It is Finished Pt 2 Ed Hatch, Pastor Palermo Christian Church April 2, 2017 John 19:28 30 (ESV) 28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), I thirst. 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, It is finished, and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. It is finished. With these words on his lips, Jesus died. Jesus died for all our sins. Every sin that every person has done since sin entered the world up until the time that there is no more sin has been paid for. His one sacrifice on the cross led him to say, It is finished. The Roman Catholic church has had a big influence in our area. Many people, Catholic or not, have been influenced by her teachings. People learn about Biblical truth by listening to what you say outside of church. If they ask a question, they are apt to take your answer and use it in conversations with family and friends. Romans 6:10 (ESV) 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. One issue we have with the teachings of the Catholic church is the Mass.
The Catechism Speaks According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (quoting the Council of Trent): 1367 The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice In this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner..." Other sources add that the purpose of the sacrifice is the same (our redemption), making it the same sacrifices in those three senses. -Jimmy Akin, a senior apologist at Catholic Answers. Let s look at this. Both the cross and the Eucharist or what we call communion is one single sacrifice. The victim, Jesus, is the same. The Priest is the same. The purpose, our redemption, is the same. The Mass for the Catholic Church is not a re-crucifixion of Jesus; it is a continuing crucifixion. This is one reason that you will see Jesus on the cross in Catholic churches. They note the crucifixion. In most Protestant churches the cross is empty. The emphasis is on the resurrection. If, in fact, the sacrifice of Jesus continues today, then the work that Jesus did was not finished. It is still going on. Jesus said, It is finished and I will stand with Jesus on this one. Listen to what Hebrews says. Hebrews 1:3 (ESV) 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, When does one sit down? When the job is done. Jesus sat down after making purification for sins. There is one sacrifice that takes care of all sin and it is finished.
Hebrews 7:27 (ESV) 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. The sacrifice for sin was once for all. Hebrews 9:12 (ESV) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. Hebrews 10:10 (ESV) 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. One death for all people! One death for all time! One death for all sin! There is no continuing sacrifice today that brings redemption. Our forgiveness took place on the cross. We reap the benefits today, but as far as Jesus is concerned, It is finished. This is more than just a theological difference. Many of you may believe that Jesus paid for your sins on the cross but you need to also pay for your own sins to complete the work that God has done. I ask you this question. How do you complete something that is finished? If someone paints my house, I don t go out with a paintbrush to finish the job. If they finished it, I don t need to paint. If Christ died for your sins, your sins are taken care of. It is finished. You say, You don t know what sins I have done. I say, You are right, I don t. But God does. There is nothing hidden from him. God knew you would sin before you did it. When Jesus died on the cross, he died for the sins committed before 33AD and all sins committed after 33AD. It is finished. Which brings us to the second point. The first point is that God has forgiven us all our sins. That is a wonderful truth. The second point is that forgiven people need to forgive others. If God forgave all of our sins, we need to forgive others for all their sins.
What is forgiveness? Forgiveness is the decision to remove ourselves as the executioners of those who have done wrong. The judge sat in court. The jury has made a decision. The person is guilty. Forgiveness does not deny the guilt of another person. It doesn t say that what they did wasn t wrong. It doesn t say that they should go unpunished. Forgiveness leaves the punishment to someone else. How do we punish people? We give them the silent treatment. We tell everyone how bad he or she is. We bring up their sins. We let their sins cut us off from them. We harbor bitterness and resentment and let it be known. We make them pay in some way. Forgiveness says that they were wrong, but we make the choice to minister grace, not punishment. So we love our enemies, we do good to those who despitefully use us and we become like our Father in heaven who loved us before we ever loved him. Forgiveness doesn t mean that we exercise common sense. If someone abused our children, forgiveness does not mean that we let them babysit our children. If someone cooked the books on us, forgiveness does not mean that we give them their job back. Forgiveness means that we decide not to be condemners, not to be punishers, not to try to make life hard for them out of our anger. There is a difference between forgiveness and reconciliation. Forgiveness is the decision that one person makes to let go of the need to make the other pay. Reconciliation comes when two parties that are at odds come together and make peace. Jesus death brought forgiveness to everyone. But those who will escape the wrath of God are those who put their trust in Jesus, the one who has forgiven their sins on the cross. Matthew 6:9 15 (ESV) 9 Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
This passage is a difficult passage. It appears that our forgiveness is dependent on our forgiving. It appears that we need to earn God s forgiveness. I don t believe that is what Jesus is saying in this passage. I believe that what Jesus is doing is giving us a way to know that we are truly forgiven. How do we know we are truly forgiven? We know because we forgive others. Remember that he is working with people who thought they were close to God. Jesus said that you could know a tree by its fruits. What is the fruit of people who have experienced forgiveness? They forgive. What he is telling us is that if we refuse to forgive, we have not received forgiveness. That is why we pray, Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. If you truly trust Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes in and gives us the love that we need to forgive others. Corrie Ten Boon experienced this. She said: Even as the angry vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him...jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness...and so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on his. When he tells us to love our enemies, he gives along with the command, the love itself. Corrie Ten Boon professed to be a believer in Jesus Christ. She claimed that God forgave her sins through Jesus death on the cross. Was she? The Lord knows those who are his, but her ability to forgive confirmed to a watching world that she was a forgiven person. Some of you may say, I would forgive, but the person who sinned against me did something much worse than I have ever done. What they did was unforgiveable. When it comes down to it, it is only unforgiveable because you have made a choice not to forgive.
Who has committed the worse sin, us, or Jesus? Jesus never did anything against us, yet we have denied him, had an inconsistent relationship with him, rejected some of his teachings, and lived contrary to how he wanted us to live. What did he do? He went to the cross for us. He died the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God. Though you may have a hard time wrapping your arms around this statement, a sin against God is worse than any sin against a human being, it is true. He calls forgiven people to forgive others. He doesn t call us to say what they did was right. He doesn t call us to approve of them. He doesn t call us to necessarily put family members or ourselves in harms way. He does ask us to stop being the ones who punish. He wants us to release the bitterness and anger. He wants us to walk in God s love towards others, as God has loved us. You might be here today having committed some sin in your past. God has forgiven you. Jesus said, It is finished. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Trust Jesus. If you have been forgiven, it is right to forgive others and it is right, in as much as possible to make thinks right with those you have hurt with your sin. Do you owe someone money? Pay it. Do you own someone an apology? Make it. Do you owe someone the grace to stop harassing them or making life uncomfortable for them? Do it. Trust Jesus. Follow him. Accept forgiveness. Forgive others. Make things right. Sounds like a good start for a new life.