crossed off the ledger. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless Your holy name!

Remember God’s Redemptive Power

2 Chronicles 24:1–25:28, 1 John 1:5–10, Psalm 103:1–14

Two OT chapters cover the lives of two kings. The first, Joash, started out well, but drifted off course. God sent Zechariah (son of Jehoiada the priest) to challenge him and to tell him that because he’d forsaken the Lord, the Lord had forsaken him. The king didn’t like that. He forgot the kindness that Jehoiada had shown him, and killed his son. When he was dying, Zechariah said, “May the Lord see and avenge!”

It was not long coming. Syria attacked with a small army but because of this king’s rebellion against God, they were instruments of judgment on Joash. “When they had departed from (Joash), leaving him severely wounded, his servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.” (2 Chronicles 24:20–25)

The next king is Amaziah, Joash’s son who reigned in his place. He was twenty-five years old and ruled for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. The Bible says “he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart. And as soon as the royal power was firmly his, he killed his servants who had struck down the king his father.” (2 Chronicles 24:27–25:3)

After that slaughter, Amaziah hired 100,000 soldiers from Israel for 100 talents of silver. But a man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel, with all these Ephraimites. But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? For God has power to help or to cast down.”

Amaziah was concerned about the money, but the man of God told him, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this.” To his credit, Amaziah discharged the army that had come to him from Ephraim, but they became very angry. Then Amaziah took courage and went against the Edomites, but brought their gods home with him and set them up as his gods and worshiped them, making offerings to them.

God was angry and sent a prophet who said to this king, “Why have you sought the gods of a people who did not deliver their own people from your hand?” But as he was speaking, the king said to him, “Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” So the prophet stopped, but said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.” (2 Chronicles 25:6-16) Those in Jerusalem conspired and killed this king.

I know my own heart and tendency to turn from God, but unlike these kings, God never turns from me. The Gospel of Jesus Christ ensures my salvation. Obedience is important, but obedience is part of what it means to be a Christian. Because Jesus lives in me, He gives me the desire and the ability to obey Him. This is good news, and it is also the marker of true faith, as the NT reading declares:

“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:5–8)

Those know and love Jesus also know that we are sinners. However, we can confess our sin and be forgiven. The OT saints could do that too. The psalmist blessed the God who forgives sin, heals, redeems and crowns His people with love and mercy. Because of His benefits and because He satisfies me with good things, I am so grateful. He even says my “youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” (Psalm 103:2–5)

Those two kings made a few good choices, but they also erred badly. Perhaps they forgot that “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:8–14)