FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Scripture Reference: John 19:28-30

1. Jesus Addresses the Father

Throughout His life Jesus was deeply conscious of His being one with the Father and of being sent on the great mission of the redemption of men to the glory of the Father. When He was only twelve years old it was the “Father’s business” (Luke 2:49) that loomed larger for Him even than His love for His earthly parents. When His mother and His brothers were concerned that He was becoming to preoccupied with the Father’s business, He, turning to the people and His disciples, stated emphatically:

“Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:49-50).

When the Jews sought to slay him because, as they thought, he broke the law of the sabbath, “Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I am working’ ” (John 5:17).

Again, speaking to the Jews, “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel’ ” (John 5:19-20).

Only recently, on the mount of transfiguration, the heavens had opened and the voice of the Father was heard, even as it had been at His baptism saying:

“This is my beloved Son: listen to him” (Mark 9:7).

Then in the garden He said to Peter and the two sons of Zebedee:

“My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me” (Matthew 26:38).

But they fell asleep. They just didn’t fathom the import of the hour; they loved Him but they didn’t understand and they were weak. So, while sweating as it were drops of blood, Jesus fled to His Father for refuge:

“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. . . . My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done” (Matthew 26:39, 42).

All men had forsaken Him, but He knew His Father was ever with Him.

In this, His greatest agony up to this time, Jesus rested assured that the Father and He were not only One in being, but one in purpose. He was doing the will of the Father and the Father smiled on Him.

Even His first utterance on the cross was an appeal to the Father, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Then with quietness of spirit . . . “he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ Then he said to the disciple [John], ‘Behold, your mother!’ “ (John 19:26-27). Turning then to the repentant malefactor on His side He said, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

After that it seems suddenly, a horror of darkness unspeakably greater even than that of Gethsemane, overwhelms Him. As the darkness of a cave blots out the light of the sun, so the darkness of Jesus taking on the sins of the whole world blots out the smile of the Father.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: John 19:28-30

Of the seven utterances of Jesus on the cross this one, “It is finished” is, so far as we can tell, the next to the last. It came next after He said: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Matthew 27:46), and it came right before He said: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46).

One of my favorite dramas on television is the 11 episode production called Tetelestai.¹ It tells of the events leading up to those final words of Jesus Christ on the cross. In this study we will explore what Jesus meant when he uttered that little sentence, this English sentence expressed in a single word in the original Greek, tetelestai.

I will attempt to bring some understanding of what Jesus might have meant by asking the question, to whom was He addressing Himself?

Was He speaking to the people who watched Him at the foot of the cross? That doesn’t appear to have been the case. Yes, He did speak one “word” to His mother and to John the beloved disciple, that she might be cared for till the day of her death.

Outside of that He didn’t really speak to the crowd below. Remember, there were the leaders of the people mocking Him: “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him” (Matthew 27:42). You are right, they said in effect: “It is finished. Your claim to be the Son of God has shown itself to be folly. All your preaching about the kingdom you had come to establish was, as all can now see, an idle and wicked boast. Never will you deceive the people again. You are utterly defeated.” But Jesus still did not utter an answer to them.

Yet, He did answer them. He answered them indirectly. When He said, “It is finished” He first of all, addressed Himself to His Father in heaven. Simply put, “Father, I have finished the task you gave Me to do.”

“I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed” (John 17:4-5).

In essence He stated, “I have established your kingdom among men.”

In the second place, when Jesus uttered the words, “It is finished” He was also addressing Satan. Satan had overheard Jesus’ high-priestly prayer. He heard the Savior say to the Father:

“While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” (John 17:12).

“It is finished, Satan. You are defeated. I refused to receive the kingdom at your hand. Throughout My ministry I set My face steadfastly toward Jerusalem, toward this little hill of Golgotha. Now it is finished; try as you may, you will not prevail. Soon you will go out into the world seeking to deceive the nations. Soon you will be trying to arouse the spirit of the anti-Christ in the church only to be cast out into outer darkness. It is finished, Satan. It is finished.” The powers of hell will not prevail against the kingdom of heaven because it is finished!

In the third place when Jesus uttered these words, “It is finished” He, as it were, also addressed those He had come to redeem. First, He addressed the eleven apostles. They, too, had overheard Him speaking to His Father in His high-priestly prayer:

“For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me” (John 17:8).

Now the disciples will understand that it was through suffering for them, through bearing the wrath of God for them, in their place, through being forsaken of the Father for them, in their place, that He came to save His people from their sin. Soon they will understand that the resurrection would follow the crucifixion and that Pentecost would follow the resurrection for them. Then they who had fled His presence in fear and shame when He was apprehended in the garden, would preach “in Jesus the resurrection from the dead” (Acts 4:2).

Tomorrow we’ll begin to explore each of these three points as they involve one another.

To Be Continued

¹Teteletsai, https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0JP5EITW646JDEXW79O3DAY2AV/
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: 1 Corinthians 2:9-14

4. The Bible Is the Only Book That Feeds the Christian

The Bible not only keeps the Christian clean, but it is the Christian’s food: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

Where did the Word come from? “It was spoken from the mouth of God.” It is food. It is food for the mind, heart, soul and spirit.

I don’t want to seem judgmental but the truth is in this day and age, we have to many anemic Christians because they know only a little of the Bible. “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). The Bible is good food that nourishes your whole being; you ought to thrive on it.

When I didn’t want to eat anything, my dad used to say, “Boy, you’ve been eating too much junk today.” How did he know? Because I didn’t have an appetite. A normal boy has an appetite after playing all day long. He knew I needed good food, not the junk.

Some Christians can’t take even a twenty-or thirty-minute sermon on Sundays because they’ve been allowing too much junk during the week to nourish them.

John Wesley used to preach for two or three hours. George Whitefield often preached two hours, sometimes until his throat bled. The average church wouldn’t listen to these men preach today! Now I’m not saying we should be preaching that long, but if you are in the pulpit, watch how many in the congregation start glancing at their watches after only thirty to forty-five minutes. Preaching, and especially combining it with teaching for growth, takes time to get the point of the message across.

5. The Bible Is the Only Book That a Christian Can Use For Warfare

The Bible cleanses a Christian and is also food to the Christian, as we have shown, but the Bible is something else: it is also, the Christian’s weapon. “Take . . . the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). It is the only offensive weapon listed in the Christian’s armor. The Word of God is “the sword of the Spirit.”

The Bible is what you need when you fight the devil, and the world’s temptations, but the average Christian doesn’t know how to use it effectively. It’s like having a gun in the house for security but not knowing how to use it if it ever is needed. In the case of spiritual warfare, your weapon is always needed and should be at the ready.

When the devil depresses you, tries to defeat you and attempts to talk you out of your assurance, as well as going to church and being a faithful Christian, you learn how to defeat him with the “sword of the Spirit” of the Lord, the written Word.

James 4:7 says, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Sadly however, the average Christian, not wanting to fight the devil, or even the temptations of the world, gets run over. Take the Bible, the “sword of the Spirit,” and know how to keep the enemy at bay with it and learn to stand! Amen!

The Bible is a fire; it’s like a hammer in the hands of a skilled workman. Sometimes folks don’t like hammers because they want to relax and take it easy instead of serving God like the workman He’s called each of us to be. Preachers and teachers must continue to preach and teach the Bible so Christians will live righteously and so they will know what it is to be a faithful servant of the Lord!

We have all been called into God’s harvest field. We have all been gifted with an ability to serve the Lord in some capacity. The Bible, the Word of God instructs us in our duties. Don’t leave your best “tool” for doing God’s work behind!

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: 1 Corinthians 2:9-14

2. The Bible Is the Only Book That Gives Assurance of Salvation – Continued

Martin Luther once penned:

Feelings come and feelings go,
And feelings are deceiving.
My warrant is the Word of God;
Naught else is worth believing.

Though all my heart should feel condemned
For want of some sweet token,
There is One greater than my heart,
Whose Word cannot be broken.

I’ll trust in God’s unchanging
Word Till soul and body sever;
For though all things shall pass away,
His Word abides forever.

God said that if you trust Jesus Christ, you have everlasting life. It’s that simple. I don’t look up to Heaven and say, “Your Word says that I’ll have everlasting life; I sure hope You told the truth, because I’m not sure that I’m going to Heaven.” God’s Word doesn’t lie, and there are no implications of a lie in it. You don’t walk into a darkened room and hope that when you flip the light switch, there will be light by saying, “I sure hope the electricity is on. I sure hope the bulb is okay. I hope the switch is working.” From what you know and believe, by teaching that was passed on to you from a child, you know that when you flip the switch, the room will be flooded by light. Of course not every analogy in the natural is perfect for the spiritual, but you can see the point.

There is nothing better for the assurance of salvation than what the Bible says and what it has consistently taught and proven for centuries. It is the only Book that is able to make us “wise for salvation.”

3. The Bible Is the Only Book That Can Keep You Clean

Once you are saved and sure of your salvation, the Bible is the only Book that can also keep you clean (sanctified) as a Christian.

“Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you” (John 15:3).

“That he might sanctify her [the church], having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word” (Ephesians 5:26).

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word” (Psalm 119:9).

You cannot consistently read the Bible as a Christian and live a life of immorality and sin. The power, the Spirit, behind the words is what changes a person. If you don’t read the Bible, it’s probably because it brings conviction, in other words, convincing and the Holy Spirit applies those words to your heart. You can’t read, “You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:13-15), and go on living and doing those very things. The Word is light and sin is darkness and the two just do not mix. The light always chases away the darkness, always!

The Bible is the Word of God. It’s like water that cleanses a Christian. The great evangelist, D. L. Moody once said, “A clean Bible represents a lean soul.” A Bible is clean without dust covering it when it is read. That is what produces a sanctified soul.

Why should you read the Bible consistently? Because you can’t read it day after day and not live right! Why do I preach and teach the Bible? Because you can’t continually hear or read Bible preaching and teaching and live like the devil the rest of the week.

The Word of God keeps a Christian clean; he reads the Bible and it brings conviction, convincing of it’s truth. Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.