Finished

Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. You see the cross of Christ is a priceless and perfect masterpiece. There is nothing that you can add to it. The blood is now shed. The gulf is now bridged.

The way of access to God is now opened. The way to heaven is prepared. The debt is fully paid now. Finished. Welcome to the verdict with Pastor John Monroe.

In his last moments on the cross. Jesus cried out, It is finished. Were those just the last words of a dying man? On this Good Friday, here on the Verdict, we're going to remember the suffering of our Savior as we understand that this was a cry of triumph. The work of salvation was done once and for all.

Here's Pastor John Monroe with this special Good Friday message titled, Finished. Good Friday is like no other day of the year. will reflect on the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus. The sinless Christ, rejected, betrayed, beaten, ridiculed, falsely accused and sentenced to die. Yet we must never think of Jesus as a victim.

but rather as accomplishing God's purposes. On the day of Pentecost, Peter said, This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

So this Good Friday I take you. to the foot of the cross. When our Lord Jesus was on the cross, He made seven sayings. We're going to think of one today, an amazing statement. It's not a cry of failure.

It's a cry of triumph. When our Lord was on the cross, He uttered what we call seven sayings, that is, seven words on the cross. And I want to think with you this Good Friday on one of them. And it's recorded in John chapter. 19.

I'm going to read from verse Sixteen. John 19, verse 16.

So he, that is Pilate, who was the Roman procurator, the Roman governor. The judge.

So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus And he went out. bearing his own cross. to the place called the place of a skull. which is in Aramaic. called Golgotha.

We normally refer to it as Calvary, which comes from the Latin, but the Aramaic, Golgotha, the same place, the place of the crucifixion, the place of the skull, Golgotha. Verse 18: There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side. And Jesus between them. Can you picture that? Verse twenty-eight.

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, Notice that. All was now finished. Said, to fulfill the scripture, I first. 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. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, It is finished. And he bowed his head. and give up. His spirit.

From the cross of Christ then, there is the cry. A cry of triumph, a cry of victory, a cry which echoes Throughout the world tonight, and a cry when it was first stated resounded through the very courts of heaven and earth. Finished. One word in Greek, title estai. Jesus did not say, I am finished, as perhaps men who were crucified might have done.

He's not saying, I am finished, but he's saying, hey, third person, it is finished. But what was finished? What did he mean by that incredible cry from the cross that we hear again this evening, this Good Friday, finished?

Well come with me and survey. the cross of Christ. First we can say that the sufferings of Jesus are over.

So when Jesus shouts from the cross, finished, he's referring to his sufferings. The physical sufferings of Jesus are now over, they are now completed, they are now finished. Crucifixion. A form of killing designed by the Romans to inflict. Maximum pain, maximum humiliation as the individual is strung up for everyone to say and to ridicule.

And there hangs Our Saviour. Nailed. Eternal drugged. Cross. But now we hear the cry, finish, all of the physical sufferings are over.

Never again shall wicked men beat our Saviour. Never again shall they spit on his face. Never again shall the Lord of glory be nailed to a cross. Do you hear his cry? Finished.

the physical sufferings of our Lord. are over. But there's more. The spiritual suffering. of Jesus are over.

Unbelievably horrific though the physical sufferings are, they pale into significance, don't they, compared with the spiritual sufferings. By the Son of God, the Holy One, in the hours of darkness on the cross. The judgment of a holy God. That should have fallen on us because of our sin, our deliberate rebellion and transgression against the Holy God, now falls on. The sinless, perfect.

Christ. Are we read yet? Isaiah prophesied, we esteemed him stricken. Smitten by God. Oh yes, he's scourged by the Romans, he's crucified by the Romans.

He is delivered up to Pilate by the Jews, but Most of all, He is there, smicken. By God. the spiritual sufferings. of Jesus. But now As we hear his cry, finished.

The spiritual sufferings of the sin-bearer. on the tree are now over. Finish the sufferings. If of Jesus Are over. But secondly, All of the Old Testament prophecies and types and shadows.

regarding the death of the Messiah are fulfilled. You don't need to be an Old Testament scholar to know that so much of the Old Testament is pointing forward to the Redeemer, to the coming of the Messiah, I read.

Some of that from Isaiah. You see, the prophecies were that not only would the Messiah die. Not only that would he die a violent death, but he would die On A cross. The death. of crucifixion.

David writing in Psalm 22, a thousand years before the event. Says this. Psalm 22, verse 16, for dogs encompass me. A company of evildoers encircles me. They have pierced.

My hands And my feet. I count all of my bones, they stare and gloat over me, they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast. Lots. Yes, Isaiah was right. He is despised.

And rejected by men. Amazingly, he comes to his own, and his own receive him not. This very nation, the Jewish nation, largely reject him, despise him. Don't esteem him. And he's called then the Lord of glory.

The God of joy is described in his humanity leading up to his death on the cross. He's described as a man of sorrows. and acquainted. with grief.

So Peter Talking to people who knew their Bibles. Says in Acts 3, verse 18, but what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets. That his Christ, that's his Messiah, should suffer, he thus fulfilled. And so Peter could stand among the Pharisees and the religious rulers and people who knew the Old Testament, who had memorized a large part of it. He could say without any contradiction that all of the prophecies regarding the Messiah have been fulfilled as foretold by the prophets.

Finished. The sufferings of Jesus are over. all of the Old Testament prophecies and types. regarding the death of the Messiah or over. Thirdly, Our salvation.

is perfectly accomplished. Do you realize that the eternal decree of God the Father included the cross of Christ? That the cross of Christ, the death of Jesus, God's precious Son, the Messiah. was in God's eternal decree. There's an old hymn that we sometimes sing: Oh, the love that drew salvation's plan.

Yes, this is the plan of God. Or the grace that brought it down to man, or the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary, that this. is God's plan. Yes, man is held responsible for putting the Messiah on the tree. We are responsible because he bears our sin.

But behind it all, we understand that Jesus is not a victim ensnared in difficult circumstances. He's not a victim, he's a victor. And the father sends his son To die on the cross.

So, Peter. On the great day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. He says to the Jewish nation, Jesus. delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. But this is God's plan.

That Jesus is not a victim ensnared in difficult circumstances from which it's impossible for him to extricate himself. No, this is what God wanted. This was God's way of salvation, the only way of salvation. for sinners like you and me. to be saved.

And so God in great love, the Father in great love, Sends his son who comes in love and always does the Father's will.

So Jesus says in John 4, verse 34, my food. It is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work. Accomplish his work, what's his work? primarily his redemptive work. His name is Jesus, for he will save his people From their sins, the Father sends the Son.

To do. Here's Plan of Salvation. John 6 verse 30 Jesus says I've come down from heaven Think of that. Jesus is no ordinary man, no ordinary prophet, not just a miracle worker, he comes down from heaven. God incarnate, he says, I've come down from heaven not to do my own will.

but the will of him who sent me. And what is the will of Him who sent me? It is to die. as a sacrifice for sinners. And so during the life Of our Lord on earth, he always pleased his father.

He did the Father's will. Perfectly. And in anticipation of his death on the cross, Jesus prays to his father John 17 verse 4 I glorified you on the earth Having accomplished the work which you've given me to do, he anticipates. His death on the cross. You've given me this task.

This is your will that I come as a Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. And so, On the cross when he says, finished. What's he meaning? He perfectly finished the work. The redemptive work which the Father had given him.

to do. Do you do you understand that? The will of the Father was that his Son should come from heaven to earth. and die on the cross for sinners. Like you Unlike me.

And the horror of Gethsemane. A garden of gloom Faced with the horror of the cross. Faced with drinking that awful cup which the Father had for him, Jesus says in Mark 14, verse 36 to his father: Remove this cup from me. But then he said John 18 verse 11, Shall I not drink the cup? That my father has given me.

What's the cup? The cup is that he goes to the cross. And endures. The punishment The wrath and the judgment of God that you and I deserve. and in obedient to his father's will, I want you to understand this.

In obedience to his Father's will, he goes to the cross. No, the cross was not a surprise to Jesus. He knew the reason why the Father had sent the Son. He knew his name was Jesus, Savior. He himself said, remember on that amazing dialogue he had with Nicodemus in John chapter 3: as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

What was he saying? Just as Moses made a snake and put it on a pole in the wilderness, so Jesus is saying, in the same way, I'm going to be lifted up, that whoever looks to me, will be saved. He said to his disciples on another occasion, the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him.

So during his lifetime, Jesus himself is predicting his death on the cross. That he's going to be delivered to wicked people, and they're going to kill him, and they're going to crucify him. And he's saying this. In a wonderful chapter of the Good Shepherd in John chapter 10, Jesus says, I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.

What does he mean? Where would he give his life? On the cross. I'm the good shepherd who gives my life for the sheep. Don't think of him as a victim.

He himself says in John 10, No one takes my life from me. I have power to lay it down, I have power to take it up again. This commandment have I received from my Father. He is the Lord of glory. Yes, men put him on the cross, but beyond that, and behind that, and greater than that, the Father's will is that he dies.

And the Son, in perfect obedience to the Father's will, is voluntarily laying down his life. And also predicting. as we'll celebrate on Sunday that he will be raised from the dead, that he himself will take up his life. Finished. What was finished?

Jesus perfectly accomplishes the Father's will to die on the cross as the Savior of the world. You and I leave many unfinished things in our lives. We start projects and don't complete them. We go to college and begin a course and never graduate. We have unfulfilled dreams.

We leave a trail of unfinished business behind us. But at the end of his life, Jesus on the cross. gives that mighty word, a word of triumph, a word of victory. A word that reverberates around the world. Finished.

Everything. But I say everything. That he had set out to do in accordance with his father's will is fully. Perfectly. and completely finished.

Do you hear his cry tonight? Finished. Finished. Not a cry of helplessness. Not a cry of defeat.

Not a cry of tragedy, but a Cry of triumph. The greatest cry of triumph that the world had ever heard. Jesus perfectly finishes all that he had come to do. And this is why. We have to say, as the scripture makes it very clear, that this then is the only way by which sinners can be saved.

That cry finished. For the grammarians here, it is in the perfect tense, which means it has been and is and will forever remain finished. It was finished then. And it never ever has to be repeated. That is a once and for all sacrifice.

As our Savior on that good Friday voluntarily lays down his life. Therefore, you can't add to it. Therefore, you can't improve it. Therefore, it is audacious. It is the height of human folly to think That you can get to heaven some other way.

This is the perfect way. We sang. It was my sin. That held him there. Do you believe that?

Not just sin generally, eh? Can you say it was my sin that held them there until it was accomplished? His dying breath has brought me Life But it is finished. I know that it is finished. You see, the cross of Christ.

is a priceless and perfect masterpiece. There is nothing that you can add to it. There's nothing that you can do. The Father's cup is now empty. The blood is now shed.

The gulf is now bridged. The veil is now torn. The way of access to God is now opened. The way to heaven is prepared. The debt is fully paid now.

Finished. Nothing for you to do. No wonder we sing hallelujah. What? What a savior.

What a save chair. You really think you can improve? On the finished work of Christ. Religion wants to do something. Wants to add their little bit, keep their self-respect, think, well, I can get to heaven my own way.

Yes, if you want to believe in Jesus, go ahead, but I can go my way. How foolish. Basic misunderstanding of God's way of salvation. Authentic Christianity is not for you to do something, it is to say, look at Christ. Believe in Christ, embrace Christ who has done everything for you.

Everything is prepared.

Now, Confess your sin. Cry out to Christ to come and to save you, and hear His word. Finished nothing. To be done. How wonderful.

That's why. We believe so much in grace. We are saved entirely by grace because grace means that we cannot save ourselves and must look to Christ and Christ alone. Finished. Let me ask you.

Do you know this Saviour? Have you had experience of coming to the cross. And kneeling there. and seeing the wonder of the Father's love for you. The wonder of the son's love for you.

The beauty of that perfect sacrifice on the cross, that he paid the price for your sins, that the debt is now paid. And you cried out to Christ and say, I believe, come and save me. Come and forgive me. Come and cleanse me, and that is all of your grace. Did you notice as I read?

That when Jesus It is finished. John then says, He bowed his head. and give up his spirit. I like that. It wasn't that Jesus shouted, finished.

And then his head flopped down, no. He bowed his head, a deliberate act. to his father's will. He bowed his head and gave up. It's spread it.

So you say, why do you say that? Here is our Lord. In all of the suffering. And all of the excruciating pain, physically and spiritually, in these hours of darkness. What a wonderful example to us.

in life's difficulties.

Some of you as you sit here on this good Friday. I've had a difficult year. You've experienced loss. Perhaps bereavement. disappointment Confusion.

And you're a follower of Christ. And you say life is hard. It is. I understand. Can I ask you to look at Christ?

To hear his cry, finish, and you say, John, I rejoice in that, I am saved. But do you see him now bowing his head? and dismissing his spirit. Will you tonight, as you look at the Saviour, Bow your head. and say not my will.

But yours be done. And listen again to that Amazing cry. Finished. That cry echoes throughout the whole universe. bringing a message of salvation.

A message of triumph. A message of hope to all who humbly kneel. at the cross of Christ. This is the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us.

From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever. but to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God. To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World. Through this special resource, John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity. Get your copy today by visiting our website at theverdict.org.

While you're there, consider making an investment in this Bible teaching ministry. Whether it's $5, $50, or more, your gift today helps cover the cost of sharing these gospel messages to listeners around the world. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast, featuring John's weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam. It's available wherever you get your podcasts, or simply go to our website. Again, that's theverdict.org.

The verdict is a ministry of Calvary Church in South Charlotte. We're located on the corner of Highway 51 and Ray Road. If you've been looking for a church home or a community to help you grow in your walk with Christ, We invite you to join us for our Sunday services. For more details about Calvary and our service times, visit theverdict.org.

Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.

Well, what's your verdict? Did you hear the cry? It is Finished. I marvel at this statement by our Lord Jesus. He said he had come to do the Father's will, and He accomplished it perfectly.

No, just before he dies, he shouts, It is finished. Do you understand that this is the way of your salvation? Your best efforts come short. But Christ has accomplished it all, so trust him. Receive his free salvation this Good Friday.

And make sure you're in church this Sunday celebrating that Christ is risen. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.