It Is Over! Series

In was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” When He had said this, He breathed His last. (Luke 23:44-46)

The Lord’s loved ones are precious to Him; it grieves Him when they die. (Psalm 116:15)

It is the last step of the race.

It is the pause between the last note of a great choir selection and the applause.

It is the screech of the tires of a 747 landing at Sea-Tac or DFW.

The voice that called those first disciples, “Follow me,”

The voice that declared to a leper, “I am willing to heal,

The voice that raised a widow’s son, “Young man, I say to you, get up!”

The voice that taught how to pray, “When you pray, say…”

The voice that cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

The voice is now saying, “I am ready to come home.”

Finally, Jesus Christ is reunited with His father. The two are again One. A dismantled Trinity is now unified. The division that once existed is now bridged. Jesus and the Father are again One.

Jesus catches His father’s attention and says, “Bring me home, Dad.” Bring this Son to his Father. Welcome home the Victor. Unite this Pilgrim with His home. Satan and death have been defeated; You can go home.

Good-bye, Bethlehem’s babe. Thank you for walking in our shoes. The journey is over. As Max Lucado says, “God knows that we are only pilgrims and that eternity is so close that any ‘good-bye’ is in reality a ‘see you tomorrow.’” (1)

God Wants You Home With Him

Friend, this is not the land of the living where we go on to the land of the dying. This is the land of the dying, and we are going on to the land of the living. God is looking forward to your arrival to be with Him. Eternity is your destiny and heaven is your home. Since you are going home, let me tell three things you need to know about going home.

1. You were made to last forever.

God has planted eternity in the heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT).

I loved drama in junior high school. I enjoyed being in several plays at North Middle School in Everett, Washington. Before performing for the school or parents, we would always have a dress rehearsal; an evening to work out the bugs, review our lines, get our timing down, smooth out the transitions, and pull all the parts together. This life is a dress rehearsal; it is not the real thing. This is just the staging area, the warm-up lap. This life is just pre-school to the real thing.

Allow me give you my paraphrase of Solomon’s text from Ecclesiastes: “God has hot-wired our brains so we are interested in living forever.” A look at the last saying on the cross gives us a glimpse of that element of life. While the sixth saying, was a declaration of triumph, “It is finished!”, this last one is a declaration of trust. “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

The word commit means, “to deposit something of great value into a safe place.” Our life is filled with all types of examples of this:

Ø A baby-sitter for your children on Friday night

Ø A trust worthy mechanic for your SUV

Ø The safety deposit box

When you put your life in order in a will, there are several things of great value that you make sure are kept in a safe place:

Ø A decision about issues of life support

Ø Your assets are distributed to family and charity

Ø Your children are assigned a guardian

Jesus committed the thing of greatest value, His spirit, into the safest place, the Father’s hands.

2. My kids love to put their hand in mine as we wander through the park, go to the car, or as we walk through the mall. From time to time I will squeeze their hand twice. When I do, instantly a big smile encompasses their faces. Why? Because two squeezes mean, “I love you.”

The Father reached down from heaven, took the Son by the hand and squeezed it tight saying, “I love you, let’s go home.” Jesus let go of His life and placed it into the hands of His Father.

That day Jesus was surrendering control of His life into His Father’s hands. Have you done that? Have you said to God, “You take control of my life”? Jesus shows us that all of us should be willing to release our hold on life.