PORTERVILLE POST | The Right News at the Right Time

| It is Finished
The Right Word^© - Nov 10, 2024
with Brother Scott : scott@portervillepost.com

† John 19:28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. 29 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

We are going to look at three words in English and indeed the last three words uttered by Jesus before He released His physical life to death. They are three words that we have read for ourselves many times or at least heard others read them in the context of the story of the Lord’s brutal time on the cross. It is usually the case that the words are heard but generally are not given any thought or study.
Every word that Jesus spoke is important and worthy of careful thought and to be added to our spiritual understanding because He said that His Words are life—life-giving and life-sustaining. In a quick review in sequence of what Jesus said about what He says we read this:

† John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

† Mark 8:38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

† Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

† John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

† John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. . . 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

How important is it to read Consider, and apply to our lives not only the words printed in red in many of our bibles but the entirety of what the whole Word of God says from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21? How important are these things?

† Deuteronomy 8:3 [Moses: Over these 40 years in the Wilderness] he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

† Matthew 4:2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

† John 14:24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

Having reviewed what Jesus said about His words
And what the Bible has to say to us, we return to His last words from the cross

† John 19:28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. 29 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar (aka: sour wine): and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

( Three words: It, is, finished )
Three words: It, is, finished. All three words have meaning and contain power, which benefits you and me in our connection with the spiritual realm that includes our present lives as well as the unseen dimensions involving God’s holy realm (on the one hand) and the evil realm (on the other).
The word “it” can only be used when the word is referring to something already established or spoken about—something or things that were previously mentioned or easily identified in the mind of the hearer. If out of the blue I was to look at you and say, “It was purple with giant ripples” or “It is not possible” with nothing previously mentioned as the context, you would say, “What was purple with giant ripples”, or “What is not possible” (What are you talking about)? Jesus declared “It is finished”. Do we know what it was that He said that about? Yes we do; let’s look at several of the things the Bible teaches us about what it is that Jesus declared were finished.

• Jesus was born, lived and died sinless (a requirement to be the Savior)

† John 14:30 ... the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

† Luke 23:13 And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14 Said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him: 15 No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him.

† 2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (Also 1 Pet.2:22, 1 Jn. 3:5)

• He upheld the Word

† John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of (from to fulfill; complete) grace and truth.

† John 10:35 ...the scripture cannot be broken.

† Matthew 4 and † Luke 4 during His temptations He overcame those things by the Word.

• He fulfilled the Law and the what the prophets had said concerning Him

† Matthew 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

† Luke 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

• A work that no man in human history could have done

† John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. . . 3: 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

† Romans 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

• Had taken the punishment for our sin

† Isaiah 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. . . 10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin…

† Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

† 2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

• Provided the means to cleanse us from our sin

† 1 John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

† Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God…

• Had outsmarted and defeated the devil

† Luke 4:12 [“It is written” verses 4,8:] And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

† 1 Corinthians 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

• He put to death the old sin nature of the man that we might become new

† Romans 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. . . 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

† Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

† 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

• Had proven His love for us

† John 10:18 No man taketh it [my life] from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

† John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

† 1 John 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

• (“It”) The “mission” (the work God gave Him) is complete

† John 17:4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

† John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

• Now in Jesus and by Him all the promises of God are ours

† 1 John 2:25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

† 2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

† 2 Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

( Today’s Discussion )
Today’s discussion and our next look into the Scriptures is about the last words of Jesus while on the cross at Calvary: “It is finished.” What is finished (the word “is” being the next word to understand) [What is finished?] What is completed is that which is required for you and I and whosoever wills to be saved from everlasting destruction and instead forgiven, washed clean of sin, set free from the bondage of the sinful nature, indwelled by the Spirit of God, and promised eternal life, if once we are born again from above we will conform our lives to the Word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit upon us. These things discussed today are the “It” of the words of Jesus when He declared, “It is finished”—or in other words, “These-things-are-done!”

† 2 Corinthians 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:). . . 9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. . . 14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15 And that he died for all, that they which live [professing to be Christians and followers of Jesus] should not henceforth live unto [for] themselves, but unto [for and by] him which died for them, and rose again.

How are we doing at that; “not henceforth living unto ourselves but unto Him which died for us and rose again”?