Eld Chew Chong Kiat

“It is finished” was our Saviour’s second last of seven sayings on the cross before He “cried with a loud voice, [and] said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” (Lu 23:46). But what does the phrase mean? What is finished and what are the implications?

In Greek this phrase is actually only one word and it means that the work is brought to a close, the last act is performed and completed and there is nothing left to be added. The result is sure and accomplished. This same word was used to refer to the tax that Jesus and Peter paid in Matthew 17:24 as well as to the presentation of Christ in the temple and the ceremonies that accompanied it in Luke 2:39. Both were acts that were finished and the results accomplished.  

What was Jesus accomplishing on the cross? He was paying the debt of sins on the behalf of the elect, and it is fully paid. We contribute nothing to it. We come as sinners to the cross with no merit of our own to claim, except a load of sins that was paid in full by Him and a debt that was cancelled by God. The burden of our sins rolled away and our sins have been removed as far as the east is from the west, to be remembered no more, Halleluiah! We can sing with the hymn writer “Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain-He washed it white as snow.” (RHC 183)

We serve Him today as those who are cleansed of every whit of sin, justified, all because of what Jesus did on the cross of Calvary. He did not leave the work uncompleted, so that we need to add the final touch or do the final act. He fully discharged the wages of sin (Rom 6:23). We serve Him today not to mitigate our sins or to pay for our sins, but with gratitude to Him who paid in full for our sins. It is important not to mix this up. We serve as sinners saved by grace and not as sinners paying back for our sins.

When Jesus said that it is finished, He meant that the sentence for sins is fully served. We are no longer servants to sin (John 8:34) but we now serve a new Master in righteousness (Rom 6:18) and holiness. We may not be sinless, but we are righteous in God’s sight and we walk in the light as He is in the light (1John 1:7). Sin can so easily beset us and weigh us down, but we can by God’s grace lay aside every sin and run the race with patience (Heb 12:1) by walking in the Spirit (Gal 5:16) and He will be our help and strength, for He dwells in us and is a very present help.

When Jesus said that it is finished, He meant that the battle against the kingdom of darkness is won, and saints are translated from darkness to light (Acts 26:18, Col 1:13) and the victory is won. Though the heel of the Saviour was bruised, yet the head of the serpent is crushed (Gen 3:15). Death has lost its sting and victory over the grave is won (1Cor 15:55). We no longer need to fear death, for absence from the body is presence with the Lord (2Cor 5:8) and our race is run and we enter into rest. What a blessed hope!

What a lot is packed in one word that Jesus uttered on the cross! What blessed truth and hope for the saints! One look at Christ on the cross heals all spiritual woes and condemnations! O that every reader may indeed look with faith and be saved! And every saint may constantly turn to look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. (Heb 12:2)

Good Friday is not good because an innocent Man was wrongly accused by wicked men. It is not good because Jesus was betrayed by sinful men and was denied, rejected, mocked, buffeted, crucified, dead and buried. It is good because Jesus finished the work of redemption and man can become good by repenting and believing in Him as their Saviour. It is good because He did not just die but was risen the third day after his death to demonstrate the victory He has over the grave and death for us all.

Since Jesus has finished His work, let us also finish the race that is set before us. Paul said in 2Timothy 4:7-8 “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”  (Emphasis added).

The challenges of a Christian do not slow down as we mature. We constantly feel the pressure and the heat of the spiritual battle. When you look at some of the struggles that the younger Christians face, you may sometimes wonder whether they can be deemed as struggles and may even feel that they are insignificant when compared with what you are going through. You forget that you were young once and struggled like them. But it is only by the faithfulness of God who knows the measure of your faith that you were not tempted beyond what you were able (1Cor 10:13).

As we mature, God allows heavier testings to come our way so that through them our faith may be refined (1Pet 1:7, James 1:2-4). His thoughts toward us are good and of peace always and to an expected end (Jer 29:11). We need not doubt God. His grace is always sufficient for us and His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2Cor 12:9). Let us therefore be inspired by Christ who finished the work for us that we too will finish the course for Him to His glory. The difference is that our salvation does not depend on the outcome of our race. If any man’s works are not perfect, it “shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” (1Cor 3:15) Let us take heed how we run this race. Yea, let us all be sure of our salvation in Christ Jesus.

As Paul came to the end of his race, for soon after he was executed (according to tradition), he reflected on how the blessed hope spurred him on to finish the course. Has your sojourn been tough and beset with many trials? Have there been moments when you were like the disciples in the storm on the Sea of Galilee; or when you were pressed on every side and just when you thought that was the last test, another test came? Take heart, they are just for a moment.

God is still on the throne,
And He will remember His own;
Though trials may press us and burdens distress us,
He never will leave us alone;
God is still on the throne,
He never forsaketh His own;
His promise is true, He will not forget you,
God is still on the throne.”
(RHC 43)

We can surely finish the course. All we need to do is to know the course and stay the course by looking to the Saviour who is waiting at the end point to receive us. Amen.