What is Finished?

“When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” – John 19:30

Jesus’ final words from the cross, “It is finished,” are a cry of victory. But this may be one of those phrases we hear and read so often that we lose sight of its impact and meaning. What was finished? What exactly did Jesus accomplish by His death on the cross?

When Jesus willingly gave His life, the struggle between Him and Satan was finished. Colossians 3:15, after talking about how we can be forgiven of our sins because of the cross, says that God “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” Because of the cross, Jesus forever won the battle between Himself and Satan. The enmity established in the garden of Eden was ended. The devil may have bruised His heel, but Jesus crushed the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15) when He made it possible for sins to be forgiven. Satan is a defeated, wimpy foe. Whatever power he has is only what God permits him to do, and when Jesus returns one day to bring the Kingdom of God to completion, Satan will be eternally silenced.

Also, when Jesus willingly gave His life, the old system of priests and temporary sacrifices was finished. The book of Hebrews tells us that “since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near” (10:1). “But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins…he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (10:12a, 14b). The law could not make us perfect. These sacrifices could temporarily atone for sin, but Jesus’ sacrifice is once and for all (10:10). No more animal sacrifices are necessary. The blood of Jesus, the spotless lamb of God, is sufficient to atone for your sins and the sins of the whole world.

Finally, when Jesus willingly gave His life, man’s futile striving to work our way to God was finished. What separates Christianity from all other world religions is that it is not works-based. This means that, in Christianity, we do not do good works to be saved. We do not pray, fast, make trips, attend worship, or live a “good” life in order to earn God’s favor. Sure, these are good things, but the beauty of the truth of Scripture is that these are not what saves us. Jesus accomplished and finished that work on the cross. Where others think we have to “do,” Jesus has already done the work. All we have to do is come to Him and humbly accept His free gift of salvation. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). 

Through the cross, Jesus has accomplished all of this and so much more. He is victorious over all evil and darkness. Our sin debt is paid in full. Because Jesus cried out that it is finished, we know that we can know God personally, intimately, abundantly, and eternally. 

Have you trusted in His victory over your sins? Do you know that you will have victory over death through Christ? Are you still striving to work your way to God? Trust in what Jesus has already finished and find rest in His arms that were nailed to the cross for you.