What Was Finished? by Pastor Brent Lokker

Before the huge rainstorm came this past November, I had a sudden urgency to clean out my gutters so the water would be able to flow freely off the roof and away from the house. I won’t even tell you how many buckets full of muddy leaves and sludge I removed, but there was a great sense of accomplishment when I finished this project that needed to be done. The only problem is, the leaves and mud have already begun to accumulate and I will have to get back up on that ladder periodically and start all over again. It felt great to finish the task, but the task is never quite over.

This is a great picture of the old system of the Law. When the law was established in the Old Covenant with Moses and the Israelite people, it only proved they were lawbreakers and incapable of being right with God by living without mistakes. The muddy sludge of sin would build up and then there would be a cleansing of sorts as the priests would sacrifice a perfect, spotless, blameless lamb as a way of transferring their guilt of not measuring up onto something completely innocent in order to satisfy the sense of justice inside of us that “somebody has to pay for my wrongdoing.” The problem was, however, that just as soon as the cleansing sacrifice was made, the sludge of sin was already building up again.

When Jesus came to the earth at the will of His Father, all that changed forever! Jesus ushered us into the New Covenant of grace by living out every last bit of the law in perfect order for us and then--as the spotless, blameless lamb--taking upon himself the guilt and shame of sin through the ages upon Himself as the LAST and perfect sacrifice. You can read all about this in the book of Hebrews, chapters 8 through 10. In fact, if it’s been awhile since you’ve marveled at what Jesus accomplished on the cross, take some time to sit and read these chapters, asking for Holy Spirit’s help to see the depths of Jesus’ sacrifice in a new way. In Hebrews 10:16, the Lord says, “I will never more call their sins to mind, or their offences.” And in verse 18, “When these have been forgiven, there can be no more sin offerings.”

This is the context for Jesus’ last words on the cross, “It is finished!” (John 19:30) These words packed an atomic punch that reverberated throughout eternity in both directions! He was saying, “I have completed the task that the Father sent me to do! There’s NOTHING more to finish! I have fulfilled the ruthless demands of the law! I have paid the full price for sin! I have made the way for every child of God to be right with Him, based entirely upon my sacrifice! So perfect and all-encompassing was my sacrifice that there is nothing more I can do, nor nothing more you can add, to make you any more fit for God as your heavenly Father. I have made you perfect for Him!”

This is the basis for our entire Christian faith and why Blazing Fire’s 2nd Core Value is this: We celebrate our freedom and healing paid for in full by Jesus.

By believing Jesus’ sacrifice and His resurrection were enough, we enter into the freedom He purchased for us. When we don’t believe, we get lost in the lies of shame and guilt that aren’t even real.

It’s time for us as true believers in what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross, to fall deeply in love with our Savior who willingly gave His life for us, to boldly embrace the freedom that has been given to us, to live a courageous and fruitful life that honors the grace we have been given, and to be the ministers of reconciliation He has asked us to be.

And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” ~ 2 Corinthians 5:18–20 (NLT)