It Is Finished
Three Key Takeaways
"It is finished" means the entire Old Testament has been fulfilled. Jesus lived a life perfectly submitted to Scripture, fulfilling roughly 300 Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. Not just individual predictions, but the entire storyline of the Old Testament pointed to this moment. When Jesus said, "It is finished," He was declaring that everything Scripture promised had been completed, nothing more needed to happen.
The law's demands and sins' consequences have been dealt with completely. Jesus lived a life of perfect righteous obedience, suffered in our place, and defeated evil and death on our behalf. All of this was necessary. The burden of the law is gone. Sin's penalty has been paid. Death has been conquered. We no longer have to fear that we've failed to meet God's standards.
Our striving to justify ourselves is finished. We've been given Christ's righteousness as a gift. We don't need to prove ourselves to God anymore. We've been justified by God, which means made righteous by Him. Christ's perfect righteousness is credited to us through faith. This brings an end to the religious anxiety that comes from trying to earn God's favour. There is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.
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It Is Finished
What did Jesus mean when He said those words on the cross?
The Final Words
John 19:28-30:
"Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, 'I am thirsty.' A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant and lifted it to Jesus's lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, 'It is finished.' With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit."
These are the last words Jesus spoke before dying. It is finished.
What was finished? There are several profound things at work in that simple statement.
The Fulfilment of Scripture
The first thing finished was the fulfilment of Scripture.
John makes this explicit: "knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, 'I am thirsty.'"
It's an odd moment to focus on. Jesus is suffering on a cross. He's in pain and distress. And what he chooses to say is, "I am thirsty."
Why? Because one of the Psalms, a psalm about a righteous sufferer, says: "They gave me vinegar for my thirst." By saying this, Jesus points us to the fulfilment of Scripture, even in his dying moments.
Earlier, Jesus had cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Again, not primarily for his own benefit, but for ours. He was quoting Psalm 22, which also says: "My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth" and "They have pierced my hands and feet", and "They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing."
All of these details from Psalm 22 were fulfilled in Jesus's crucifixion. He was quoting it to make the point clear: This is what's happening here. I am the righteous sufferer described in Scripture.
But it's not just individual prophecies. The entire storyline of the Old Testament is pointing to this one person and this one moment. The whole narrative of Scripture is leading up to this. Everything was falling into decay, and then someone would come who would suffer, and through his suffering, things would be turned around. A new creation would be birthed out of it.
That's what the Bible was working towards. And that's what Jesus fulfilled.
Dealing with Sin
The second thing that is finished is dealing with sin.
Jesus didn't just live a life of perfect obedience. He dealt with sin itself by suffering in our place.
Every sin that has ever been committed or will ever be committed, Jesus bore on that cross. He took our shame. He took our guilt. He took our wrongdoing.
In theological language, we talk about the substitution. Jesus substituted himself for us. The one who had no sin became our sin offering so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
This is why the cross had to happen. This is why it was necessary. We can't get right with God on our own. We can't deal with our own sin through our own efforts or our own suffering. We needed someone to do it for us. Someone perfect. Someone innocent. Someone who loved us enough to take our place.
Jesus did that. And when he said, "It is finished," he was saying: The dealing with sin is complete. It's done. There's nothing more to do.
The Defeat of Evil and Death
The third thing that is finished is the defeat of evil and death.
Jesus defeated evil and death on our behalf.
Through His death and resurrection, Jesus defeated evil and death. Their power has been broken, and they no longer have the final word.
This changes how we live. We are not fighting for victory but from victory. Christ has already won.
The Demands of the Law
The fourth thing that is finished is the law's demands.
For centuries, the law of God represented something humanity couldn't fully keep. It created a burden everyone carried: "Am I good enough?" Have I done enough? Have I kept all the rules?
Jesus fulfilled the law completely. He lived the life that the law demanded. And then he bore the punishment that the law required for breaking it.
When he said, "It is finished," he was saying, "The law's demands are fulfilled." The burden is lifted. You don't have to carry that weight anymore.
The End of Our Striving
The fifth thing that is finished is perhaps the most personal: the end of our need to justify ourselves before God.
This is what gives rise to so much anxiety in the human heart. Religious anxiety. "Am I good enough for God? How do I justify myself? How do I make myself acceptable?"
But Jesus said, "It is finished." And what that means is: your striving is finished. Your need to earn your way to God is finished. Your need to prove yourself is finished.
Instead, you've been justified by God. You've been made righteous by God. Jesus lived the perfect life on your behalf. His righteousness is credited to you through faith.
Paul said: "I count everything as rubbish so that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith."
He gave up trying to build his own righteousness. He received Christ's righteousness instead. And that changed everything.
What This Means
When Jesus said, "It is finished," He gave us permission to stop striving. To stop trying to prove ourselves to God. To stop carrying the weight of religious anxiety.
The result? Paul writes: "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
No condemnation. Not when you've done something wrong. Not when you've failed. Not when you've thought terrible things. Not when you're at your worst. There is no condemnation if you're in Christ Jesus.
But you have something better. You have the completed righteousness of Christ. The One who lived his entire life in such a way that it delighted the Father. The One who then sealed his righteousness forever by his death and resurrection.
Every morning we wake knowing Christ's righteousness is still ours. Though we continue to struggle against sin, we do so from a place of victory because Christ has already won.
That's why we can have peace and joy in God every single day. Not because we've lived well that day. But because Christ has lived perfectly on our behalf.
This truth transformed Paul's life and became the message he proclaimed: "Be reconciled to God." This free gift of grace is available to everyone.
AT REDEMPTION
At Redemption, we gather to remember that it is finished. The striving is over. The debt is paid. The righteousness is ours.
Every day, the temptation is to go back to striving, to start trying to prove ourselves again, to carry the weight of religious anxiety.
But every day we can remember: It is finished. Christ's righteousness is credited to me. There is no condemnation for me. I'm not fighting to earn God's favour. I'm responding to God's grace.
This is the good news that frees us to live with joy and peace. And we get to share this news with everyone around us.
