It is finished
Luke 24:1-8
Introduction- He is Risen! He has risen indeed! Amen. Happy resurrection day!
Let’s Pray-
Here we are on Easter Sunday- He has risen- He has risen indeed.
That was the greeting of the early church so that they would not forget the resurrected and promised return of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ!
His resurrection was New beginnings for all those who choose to follow and believe that Jesus Christ is who He says He is and that Christ did what He said he would do.
Over 500 eye witnesses record and verify that the dead Jesus on the cross Good Friday had been resurrected Easter Sunday and was seen on the road to Emmaus.
Easter is not about being the greatest story ever told, though it is good reading and will literally keep your attention as you read.
Easter is much more than that! It is the greatest act of love and the greatest act of suffering for others that this world has ever seen or will ever see- bar none.
It is recorded in all the gospels in various ways- Not because one has it right and the others don’t, it is eye witnesses sharing the event as they saw it and the truth of the resurrection documented by believers and unbelievers, true historians having written down and proven that Jesus Christ not only walked this earth but was resurrected from this earth and He is coming again to get His church
We can take that truth to the bank!
I can think of many people who have had their views changed by the evidence of the empty tomb.
The great Christian theologian C.S. Lewis, who before conversion was a professor at Cambridge University in the 1800’s, set out to prove that the resurrection was a hoax, and the evidence he himself found changed his life because he found the resurrection to be true.
Lee Strobel, a journalist in the 1980’s, a known atheist set out to prove that the resurrection never happened and that there never was a dead Jesus walking but that the disciples moved the body of Jesus- the proof that he found changed his life because he found it to be just like the scriptures and history said it was- so today if you are trying to disprove the resurrection, as long as you keep the facts straight and look at the evidence, Jesus can change your life too!
John 14:19-
“Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.”
I love the words of Jesus but I also love the implied words of Jesus- (Paraphrased) Before long, the world won’t see me anymore- because they will think I am dead… but you will see me. Because I was once dead and now resurrected, you who are dead now can be resurrected from sin and live forever with me who conquered the grave.
Let’s read of the resurrection from Luke 24:1-8
That never gets old!
Matthews account speaks of an earthquake and the stone being rolled away- Luke’s account, the women arrive at the tomb and find the stone already rolled away and they went inside to prepare the body of Jesus for burial, they found the tomb empty and the body of Jesus was gone.
They encountered two angels who asked them why they were looking for a living Jesus among the dead.
He is not here! He has risen!
Remember how He told you these things while he was with you?
Scripture says-“The son of man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.”
“It is finished” these were the words of Jesus a few days before.
“Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit.”
“Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”
The question that needs to be answered is What is finished?
What is it that Jesus did that changed the world?
Jesus…Father, they do not know what you are doing, but I do! Forgive them that they don’t know but accomplish in me what your plan was all along and that was that I would be the sacrifice for their sins!
The thieves hanging on the cross beside Jesus; one was mocking and cursing God, the other seeing you for who you are and asking Jesus to “Remember him when you enter into your kingdom.” Jesus promising that “Today you will be in paradise with me.”
What was it that Jesus finished?
“For the Son of Man (Jesus) came to this earth to seek and save those who are lost.”
So in his last words, Jesus was communicating that the work he came for was accomplished.
The task of salvation for the world was completed in his work on the cross.
No more additions or adjustments were necessary – salvation was complete.
Suffering
When He had received that last indignity in the vinegar they gave Him, He said, “This is the last. I am now going out of their reach.”
This was the end of his excruciating suffering. Jesus knows suffering from the inside—more than anyone has ever known it. But he is not suffering now. He’s done with that. It is finished. He’s not in the grave either. He’s at the right hand of the Father where he intercedes for us.
That is important for us. A suffering world needs a savior who knows about suffering. A savior who is overwhelmed by suffering.
We need a Savior who has triumphed over suffering. That is what we have in Jesus. He was plunged into indescribable suffering, but he was not overcome by it. He came through it and he triumphed in it.
Obedience to the Father
The night before he died, he was able to say to his Father, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4).
Spurgeon says: Examine the life of the Savior from Bethlehem to Calvary, look minutely at every portion of it, the private as well as the public, the silent as well as the spoken part, you will find that it is finished, complete, perfect.
Jesus said, “I have not come to abolish [the law] but to fulfill [it]” (Matthew 5:17). Every commandment of God was fulfilled in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus loved God the Father with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, and he loved his neighbor as himself. He’s the only person who has ever done it.
Jesus’ perfect life of obedience was now complete and he was about to lay it down, so he said, “It is finished.”
The battle with his enemy (Satan)
The life of Jesus was a life of suffering, it was a life of obedience, but it was also a life of conflict with our great enemy the devil. Look at the world today and ask the question:
Where does evil come from?
Jesus spoke with absolute clarity about Satan.
Confronting the devil was the first act of Jesus’ public ministry.
The Spirit led him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Throughout his ministry we see Jesus casting out evil spirits that were holding human lives in bondage.
Conflict goes back to the beginning of the Bible. Satan tempted Adam and Eve and led them to sin.
They got the knowledge of evil and came under the power of the evil one.
We see in the world today.
But God promised that a Redeemer would come, saying to Satan, “You will bite his heel, but he will crush your head” (Genesis 3:15).
God’s promise in Eden is precisely what happened at the cross. In Christ’s death, he breaks the devil’s power:
When Jesus died, and was resurrected he conquered Satan once and for all.
Satan could no longer tempt him.
The devil could no longer afflict him or cause him to suffer.
When Jesus went into hell and conquered death, it was “game over for Satan.
The battle with the enemy had been won.
The complete work of his atonement
He has borne the guilt of our sins.
He has endured the punishment of our hell. The divine wrath has been put on him. The justice of God has been satisfied in him.
The perfect sacrifice has been offered. Complete atonement has been made. Hell has been vanquished. The condemnation has been removed. Now the Redeemer says, “It is finished.”
Jonathan Edwards wrote:
Though millions of sacrifices had been offered; yet nothing was done to purchase redemption before Christ’s incarnation… so nothing was done after His resurrection, to purchase redemption for men. Nor will there be anything more done to all eternity.
What can be added to Jesus redemptive work, His death and resurrection? Nothing! It is finished!
His long night of suffering is over.
He’s no longer on the cross.
The full course of his obedience is over.
The battle with his enemy is over.
Christ finished His task of defeating sin and providing redemption for each of us.
What does that mean for us?
It means that because He conquered the grave, we can have victory over death- it has lost its power to destroy.
It means that because He has been resurrected that we can be resurrected also- the promises He made to us are amen and Amen- So be it!
It means that the same power that raised Jesus from the grave is the same power that lives in us as believers- the Holy and powerful Spirit of the living God!
The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
The power of God dwells in us through his Spirit. God is literally living in us so that we can be Christ in this world! This is the power that Paul is talking about, the incomparable great power for us who believe.
The life that Christ wants to give us is full of power and energy-
Those who feel tired and worn out will find new energy and new life in Him-
“You will not succeed by your own strength or power, but by My Spirit says the Lord- another version says it is not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord!
As we close-
Jesus paid it all!
Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow
We are bankrupt without Jesus in more ways than one!
I am glad that it is finished! But I am just as glad that He is not finished with us Amen!
He did not say I am finished- He still desires to work in our lives and do so amazing things- I don’t care how old you are or how young you are- He is not finished with you !
What is finished is we do not have to earn salvation- it is complete in Jesus
We do not have to bring blood sacrifices to Jesus- He is the ultimate one time sacrifice for our sins, for our healings, for our victory over death- paid in full!
We make Christianity hard- He said believe! When we truly believe, we allow him to make changes…
I am so glad that He did not stop loving me when I was in rebellion- He loved me back.
Past, present, future I give to Jesus. The good, bad, and the ugly…it is yours Jesus!
Illustration-
If you lived in this area march 28th, 1979- (42 yrs) you were in a panic and you probably evacuated the area for awhile because Three Mile Island power plant had a Nuclear reactor breakdown.
One of the nuclear reactors was leaking.
Those reactors (3) have to constantly be cooled down. Water is not enough. Heavy water is used. Water that contains Deturium oxzide which makes the water 11% heavier and denser. It keeps the reactors cool and prevents overload.
One of the towers did not cool properly and leaked. This caused the reactor to partially meltdown.
The meltdown sounded the alarm and people were put on emergency evacuation.
The Three Mile Island Unit 2 reactor was the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history, although its small radioactive releases had no detectable health effects on plant workers or the public.
The cleanup of the damaged nuclear reactor system at Three Mile Island Unit 2 took nearly 12 years and cost approximately $973 million.
Without Jesus, out world is in a meltdown!
It does not know how to cool things down and fix what is broken.
Only Jesus can change a heart and change a circumstance.
He is the only one that can fix a spiritual meltdown in your life!
I know today that we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the grave and our spiritual eternity rest in Him.
Today do you know that Jesus? If you were to die today, where would you spend eternity. Since my Covid-19 hospitalization, I take nothing my granted. I would not waste a moment of time that Jesus would like to speak into our lives if you would let Him. He is asking for you to open your heart to Him this morning- to not leave here until you are in a right relationship with Him.
