Mission Impossible -- Accomplished

SUNDAY MORNING, September 3

Title: Mission Impossible—Accomplished

Text: “When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, ‘It is finished’ ” ( RSV).

Introduction

The words that fell from Jesus’ lips while he suffered on the cross provide us with insight into how Jesus dealt with the struggles, pains, problems, and purposes for his life.

Jesus’ first word from the cross suggests that we should study his prayer life. There was something fresh and vital about his prayer life that caused the disciples to request that he teach them to pray as John had taught his disciples to pray.

Jesus’ promise to the thief reveals that he came to lift people from a life of sin to a life of fellowship with God. This word reveals the marvelous grace of God and also that heaven is but a heartbeat away.

Jesus’ word to his mother reveals that it is possible for a person to give his or her life totally to God’s purpose and yet still have room to provide for the basic necessities of those who are near and dear.

Jesus’ cry of pathos and loneliness reveals the awful price he paid for our redemption. As he suffered under the penalty of our sin, he revealed to us that when we feel lonely and cut off from God, we should come to him in prayer with hope and faith.

Jesus’ cry of thirst reveals that he understands our human agony. He is a sympathetic Savior.

Let us listen today to Jesus’ shout of triumph and victory as he comes to the conclusion of his redemptive mission. We hear him cry out, “It is finished!” From the words of the victim who was suffering intense agony, we now listen to the words of the Victor. Jesus made this proclamation to two worlds—heaven and earth. It was infinitely more than an expression of satisfaction with the termination of his physical sufferings. He was proclaiming that he had now completed his redemptive mission. He had experienced the opposition of the imperial authority of the king, for in Christ’s infancy, the king had sought to put him to death. Satan, with all the forces of the underworld, had opposed and tempted Jesus in an effort to thwart his redemptive mission. His family and those in his community did not understand him. The citizens among whom he grew up, along with the religious and civil authorities, sought to bring about his death because of their misunderstanding of him. Worse yet, Satan even influenced the apostle Peter to try to keep Jesus from his redemptive mission ().

Holman Hunt painted a picture of the youthful Christ in which it is near sunset, and the weary, working Christ stands by his workshop with arms extended. The sun casts the shadow of a cross on the wall behind him. Jesus lived under the shadow of the cross from the beginning of his ministry. At age twelve he was aware of the Father’s business (), and from then on he worked diligently to accomplish God’s work (). In Jesus’ great High Priestly Prayer, he rejoiced that he had finished the work for which the Father had sent him into the world ().

I. It is finished—all that was needed to reveal God’s great love has been done.

The cross reveals the greatness of the love of Jesus Christ for God the Father ().

The cross reveals the greatness of God’s love for sinners (). We can discover God’s love by studying botany or astronomy or other areas of science, but we can experience his love for sinners only when we come to the cross.

II. It is finished—the penalty for a broken law has been paid.

All of us are lawbreakers and are under the penalty of sin, which is death. Christ fulfilled the requirements of a holy law perfectly. No sin was found in him. He met the demands of a holy law on behalf of guilty sinners. He died under the penalty of our sin that we might receive the gift of eternal life ().

III. It is finished—the power of the devil has been broken ().

By dying under the penalty of sin, Jesus was to destroy the power of sin and to take the sting out of death (). It is said that when a honeybee stings a person, it loses its stinger and becomes a harmless creature. Jesus Christ took the stinger out of sin and out of death by forgiving our sin and giving us the assurance of victory over death and the grave.

IV. It is finished—the way to heaven has been provided and completed ().

Jesus bore the guilt of the sin of all who lived before him and of those who were to live after him. The way to forgiveness and life was now available through his death and future resurrection.

Conclusion

Salvation has been provided for you through Jesus Christ. He has finished the work of paying the ransom for us (). The impossible mission has been finished. The eternal God clothed himself in human flesh that he might become our Savior. The Christ became a son of man in order that we might become the sons and daughters of God through faith in him.

Put your trust and faith in the finished work of Christ, that he might finish his work in you. He wants to do the good work of God in you. He will begin when you invite him to become your Savior. He will continue his good work in you by the gift of the Holy Spirit as Teacher, Guide, and Helper.