Lent: Christ’s work is finished

"It is finished." This was the cry of our Lord just moments before his death.
"It is finished." Is this a cry of defeat? No, it is a cry of triumph. What does this cry of Jesus mean? It means that Jesus' life was finished- that Jesus' work of redemption was done. Scripture's promises about the Messiah are finished or fulfilled.

"It is finished," said Jesus. Jesus' life was ended. He was a living human being. He ate and drank, slept and walked, preached and prayed. But now all this was finished. His life was at its end. In a moment he would die. "It is finished," was his cry.

How different Christ is from us: "he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." Christ submitted to death. He embraced death. He died willingly, of his own accord. But, then, didn't Jesus say this is the way he would die? Remember his words in John 10:
(Jn 10:17-18) The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life--only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.

"It is finished." Sin's account is paid in full, settled. Our debt of guilt is wiped out, because Jesus suffered and died for our sins upon the cross.

"It is finished." Jesus has completed the work God has sent him to do on this earth. What was started when Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary in Bethlehem, was ended on Golgotha. Christ's salvation work was now done. He did what needed to be done to save us from our sins. There is nothing we need do, there is nothing we can do, to complete this work of redemption.