The Word of Victory
Notes
Transcript
Christ has been speaking to us from the cross all week.
He spoke to us from His suffering- “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”
He spoke to us in His love when He said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
He spoke to us concerning salvation when He said, “Today you will be with Me in paradise.”
He spoke to us in His distress when He said, “I thirst.”
Today He speaks to us in victory.
1. Before we consider what Jesus said, let’s consider what He did not say.
A. He did not say “You are finished!”
He could have easily said that. There was no obligation for Christ to die for me and you. He entered this role voluntarily.
Jesus is our Savior by His own Divine choice.
He could have said:
I’ve been beaten
I’ve been whipped
I’ve been crucified
I’ve been mocked
I’ve had enough!
It wasn’t too late for Him to abort the mission.
He already said He could call 12 legions of angels to come and fight for Him. A legion is 6,000 angels. That’s 72,000 angels.
Ask the Assyrians what one angel can do. One angel killed 185,000 of their troops in one night (2 Kings 19:35).
It could have been the end of the world on that Good Friday!
There would have been:
No hope of salvation
No forgiveness
No heaven
He could have said “You are finished!” Thank God He didn’t!
B. He did not say “I am finished.”
If He had not been God, He would have been finished. This would be the end for Him. History might have had something to say about Him.
He was a moral man.
He was kind.
He taught some good things.
He stood up for the oppressed and against evil.
But make no mistake, if the cross was the end for Christ, He would be simply a footnote in history.
He would be remembered as:
A guru
A martyr
A philosopher
His life would have ended on Calvary that day.
Some might ask “How could Jesus say “It is finished” if He has not risen yet. He knows what is going to happen!
Acts 2:24 says:
God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
Jesus can speak in absolute terms because His resurrection was inevitable!
It was impossible that He would not rise!
1) His power. He is the Prince (Author) of Life (Acts 3:15). He is the resurrection and the Life (John 11). It is impossible that the Author of life does not live.
2) His promise. He said destroy this temple and in three days I will rebuild it. It is impossible for God to lie.
The resurrection ensured that rather being a footnote in history, Jesus would be the hinge on which history turned.
It is the year 2024 Anno Domini (AD). This is Latin for “The Year of our Lord”.
Every year is His year.
Every month is His month
Every day is His day
He didn’t say “I am finished.”
He didn’t say “You are finished!”
Praise God!
We need to understand what was finished.
2. His suffering is finished.
What happened to Jesus on the cross for six hours on that Friday was the most horrible thing you can imagine. It was the most brutal death that anyone has ever died.
Not because of the first three hours. Others have suffered more than Jesus did in those first three hours. No one suffered more in the final three hours.
Have you ever sat beside the bed of a dying saint?
Sometimes weeks
Sometimes days
I’ve seen them writhe in pain. I have had trouble sleeping at night after leaving the bedside of a saint with cancer.
I have heard grown men cry out on their death bed in pain. Nothing I could do to help.
I have watched their body jerk as they struggled to breathe.
I have been so moved I stopped praying they would be healed and prayed the Lord would take them.
The Bible says a sword pierced through Mary’s soul as she watched her Son die. We have had our own soul pierced as we watched those we love die.
The final three hours of Jesus life were different than any other person has ever experienced.
The sun went dark, and God poured His wrath out upon His Son. It was hell on earth for Jesus during those three hours.
The only way you could even begin to know what His suffering was like is if you could follow a lost person to hell.
Watch their body dance in those flames.
Listen to their cries of agony.
Listen to them begging for a drink of water.
If you want just a tiny picture of what Jesus went through read about the rich man who went to hell in Luke 16.
Jesus drank the cup of God’s bitter wrath that was reserved for us. He drank every bit of it. It took Him three hours. He wasn’t sipping it. He was gulping it.
No doubt “It is finished” is a cry of relief. His suffering for our sin is finished.
He will never suffer again! We ought to rejoice that the suffering of our Lord is complete.
3. His mission was finished.
“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
But there were so many minute details He had to fulfill to prove to us that He is indeed who He claimed to be. The Scripture had to be fulfilled. “To fulfill the Scripture” (28)
1. The prophecies about His birth.
The seed of a woman would go to battle with the serpent in the garden. Gen. 3:15
A virgin would conceive a child. Is 7:14
A child would be born whose name would be Immanuel “God with us”. Is 7:14
The Eternal God would be born in a city called Bethlehem. Micah 5:2
Babies would be slaughtered in an attempt to kill the child. Jer. 31:15
The child would have to take flight into Egypt for protection. Hosea 11:1
2. The prophecies about His life.
A voice crying in the wilderness would prepare the way for Him. John Baptist (Is. 40)
Little children would praise His name Psalm 8:2.
He would bring light to the region of Galilee. Is 9:1-2
He would teach in parables. Psalm 78:2-4
He would preach to the meek. Is 61
He would bind up the broken hearted. Is 61
He would proclaim liberty to the captives. Is 61
3. The prophecies about His death.
He would be betrayed by a friend. Psalm 41:9
He would be rejected by His own people. Is 53:3
He would be falsely accused. Ps. 35:11
He would be silent before His accusers. Is 53:7
He would be slapped and spit on Isa 50:6
He would be crucified with criminals. Isa 53:12
His hands and feet would be pierced. Ps. 22:16
His garments would be gambled away. Ps. 22:18
He would be forsaken by God. Ps. 22:1
When Jesus says “It is Finished, He is saying to the Father:
I have been forsaken
My garments have been gambled away
My feet and hands have been pierced
I’m crucified with criminals
I’ve been slapped and spit upon
I’ve been silent before my accusers
I’ve been lied on and rejected by My own people
I’ve been betrayed by Judas
I’ve proclaimed liberty to the slaves of sin
I’ve bound up the brokenhearted
I’ve preached to the meek and been a light in Galilee
Little children have sung my praises in the Temple
I’ve taken shelter in Egypt
Innocent children have been slaughtered in an attempt to take my life.
The virgin has conceived, and God has become man.
I have fought tooth and nail with that old serpent the devil.
“Father, the prophecies are fulfilled! It is finished.”
Jesus has no unfinished business!
4. Salvation is complete.
“It is finished” is the language of a Savior. Jesus is saying He has accomplished something. What He has accomplished is salvation for all who will come to Him.
“Is” is in the perfect tense in Greek. A completed action. It means its results continue all the way to the present time.
It was finished 2000 years ago.
It’s finished today.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun it will still be finished!
It will always be finished.
The cross is God’s Masterpiece.
Illustration: Not long ago I went to Paris to the famous Louvre Museum. I saw Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous painting The Mona Lisa. The original one, not a copy.
There is something about that painting that captures people. It is magnificent. It has been the target of attack as well.
In 1911 it was stolen
In 1956 it was attacked with a razor blade
The same year acid was thrown on it
It was put behind a glass.
A rock was thrown at it and chipped some paint off.
1974 someone tried to spray paint it red.
2009 a teacup was thrown at it.
2022 cake was smeared on it.
Now it sits behind a bullet proof glass and the closest you can get to it, I’m estimating from my own experience at the museum, is 15-20 feet.
Any masterpiece will have its enemies and its critics.
The cross is God’s masterpiece. His masterpiece is finished. Sadly, someone always wants to add to put their dirty hands on God’s salvation. They want to change it.
It’s finished. Leave it alone.
Jesus doesn’t need one less bruise or one more bruise.
He doesn’t need one less laceration or one more laceration.
Jesus doesn’t need to say one less thing or one more thing.
Jesus doesn’t need to spend one less hour or one more hour on the cross.
The cross is God’s masterpiece.
Here comes one with their paint brush!
It’s beautiful but let me add a little something. I’ll add something good, I promise!
Can I add my love? – No, it’s finished!
Can I add my kindness? - No, it’s finished!
Can I add my works? - No, it’s finished!
Can I add my humility? - No, it’s finished!
Can I add my baptism? - No, it’s finished!
Can I add my money? - No, it’s finished!
Can I add my church membership? - No, it’s finished!
Can I add my prayers? - No, it’s finished!
I’m convinced if some of us were there when God created the heavens and the earth we would have said:
Add another hour to the day
Add another month to the year
Let’s have three seasons instead of four.
Make the oceans deeper
Make the mountains shorter
Why ten fingers? Let’s try twenty.
When God was through with His creation He didn’t take a poll. He said “It is good!”
2000 years ago on Calvary’s hill on a Friday afternoon when Christ completed the work of salvation He said “it is finished” and the Father said “It is good!”
It’s good Friday, not because I said it is. Not because you said it is. It’s Good Friday because 2000 years ago the Father in heaven said it was!
Salvation is complete. And because it is complete, if you are saved.
Tomorrow will be good Saturday
The next day will be Good Sunday
Then it’ll be good Monday
There are so many ways we could preach this!
We could say to the devil- It is finished! You have been defeated.
We could say to the Law- It is finished. Your demands have been met!
We could say to the grave- It is finished. Death has been defeated!
We could say to the lost person- It is finished! Come and be saved!
And this is the word of Victory church.
It is finished, so get with it!
Shout it from the roof tops!
Shake off the shackles of sin and live a holy life!
Share it with your neighbors!
Show up at church every time the doors are open and celebrate with the redeemed.