It Is Finished
John 19:30 When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and released his spirit.
I have lived like an utter fool. I have looked for completeness, wholeness, validation and worth in many things other than Jesus. When Jesus said "it is finished" I didn't take it seriously.
I thought that when my kids were on their own and living right it would be finished, then I could feel good about myself. I thought that if I had saved a certain amount of money I could say "it is finished” and I would be secure. Sometimes I felt that if my church ministry could attract 500 people then I would have made it and felt "finished." Other times, especially after a beach vacation, I thought that if I could just retire to the beach then it would be finished! It just seemed like satisfaction was always eluding me.
I was looking for my validation and wholeness and a sense of worth in all the wrong places. At the cross of Jesus Christ, in his dying moments, Jesus proclaimed that everything that I would ever need, the fulfillment of every God-given desire in my life, was finished. It was done. It was wrapped up. It was given. I did need to look anywhere else. Satisfaction was going to come from no other place. Jesus completed what I needed.
The fullness of his grace toward me was finished.
This salvation I needed was finished.
The forgiveness that I craved was finished.
His rescue of my past, my present and future was finished.
The release of his glorious gifts toward me was finished.
My worries were finished.
My fear was finished.
My needing everyone’s love and approval to feel good was finished.
There was nothing I could add to what Jesus did at the cross to make what he did any better. I had been looking for my wholeness in some accomplishment that I could do instead of looking for it in what Christ did. I try not to live that way anymore. He never said, "it will be finished when…” but he did say, "It is finished."
There is great peace when we live our life under the banner of "it is finished."
