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

THEME OF THE DAY. THE WORDS OF FREEDOM. One could and likely should spend significant amount of time pondering the words of Jesus as He hung on the cross. There are seven things He said. The first one revealed His love for sinners. He looked out over the mocking crowd, His weeping mother, saddened disciples, and the curious bystanders and said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). In today’s scripture, are the last words He would speak before dying, “It is finished.” These too are words of love and words of completion. Our Lord finished His mission of redemption. The will of the Father was complete. All that remained was His resurrection. Victory over sin, death, and the devil is assured. The words of freedom for every awakened, repenting, and believing sinner were just spoken. And these words are not to remain logged in our hearts and minds as a past event with no present-day application. In fact, these three words of freedom are necessary for the Christian life to be lived with joy, purpose, and power. Let’s consider two situations we must rely upon the finished work of our Lord Jesus on the cross for our daily walk with Him.

First, when the devil attacks us with accusations about our always failing walks with the Lord – And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” (Revelation 12:10-11). This evil slanderer will come to us with piercing words, “What a sinner you are. Look at your life. You are more a Pharisee than a Christian. And sin? Look at how you keeping falling into the same old sin again and again. God won’t forgive you.” When such hurtful fiery darts come, how do we repel and quench them? Not by arguing or reasoning with the devil. Remember Eve in the Garden of Eden? (Genesis 3:1-8). She tried to reason with him and we know how that worked out. No, with force of conviction and continuance, we deal with the devil with the words of freedom, “It is finished.” Yes we sin, but it is paid for, once and for all (Hebrews 9:24-28). The devil must flee with the words “It is finished.”

Next, the words “It is finished” are necessary to maintain close fellowship with Him who said these words. During the time Jesus washed His disciples’ feet, He said to Peter, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you” (John 13:10). The truth Jesus is conveying is we get “dirty” in the normal walks of life; “dirty” in the sense of we sin daily – an unkind word, burst of anger, display of impatience, lustful look, coveting thought and a host of other sins that occur in doing life. We must deal with them all and that quickly. Too many Christians are walking in life without joy and a sense of Christ’s presence in their lives because they don’t deal daily and quickly with these “little” sins. We are to be a repenting and confessing people daily and throughout the day, if we want a closeness to the Lord Jesus. And the only way to know restored fellowship through heart cleansing is through the words “It is finished.” It is only the shed blood of Jesus that saves a sinner AND cleanses a saint from daily sins – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Glorious words of spiritual freedom – “It is finished.” May the Lord Jesus teach us to not only believe these liberating words as historic and historical fact, but a daily practical tool to help us in our battles against Satan and sin.

PRAYER: “Lord, fill my heart with praise and my life with obedience for Your amazing salvation.”

QUOTE: “When guilt and condemnation seek a foothold in your heart, remember “It is finished.”