“It is finished.”
John 19:30
And finally, the cross is a place of Completion.
Dictionary.com defines Complete: having all parts or elements; lacking nothing; whole; entire; full;
finished; ended; concluded.
Jesus came to earth with an assignment. He devoted His time here to being on task with His assignment. He was about His Father’s business. He knew who He was and He knew what He was called to do. There was purpose to His presence and He lived devoted to that purpose. He lived on Purpose.
Consider these verses that remind us that Jesus CHOSE the Cross…
“The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Luke 19:10
“For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.” John 6:38
“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.” John 12:27
The cross did not happen to Jesus. He chose the cross. He submitted to it. His purpose on this planet reached its place of completion at the Cross.
At the Cross Jesus became what Hebrews 10:10 calls the “once for all” sacrifice:
“….we have been made holy
through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ
once for all.”
Hebrews 10:10
We are not holy, but we are made holy…declared holy…because of our identification with Jesus Christ. His work on the Cross is complete. There is nothing for us to add. We cannot improve, add to, or embellish the Cross. It is thorough, complete, whole, entire, full, lacking nothing.
Jesus captured the essence of this truth when He said from the cross in John 19:30 —
“It is finished.”
Nothing else required. The cross plus nothing.
The old hymn says it well:
Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
Are you resting in that truth? Do you believe the CROSS was the place of completion? Or are you backsliding into the works-based, legalistic mindset of trying to earn your salvation?
The formula is Faith + nothing. Jesus paid it ALL. The CROSS is completion.
It is peace, and rest and knowing for sure that we are HIS.
Do you have that blessed assurance that you are His?
Does the peace that comes with His presence…leave you grateful and confident and assured that you know that you know that you are secure in Him?
The woman of God worships at the Cross, the place of completion.
The audio teaching lecture for this message can be found here: http://fbcsiloam.podbean.com/e/ladies-bible-study-mark-lesson-29-laura-macfarlan-%E2%80%94-5-1-14/
{Photo attribution: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/wooden-cross-jerry-bunger.html}
