When He Said "It Is Finished"

I've heard it said that only God checks everything off of his to-do list everyday. This is a slice of humble pie for someone like myself that tries to do everything and cross everything off of my to-do list. I don't know about you, but I start my day hoping to accomplish more than I actually can accomplish. Then I get to the end of the day and feel a sense of defeat when I don't live up to completing my list. But it is true: God is the only one that accomplishes his to-do list everyday - unless you keep a minimal to-do list. 

The principle is this: God is the only that can perfectly accomplish what he sets out to accomplish, and his purposes are always accomplished. 

Me? I'm very different from God. I don't know about you, but most of my life never feels accomplished or completed. After I finish a task, I need to do it again next week. I might check laundry off my list, but then I need to do it again. My work is never finished or accomplished... at least in this life. 

Right before Jesus died on the cross, his last words were "It is finished" (John 19:30) And he meant it. God's mission to saving people from their sin was accomplished as Jesus gave up his life on the cross. Jesus' work was finished. 

Because of Jesus, it is finished. We cannot earn our salvation. Salvation is freely given through faith in Christ, and because of Jesus' salvation, we have the hope of being able to enter God's rest. 

Most people live their lives longing for things to be finished, but other than salvation in Christ, most things feel unfinished. We're working towards the end of the project, so we can rest only to have a new project. People work hard for the first 60 years of their lives to rest for the last few years. We're always working to finish and longing for rest. 

Because of Jesus' finished work on the cross, the greatest rest we can imagine, God's rest, is offered. We'll talk about God's rest tomorrow.