Tetelestai
I’d apologize to my son publicly if he were here this morning but my man-child is at his first May Rally. I noticed lately that he is learning to swagger. This gives me great relief. Skipping is not an issue unless you do it in boxing shorts, sweating profusely with a cut lip and one blackened eye. This would make me proud. I have been trying to help him with his swaggering – a swagger by the way is a man walk that should be learned as early as possible. I am trying to make sure that I perform essential fatherly duties in this area. I haven’t been able to come through with perfection in all areas.
As a handy man I have failed miserably. My son will never learn to build things from me. When we moved to Fredericton, privileged to occupy the home that we do, I was struck by the large trees in the backyard. They screamed at me. As the wind whispered through the branches, I could hear, “Build a treehouse.” I did that when I was a kid. That was when we nailed boards together and never worried about cutting them off. They stuck out at odd lengths everywhere and I didn’t know about square and level. In those days I enjoyed building treehouses and was confident in my abilities.
Now I know enough to realize that I cannot seem to build as I should. I bought some boards. They sat in a pile and finally Burt Dykeman was good enough to come and help me build a frame for the treehouse that was never to be. I think I need to either complete it or tear it down because now I look out the back window and see that wretched skeleton that haunts me in my lack of ability and determination to get the job done. It stands unfinished.
28 Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 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’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. [1]
We remember a wooden skeleton topping the barren brow of a wind whipped hill on the outskirts of the city of David. Some of us wear it around our necks as jewelry. It too is a reminder but not of an unfinished work but a completed one. I am so thankful today that the job was not left undone. I’d like to talk this morning about the words of Christ relative to your salvation and mine. Those words, “It is finished.” The Greek word “Tetelestai”.
Jesus Christ is the Completer of unfinished people with unfinished work in unfinished times. -- Lona M. Fowler
Some of the most talented people in the world have trouble finishing.
Michelangelo started forty-four statues but completed only fourteen. In a museum in Italy you can see his thirty unfinished works. There are huge blocks of marble with only a hand or a foot completed. Are our lives like those unfinished statues? Is our potential for service still locked up within us?
When you think of the Cross this morning, what does it remind you of? The finished work of Christ unfinished in you. Has He yet begun? As the wind whispers through the cross to you today what message do you hear?
Let’s talk about the reasons that you can have confidence in His Finished work today. Colossians 2 gives a more exhaustive picture of what was accomplished on Calvary.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature,a not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature,b God made youc alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.d 16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. 19 He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. 20 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. [2]
First of all there is the “Fullness” issue.
1. The Fullness Issue
“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.”
Do I have everything that I need? If you have Christ then the answer is “YES” beyond the shadow of any doubt. I love the way that the scriptures read with an unqualified “YES”. Those among us who worry that people abuse freedom and look for justification to live as we wish rather than the way that God would have us to live, would rather qualify this response.
There was nothing held back at Calvary – He gave it all for you. You don’t receive more of Christ at any other point in your life than what you receive when you bow your knee and repent of your sinfulness in nature and deed and receive this finished work of Calvary into your life.
The longer I experience the heart of God the more I realize that he is the major stockholder in our relationship. He is my Creator, the Psalmist writes:
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. [3]
He loved me before I knew Him. He forgave me before I asked Him. He understands my heart when I have no words to speak.
13 if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.[4]
In my mind there is no single more significant experience in the Christian life than “salvation” – there is nothing more miraculous than to discover the transformation that comes when you come to know Christ as your personal Savior. To long or to search for something more significant is ridiculous. Calvary was the ultimate outpouring of love. It was the ultimate victory over sin and death. Paul writes in 2 Cor. 5:16-17:
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come![5]
So I would say that you have everything that you need in Christ.
And then there is the Forgiveness issue.
2. The Forgiveness Issue.
“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, . . .”
I know of many people who have a difficult time forgiving themselves. Long after they have received Christ they punish themselves for things that they have done in their past. I remember hearing this likened to the return of the prodigal son, expecting a better life as a hired hand, living in the bunkhouse, never anticipating that his room was still held for him in the big house and that he would receive once again, all that he had forsaken.
Many people wonder after their conversion whether or not the experience was real and whether or not God actually forgave them.
The scripture speaks of sins – the things that we do that are contrary to God’s will and the sinful nature – that which is within us which desires to find it’s own way. It’s the part of us that wants to rule our own lives, to seek our own interests and desires, unencumbered by a higher law or a higher Lord.
We don’t have a lot of problem feeling pain and regret for the things that we do that bring negative consequence into our lives. We hurt other people and we’re sorry for what we’ve said or done. Our relationships fracture and we lose friendships, marriages and homes and we feel sorry for the consequence.
Repentance is but a kind of table-talk, till we see so much of the deformity of our inward nature as to be in some degree frightened and terrified at the sight of it... A plausible form of an outward life, that has only learned rules and modes of religion by use and custom, often keeps the soul for some time at ease, though all its inward root and ground of sin has never been shaken or molested, though it has never tasted of the bitter waters of repentance and has only known the want of a Saviour by hearsay. But things cannot pass thus: sooner or later repentance must have a broken and a contrite heart; we must with our blessed Lord go over the brook Cedron, and with Him sweat great drops of sorrow before He can say for us, as He said for Himself: "It is finished."
... William Law, Christian Regeneration [1739]
Repentance has to be more than “table talk” or a regret over the way that things have turned out. It has to be a gut level realization that regardless of how good I may consider myself to be, my heart is in a state of blackness and separation from God. It has to be the realization that within my soul there is absolutely no hope, that I am desperately, eternally lost apart from Christ. It’s not until we realize fully our need that we can realize fully the forgiveness of Christ.
· Repentance means that I own responsibility for my part in what was unsatisfactory behavior. I accept responsibility for my part in what is and what will be new behavior.
· Repentance is owning responsibility for what was, accepting responsibility for what is, and acting responsibly now.
· It is responsible action. It is not a matter of punishing ourselves for past mistakes, hating ourselves for past failures, and depressing ourselves with feelings of worthlessness.
· Repentance is finishing the unfinished business of my past and choosing to live in new ways that will not repeat old unsatisfactory situations.
· In the full Christian meaning of the Word, repentance is a process. It is a thawing out of rigid life-styles into a flowing, moving, growing, repenting process.
I would have to say as well that the evidence of a person’s experience of forgiveness is their patterns of forgiveness for others.
People who have been forgiven before they asked to be forgiven should be able to forgive before they are asked for forgiveness. They should be people who do not ransom forgiveness with an apology. They should be committed to forgive those who curse them, . . . . seems like I’ve read that somewhere in scripture. Why – because this is the pattern of Christ’s forgiveness. They should be second-mile people, those who go far beyond what can be reasonably expected.
As we practice the work of forgiveness we discover more and more that forgiveness and healing are one.
-- Agnes Sanford
They should be rich in mercy and grace and be inexperienced judges – no time for judgmental exercises. To be less than this makes me the man forgiven much who could not forgive the little in the lives of others.
And then there is the fellowship issue
3. The Fellowship Issue.
“ . . . having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.”
How do I deal with my failure? What about the sins that I have yet to commit? I hate to break it to you but I have serious doubt that there is anyone in this room today who has committed all the sin that God has forgiven you for. There is more to come.
Tim Lahaye, in a book called “Satan Is Alive And Well and Living On Planet Earth” writes:
“When you finally understand what Jesus Christ accomplished at the cross, you realize that God never stops forgiving you, even while you are in the process of sinning although you yourself cannot appreciate the comfort of the forgiveness while you are sinning.
When Christ died on the cross, how many of your sins were future? Every last one of them.”
"Having cancelled out the certificate of debt, consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (Col. 2:14)
This is a powerful word picture. In the day in which this was written, the word translated as "certificate of debt: was widely known.
Whenever a person would be convicted in a Roman court, a "certificate of debt" or bond would be prepared. The scribe of the court would itemize and write down every crime for which the person had been convicted. This certificate meant that the prisoner owed Caesar a prescribed payment for those crimes. It would then be taken with the prisoner to wherever he would be imprisoned and nailed to the door of
his cell.
Our certificate of debt lists every time that we fall short of God's perfect law, in thought, word or deed. Just as that certificate would have been nailed to the cell of the criminal, Jesus took our certificate of debt and nailed it to the cross. Why? Because he intended to pay for it.
According to Roman law, when a person was put in prison and the certificate of debt was nailed to the door, it would remain there until the sentence was carried out. Then they would take this certificate and write across it the word meaning "It is finished". They would roll it up, give it to the prisoner and he could never be punished for those
crimes again.
Did you know one of the last things Jesus shouted from the cross?
Just before He bowed his head and said, "Father into your hands I commit my spirit," He gave a cry of victory. He called from the cross "It is finished." The Greek word for this is "tetelestai", meaning "paid in full" (John 19:30)
And the final issue this morning is how you will deal with an old friend, now a new enemy. Before you are “made alive with Christ, the devil is content to have you unaware of his involvement in your life. He’d be just as happy if you never believed in him. When we come to faith in Christ and experience difficulty trusting, understanding, obeying, we have a tendency to believe that this means that Christianity is too difficult or is unreal. In reality, I believe that this is testimony to the fact that on old friend has become a new enemy. You now stand as an opponent to the devil rather than an ally.
4. The Foe issue.
“And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
When Jesus said that it was finished – he meant that it was finished. He stood toe to toe with the powers of darkness and he won. And the devil knows that – the season is over – there is no way that it can be turned around. He is defeated. He has no power except that which we give him. The lies that we believe give him power in our lives. Remember that he is incapable of telling the truth. He works on us through doubt, discouragement, deceit – all these things provide a way for him to whisper his
On of the biblical names for devil is “diabollo”. Literally this means to “throw or cast against”. The Bible casts him as the accuser of the brethren. I used to think that God was the one who kept record of my sin and he would one day bring this evidence against me.
Beyond my salvation experience, it is the devil who records my wrong. He is “case building”. That is the spirit of Satan. When we engage in the same activity we are acting like the devil. When we watch people, as the Pharisees watched Jesus, “looking for a reason to accuse” we are the spitting image of the devil. Our false and premature judgments of people, based on negative first impressions or bad history with others, can cause us to look for evidence to support the conclusions that we have already reached. Many of us have experienced this. Someone whispers something, . . . we believe it without question and then we see that person in the light of this “whispering”. We’ve already decided that they are “bad” and we propagate our ill-informed opinions. Just like the devil, child of hell.
Love calls for something different. A child of heaven sees differently. Love for God and others
Look at the “love list in 1 Corinthians 13.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. [6]
That’s the way a child of heaven sees people, through a “love lens”. That’s the way that God sees people.
Remember that scripture that we read earlier about the new birth and old things becoming new?
Just read a bit further there.
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sina for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. [7]
One day when I stand before God the devil will bring the evidence that he’s been collecting against me and present his case, attempting to derail my eternal reward. It will be all documented, times, places, . . . airtight. But it won’t make a bit of difference because the blood covers my sin and iniquity, the shed blood of Christ who paid the price for my sins – he took my sentence upon himself so that I could not be tried and in Him and the finished work of Calvary I will stand on that day.
So what do you do about this forgiveness. What was so costly can become yours today so easily.
The scriptures tell us in Romans 10:
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”e that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”[8]
Your place is simply to receive His forgiveness and to rely on it for the rest of your life.
12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent,c nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. [9]
Extra Material - CHOOSE FORGIVENESS
Since God requires you to forgive, it is something you can do. Sometimes it is hard to forgive someone because you naturally want revenge for the things you have suffered. Forgiveness seems to go against your sense of what is right and fair. So you hold onto your anger, punishing people over and over again in your mind for the pain they've caused.
Here are the reasons that forgiveness is a necessity:
Forgetting is not forgiveness. People who want to forget what was done to them will find they cannot do it. The thoughts and hurts keep coming back. The healing cannot begin until you forgive.
Forgiveness is a choice, a decision of your will. God tells you never to take your own revenge (Rom. 12:19). Trust that God will deal with that person justly and fairly.
Forgive others for your sake so you can be free. Forgiveness is mainly a matter of obedience to God. He wants you to be free.
Forgiveness is agreeing to live with the consequences of another person's sin. You are going to have to live with those consequences, whether you like it or not. Your choice is whether you will do so in the bondage of bitterness or in the freedom of forgiveness. You may wonder where the justice is in it. Justice is found at the cross, which makes forgiveness legally and morally right.
Do not wait for the other person to ask for your forgiveness. Jesus did not wait for those who were crucifying Him to apologize before He forgave them. Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing (Lk. 23:34).
Forgive from your heart. Too often we're afraid of the pain so we bury our emotions deep down inside us. Let God bring them to the surface so He can begin to heal those damaged emotions.
Forgiveness is choosing not to hold someone's sin against him or her. Let go of the past, refusing to bring up old issues with the person who wronged you or with others who will listen. Reject any thought of revenge. This doesn't mean you continue to put up with the future sins of others. God doesn't tolerate sin and neither should you. Take a stand against sin while continuing to exercise grace and forgiveness toward those who hurt you.
Don't wait until you feel like forgiving. You will never get there. Make the hard choice to forgive even if you don't feel like it. Once you choose to forgive Satan will have lost his power over you in that area, and God's healing touch will be free to move.
Say this prayer: Lord, I choose to forgive (name that person) for (what they did) even though it made me feel (share the painful feeling). Lord, I choose not to hold any of these things against (name) any longer. I thank You for setting me free from the bondage of my bitterness toward (name). I now ask You to bless (name). In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen.
Neil T. Anderson
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[1]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Jn 19:28-30). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
a Or the flesh
b Or your flesh
c Some manuscripts us
[2]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Col 2:8-23). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[3]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Ps 139:13-16). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[4]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (2 Ti 2:13). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[5]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (2 Co 5:16-17). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[6]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (1 Co 13:4-7). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
a Or be a sin offering
[7]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (2 Co 5:16-21). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
e Deut. 30:14
[8]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Ro 10:8-11). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
c Greek of bloods
[9]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Jn 1:12-13). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.