It Is Finished!

When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” Then bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. John 19:30

Often when I know I’m in sin, I’ll try running away from God before seeking Him in forgiveness. The guilt is too much to come to God with, which is nonsense when I think about it. But I do this so often! Only moments ago after praying for forgiveness I was thinking to myself “Even my prayers don’t recognise the sovereignty of God, the holiness of God or His supremacy!” I had burdened myself with a larger problem. As I was stuck in my ways thinking about the calamity of my sin, I was listening to a song by reformed rapper IV Conerly. And in this particular song, I’d found the answer to my problem.

When Jesus spoke those eternally beautiful words “it is finished” there are a number of great things attached to this statement. We cannot do anything to improve, deepen or strengthen our salvation since Christ has done everything! I will never know the depth of the Lord’s holiness, sovereignty or supremacy (at least in this life time). But when Jesus said “it is finished” I believe that He truly meant that. Now in no way does this give me a free ticket to sin (says in Romans 6:1). But it does mean that when I do sin, I forget the depth of what Christ has done in order to free me from that which I enslave myself to.

Naturally the Lord reminds me of my sin, and I repent and repent again and again. For in being reminded of sin, the Lord keeps me from dwelling in sin. It hurts, and Christ knows it hurts as well! In Matthew 21:44 Christ mentions the one who falls on the rock will be broken into pieces. And that is me through and through! Despite the amount of blogs I write or encouraging notes I post on Facebook for people to read, the Lord knows me better than I know myself. That’s a humbling thought! I may read a hundred books on reformed theology and wonderful preachers who have inspired many people to look to Christ. But if I have no fear of the Lord, then all my reading becomes futile.

I’ll share the truth and a truth I believe many reformers struggle with. It is so easy to become ensnared in the trap of reading up on great preachers and miss the message that it was Christ who moved these men all along. Recently I had to go back and re-read the gospel of John just to be refreshed of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe we’d do well to be reminded of the gospel on a daily basis, so not to see our joy shift to trivialities of this world. I’m in no way attacking reformed preachers; I think that Spurgeon, Luther and Calvin have had wonderful impacts regarding the gospel of Christ. But I believe we can often overlook the gospel, or perhaps presume that we even know the gospel. If the apostle Paul is so convinced that the gospel is something not to be ashamed of since it is the power for salvation (Romans 1:16) than we ought to adopt the same mindset and trust in Christ for our strength to deliver such a powerful message of hope.