FINISHED!

Finished! Almost. There I am with the 260-page tome of my thesis (Text to Praxis: Hermeneutics and Homiletics in Dialogue). There I go, early last week, to the University Office to formally submit the thesis to the Registrar. Almost finished. Almost, because there remains an oral exam—a defense of my thesis—to be encountered in late May. Nevertheless, it feels good to have the workload off my back, at least for a while. A sense of accomplishment. Finished!

In the light of Passion Week and the accomplishments of another Person on the cross, my petty accomplishment fades into the abyss of insignificance. He was the one who cried, “It is finished!”, after suffering the physical and emotional agonies of mockery, scourging, and crucifixion. Yet His greatest torment was His “separation” from God the Father, who had forsaken God the Son, because Jesus Christ …

… who knew no sin
[was made] sin on our behalf,
so that we might become
the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21

The spiritual suffering incomprehensible as holy God took on the sin of mankind. Jesus utter abandonment was echoed in His cry from the cross:

“My God, my God,
Why have You forsaken me?”
Mark 15:34

But in that great act of self-sacrifice Christ atoned for (covered the cost of) our sins, paying the full and final penalty thereof, opening access between holy God and those who place their trust in Christ’s finished work on the cross. Finished! Completed! Accomplished! Paid in full!

“It is finished!”
John 19:30

This exclamation was His last as He died on the cross. The verb not only conveys the sense of “finishing” it also carries the intent of “accomplishing”—fulfilling the obligations that were required of God the Son by God the Father in the power of God the Spirit. In His total obedience to the Father, Jesus Christ drank of the cup that was intended for us, in our place. In the Garden of Gethsemane as He anguished over what He knew was coming, He gave Himself totally to the will of the Father.

“Your will be done.”
Matthew 26:42

And it was. Fully. Finished!

Surely our griefs
He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves
esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through
for our transgressions,
He was crushed
for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being
fell upon Him,
And by His scourging
we are healed.
Isaiah 53:4–5

Finished! An action completed in the past that also points to the continuing state of affairs resulting from that past action. It was finished for all time. For all people. In all places. Now. For me and for you.

For God so loved the world,
that He gave
His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him
shall not perish,
but have eternal life.
John 3:16

The ramifications of the finished work of Christ reverberate across all time. For those have placed their trust in this work (and those who place and those who will place), to them eternal life is given. Death has been conquered. Sin has been banished. Satan has been defeated. And Christ’s resurrection proves the finality of His awesome work. Finished!

Love’s redeeming work is done!
Fought the fight, the battle won:
See, our Sun’s eclipse has passed;
See, the light returns at last. Hallelujah!

Lives again our glorious King;
Where, O death, in now your sting?
Once He died, our souls to save;
Where thy victory, O grave? Hallelujah!
Charles Wesley, 1739