It Is Finished (John 19:30) God Is No Longer Dealing With Us On The Basis Of Sin As He Was In The Old Testament.
I really want to share some great news with you. To inform you that you are a completely forgiven person in the eyes of God. To tell you that the sin issue has been dealt with, once and for all. Christ Jesus came down from heaven and sacrificed His life to take away all the sins of the entire world – past, present, and future sins – never to be remembered again. God has wiped the slate clean in regard to sin with His people, with nothing to get in the way of having an intimate relationship with them. God is no longer dealing with us on the basis of sin as He was in the Old Covenant.
In regards, to the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, the Holy Spirit also testified to us about this New Covenant. First, he says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time (Jesus’s death), says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts (no longer written on tablets of stone), and I will write them on their minds (Jeremiah 31:33, 34).” The Old Covenant provided animal sacrifices that served as an annual reminder of sins which lead to (spiritual) death – separation from God. Christ’s death ushered in the New Covenant. He died in our place to take God’s punishment for our sins. As a result, God remembers our sins no more. No other sacrifice is required to gain more forgiveness. We have everything we need under this New Covenant of grace. God will never condemn you or punish you because of your sins.
How God dealt with mankind before the cross of Calvary is different from how He deals with us today. Before the cross, God dealt with man on the basis of obedience to the law (God’s Commandments). The law could do nothing for man except show him his sinfulness (Rom. 3:20) and the consequence of sin which is spiritual death or separation from God (Rom. 6:23). Today, God deals with you and me on the basis of His love and grace. The reason for the change is that Christ’s death ushered in a brand-new covenant. This New Covenant had been prophesied throughout the Old Testament and the day Christ died, it went into effect. Through His death and the shedding of His blood on the cross, Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant and ushered in a New Covenant in which we live in today.
In the New Covenant however, God did not want there to be a reminder of sin. He wanted the sin issue to be gone forever. He wanted a clean slate with His people, with nothing to get in the way of having an intimate relationship with them. God will never condemn you or punish you because of your sins. Why? Because from the cross Jesus cried out, “It is finished“ – the sin issue is finished, the Old Covenant is finished, and sins are gone for all time. We have been cleansed of sins and justified in the blood of Christ. The righteousness of Christ has been imputed to us so that we become perfect in God’s sight (2 Cor. 5:21).
Not only did Jesus take away our sins but one of the promises and provision of this New Covenant is that God remembers our sins no more. “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more. And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:15-18).” The sin issue has been dealt with. The punishment has been kneaded out. It is finished, once and for all – so we are forgiven people. So, now we can connect with God. Now we can relate to God. Now we can enjoy one another. Now we can know God and be known by Him in a very personal way. God’s desire from the very beginning was for us to know Him personally. To walk in an intimate relationship with Him. That is why God created us in the first place so that, “He could have fellowship with us and that we can enjoy His company eternally (1 John 1: 1-3).”
In this New Covenant there is no longer a need for a priesthood, confession booths etc., as Christ Jesus is our Great High Priest according to Hebrews 4:14 and He now sits at the right hand of God, the Father, and that gives us the boldness to approach God’s throne of grace with confidence because Jesus is the only mediator between man and God. “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus(1 Tim. 1:5).”
The New Covenant is nothing about religion, it’s all about a relationship. It’s the most exciting message that there is in the Word of God. The most exciting message that has ever touched this planet and when we get hold of it, our lives are changed. Why? Because it’s the message about Jesus Christ, it’s the message that encompasses all that He did through His death, burial, and resurrection. It’s all about who He is as God in human flesh doing for us that which we could not do for ourselves. It gives us the freedom in Christ and changes our lives dramatically. It is absolutely life changing.
As you can see, I am very passionate about this and I really want this message to really sink in. To let you know that God has invited us into a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ and the New Covenant is the framework for that relationship. This New Covenant invites you on a journey with Christ Jesus. A journey rooted and grounded in His love. A journey that is an adventure from start to finish because it’s Christ Jesus living His life in and through us.
Once again, I repeat, “It is finished” – done, accomplished and paid in full. On Calvary’s cross Jesus took away the sins of the entire world; past, present, and future – never to be held against you again. My sins, your sins, all our sins; past, present, and future, have been taken away from the eyes of God never to be seen again. God has reconciled you back to Him. God now sees only Jesus when He looks at you. Now accept that truth, be reconciled to God and say, “Thank you Lord Jesus.”
The only thing that can keep you out of heaven is your unbelief in Christ Jesus and what He has accomplished for you on Calvary’s cross nearly 2,000 years ago. Salvation is something that God does for us. It’s all of what Christ Jesus did for us and its none of us or what we do – we can only cling to His righteousness. Because sin no longer separates us from God, we as believers have eternal life through the indwelling Holy Spirit and now, we can get to experience God’s eternal rest again because our relationship with God has been restored. Sin no longer separates us from God. We can rest in Him to do in us whatever He has planned.
We can never again be “children of wrath“once we have been indwelt by God’s spirit and become “Children of God (1John 3:1-3).” Isn’t That Great News![i]
Oscar Leske