Victory of Grace
Notes
Transcript
"It is finished" (John 19:30)
30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
Phrase of Completion
Phrase of Completion
30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
With what relief, as well as release, the Savior cried, “… ‘It is finished!’ …” (19:30).
For Him, this word of completion indicated:
Fulfills the Word of God
Fulfills the Word of God
28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.
“After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished … said, … ‘It is finished!’ …” (19:28, 30).
All that Scripture had said concerning Him in relation to His birth, life and death whether in promise, picture, poetry or prophecy had now been fulfilled.
After His resurrection, the Master had to upbraid His disciples for not appreciating this fact.
He said to them,
44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
Finishes the Work of God
Finishes the Work of God
28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.
During His ministry He had spoken more than once about finishing the work which the Father had given Him to do. Think of the occasion at the well of Sychar where He said,
34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
Later, He declared,
36 But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.
When He offered the sublime High-Priestly petition for Himself and the disciples He prayed,
4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
Now the great task of the ages the redemption of a lost world had been fully accomplished.
Every obstacle between man and God had been removed, every demand of the law satisfied, and the sin question fully dealt with. All the types and shadows of the old covenant had been fulfilled in Him (see Heb. 10:11–12).
11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
The work of God which He came to do was complete.
Phrase of Conquest
Phrase of Conquest
30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
The word of desolation changed to a cry of jubilation.
This was no cry of a victim, but the shout of a Victor.
This word of conquest announced the Savior’s
Victory Over the World.
Victory Over the World.
Anticipating this moment on Calvary’s cross, Jesus said,
33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
The apostle John defines the world as “… the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life …” (1 John 2:16);
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
in other words, the evil system of life which is opposed to the Father.
It is that in the world which depraves human appetites
“the lust of the flesh”; that which debases human esthetics , the principles underlying or justifying such judgments
“the lust of the eyes”; that which degrades human ambitions
“the pride of life.” James states categorically that
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
but in the cross of Christ the world has been overcome (see Gal. 6:14).
Gal 6:14
14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
Victory Over the Flesh.
Victory Over the Flesh.
The Roman epistle declares:
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
and again:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
When Jesus cried, “… ‘It is finished!’ …” (19:30),
He overcame the flesh for every sinner who truly believes. So the apostle Paul testifies:
20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Victory Over the Devil.
Victory Over the Devil.
As the shadow of the cross fell across His path,
Jesus declared, “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out” (John 12:31).
31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
Then came the cross with its mighty conflict. Never did the devil fight harder, but never was he more convincingly defeated.
We read that
15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
and again we read that
14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
In virtue of this mighty conquest, James exhorts us to submit to God and resist the devil (see James 4:7).
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Since Jesus has conquered the world, the flesh, and the devil, sin should not have dominion over us (see Rom. 6:14).
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Indeed, we can be
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Hallelujah! for the shout of victory, “… ‘It is finished!’ …” (19:30).
Phenomenon of Confirmation
Phenomenon of Confirmation
Having triumphed over the world, the flesh, and the devil, the proof was in the veil.
A Sanctuary Disturbance - Veil Torn
A Sanctuary Disturbance - Veil Torn
51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
The cross is the place of God’s wrath, the cross is the place where Jesus became sin, that’s why God turned His back, the cross is the place where in a voluntary act of love unequalled in the history of the universe God in human flesh bore the sins of unworthy sinners. Yes, and the cross is also the place where redemption was accomplished and there’s no more need for separation and God threw open the Holy of Holies of His own personal presence to everyone who comes in the name of Jesus Christ … so says the Father.
A Soil Disturbance - Earth Quake
A Soil Disturbance - Earth Quake
51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
Very often in the Old Testament when God appeared there was an earthquake. We find Him in Exodus 19:18 appearing on Mount Sinai and the mountain begins to shake.
18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
We find another earthquake in 1 Kings 19:11.
11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:
Another time when God appears in 2 Samuel 22:8 there’s an earthquake.
8 Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of heaven moved And shook, because he was wroth.
In Psalm 18:7 and Psalm 77:18 we find God moving and quaking and shaking the earth. Isaiah 29:6; Jeremiah 10:10, so many different places talk about God coming and shaking the earth. Nahum, that great chapter on the character of God, verses 2 and 5 of chapter 1 describes God as one who makes the earth to shake.
Nahum 1:2; 5
2 God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; The Lord revengeth, and is furious; The Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, And he reserveth wrath for his enemies.
5 The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, And the earth is burned at his presence, Yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.
What is God saying here? You study the prophets and you study the book of Revelation and you will find there is one promise that God has made to this world and that is that some day the world as it now is and the heavens as they now are are going to be shaken. And shaken to the point of destruction.
In Revelation as well as in the Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah, it tells us that the stars are going to fall, the constellations are going to come apart. The Bible talks about the sun and the moon going out of existence in terms of being lights. It tells about the earth shaking.
There will be a great shaking in the final judgment.
Why? Because God is going to redo this cursed earth.
In the original creation there were no earthquakes. There was nothing to shake. God created a perfect world and a perfect environment in which Adam lived and enjoyed the presence of God in the perfection that God had intended for that paradise to be. And then when Adam sinned, not only was he cursed and his wife cursed but the earth was cursed as well. And the earth to this day is rocking and reeling under the curse.
And Romans 8 says all creation groans, waiting for the release back to original creation.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
And the Bible promises some day a new heaven and some day a new earth. Some day there’s going to be a time when the earth is the way the earth was supposed to be. Some day there’s going to be a time when the usurper, Satan, who has taken over in ruling the earth is going to be deposed and he will cease being the monarch and Christ will become the monarch. And the earth will no longer be cursed, it will be a glorious new wondrous earth.
When God shook the earth at the death of Christ, I think He was giving the world a taste of what He’s going to do in the future when He shakes the earth in the time of the coming of the King Himself. I believe when Jesus died on that cross, He so perfectly accomplished the Father’s will, He so earned the right to be the King of the earth, He so earned the right to take the title deed to the earth out of the hand of God as it’s seen there in the book of Revelation 5, as He takes the title deed out of the hand of God and begins to unroll that title deed and take over the earth from Revelation 6 to 19.
I believe He earned the right to do that on the cross. I believe because of His perfect bearing of sin in His own body, because He finished the work of redemption, the Father said,
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
And I believe shaking the earth at the death of Christ was God’s way of guarantying the promise of a renewed world and a renewed universe. Christ had earned that and it would come … it would come.
Subduing death - graves open
Subduing death - graves open
52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
“What came out of the graves?” Somata, bodies, bodies, not spirits. This isn’t some ethereal thing. These aren’t ghosts. Bodies, this is a real resurrection.
What bodies? Many bodies … not all of them, it was a very discriminating one. Only select ones.
Who were they? Saints.
What are saints? Holy ones … from out of the Old Testament era who were waiting for their resurrection, who had been waiting perhaps a long time. When Jesus died, their spirits came from the abode where righteous spirits dwell and were joined with glorified bodies that came out of those graves.
This is a real resurrection. A real literal physical bodily glorified resurrection.
20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
The Father was saying the cross is the point of greatest hope for resurrection. Why? Because if your sin is dealt with and your sin is carried away by Christ and the penalty is paid and the wrath of God is all spent and He has drunk the poison, as it were, to the last drop, then you are free from death and free to live.
And if access to God is wide open and if He’s going to create a Kingdom that will never be shaken, then you have a right to that access and a right to that kingdom and you’ll live in a glorified form to possess it. This is the meaning of the cross. This is the testimony of God the Father.
So, It is finished is a the word of Completion, Conquest, Confirmation
Phrase of Challenge
Phrase of Challenge
30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
“… ‘It is finished!’ …” (19:30).
The Believer’s Certainty in Christ
The Believer’s Certainty in Christ
“… ‘It is finished!’ …” (19:30).
This word of completion secures the believer’s justification “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth to be a propitiation by His blood, through faith …” (Rom. 3:24–25).
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
It also procures the believer’s sanctification
10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
What is more, it ensures the believer’s glorification
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
On the grounds of the finished work of Christ, the believing sinner can know what it is to be justified, sanctified and glorified.
The Believer’s Victory in Christ
The Believer’s Victory in Christ
30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
Every believer can share in that note of triumph (see 2 Cor. 2:14).
14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
In the train of that triumph we are assured of victory over the world, the flesh and the devil. Ours is not to fight for victory, but from victory and we can know what it is to be “… more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37).
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
The Believer’s Ministry in Christ
The Believer’s Ministry in Christ
“… ‘It is finished!’ …” (19:30).
Our privilege is to begin where He finished. “… He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again … Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation …
Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ …” (2 Cor. 5:15, 18, 20).
15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
In response to such self-giving love, we cannot do less than consecrate our lives to the ministry of LIVING for Christ and PREACHING for Christ.
Here, then, we have the ministry of consecrated living (see 2 Cor. 5:15) which demands the dethronement of self and the enthronement of Christ. It was with the cross before Him that Jesus said to His disciples:
“… If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matt. 16:24).
24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
For the Lord Jesus, this consecration was consummated on the cross and meant an obedience and an offering of perfection. We, too, must carry our cross until we can say, “It is finished!”
The ministry of consecrated preaching (see 2 Cor. 5:15, 18, 20) calls for the ministry of reconciliation together with the method of an ambassador. If we know anything of victory in Christ we will want to share this message and plead with others to be reconciled to God.
