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When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished,” and He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit.
– John 19:30

Three words that changed everything. Three words that held the power of sin and darkness. Three words spoken with ultimate authority by the only one who was capable of wielding true authority.

These three words echoed throughout both the physical and spiritual realms. The death and darkness that was brought in by Adam’s sin was now broken by Christ’s sacrifice.

IT IS FINISHED!

This is a progressive declaration for the church-age. It is a statement that our faith is based upon. It is a promise from the Father realized in our life.

IT IS FINISHED! 

The question for us must now become, is it finished in me? Jesus paid the price of our sin debt. He took upon Himself the death sentence that we accrued for ourselves. The redemption that He established is for our reconciliation with the Father. Jesus accomplished the Father’s plan and the Father’s will upon the Cross of Calvary. 

But we must accept His sacrifice. We must receive through a born-again experience the finality of these three words. We must come to a place in our life where we proclaim to our flesh through the power of the Holy Spirit, IT IS FINISHED!

As we look to the Cross and the mercy and grace the Father has extended through His Son, do we actually understand the finality with which it is intended? Do we acknowledge that to be alive in Christ, we must be dead to ourselves? 

Or do we have a misconception about what true Biblical faith looks like? Unfortunately, there is a lot of Biblical ignorance in our churches. Grabbing onto the fringes of Christianity, we seek to feel better about ourselves as we continue to go on living a regular life. But how can we equate Jesus’ final words on the Cross with how we choose to live our life?

The completeness of these three words must bring completeness in each one of us personally. Until we come to the end of ourselves through the Blood of Christ, we will always fall back into who we naturally are, apart from the Father. 

The Apostle Paul had to come to the end of himself. On a dusty road, he had an encounter with the King. From that day forward, Paul’s life wasn’t changed as much as Paul had a new life. For Paul, it was finished that day and every day going forward. The words he wrote to the Galatian believers were a personal statement that we too need to learn from and apply.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 

Everyday we need to resolve in our life that IT IS FINISHED. We need to keep our eyes on Christ and live within the hope and life that He has extended to us.

We must understand that when Jesus said, IT IS FINISHED, He not only made salvation possible, He also opened the door for His return. 

Have you accepted His atonement stemming from the Cross and are you awaiting His return?

Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
-Matthew 11:28

Sometimes life can feel like you are on a merry-go-round that is spinning faster and faster. Day by day, we struggle to hang as life continues to throw things at us. Our thoughts keep us awake at night rattling around in our head screaming for attention. The next day is full of fretting, frustrated by our tiredness. Our attention and energy seems to be consumed just trying to hang on. It’s disorienting as we just keep going round and round, seemingly facing the same issues over and over. Weeks begin to bleed into one another while we grope for the light at the end of the tunnel. But we just can’t seem to make it stop. It feels like life continues to spin out of control. As exhaustion increases, our apparent options decrease.

Our primary focus is directed at trying not to be flung off and our disorientation distracts us to the point we can forget those fundamental truths we know are there.

Truths that remind us that we are God’s. Truths that point out that the momentary is but a speck in the eternal. Truths that emphasize that Jesus does in fact offer us rest. Truths that call us back to the peace and joy found in the Holy Spirit. Truths that declare that God is in fact our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

We forget these truths because we have moved our eyes from Jesus to the cares of this world. We forget that because of Christ, we can simply get off the merry-go-round.

In Matthew 11:28, Jesus extends His rest to us. In that moment, He was offering His way to those who were bound by all the religious rituals that could not provide any peace or rest. They actually did the opposite. Bound by religion, the people were stuck in the loop of going through the motions. The merry-go-round was at full speed and going nowhere. But the Father intervened by sending His Son. Religion was finally illuminated by the Light at the end of the tunnel and it was in the form of redemption and relationship. Redemption through Christ saves us from our sin and relationship saves us from religion.

The world today throws its religion of stress and busyness at us in a similar way that the religious leaders dominated over the people. Whenever our focus is consumed on those things we think we have to do, we quickly lose focus on the important things we need to do. And the most important thing we can do is place our trust in Jesus. When we seek Him with our whole heart, we will find Him. Everything else flows from this point. The merry-go-round doesn’t merely slow down, it stops. Why? Because we have moved our eyes from the distraction of this world onto the one who has conquered this world. Even though there are things in life that we must address and even press through, our attitude and perspective is different because we have opened ourselves up and pursued the only one who can give us rest, peace and joy. Even in the darkest nights and the deepest valleys.

If your life feels like a merry-go-round spinning out of control, Jesus offers you steadfast stability within Himself. If the world and those around you feel like they are crushing down on you, Jesus offers you shelter that cannot be overwhelmed. If the labor of your everyday life is getting too much, Jesus offers the love that conquers all. 

When you’re in the thick of the battle, when trial and tribulations seem to be getting the best of you, Jesus is waiting to give you rest.