Good Friday

As we prepare to celebrate our Lord’s resurrection this Sunday, let’s meditate on what it was He accomplished!

The Lamb of God, is slained for our transgressions.

The finished work of Christ is not like our finished work. Our work is never really done, and this creates an underlying sense of restlessness. If you let it get the better of you it can be absolutely destructive and deteriorating. This is why we make a TO-DO list.

When we have completed something and checked it off the list it makes a ringing sound. Over this spring break I have become like one of Pavlov’s dogs. When I hear that ringing sound I get an uncontrollable sensation. I love to hear that sound of completion and then see the check mark in the box… Yes, I’ve finished that.

Now, what’s next on the list? And guess what, when that one is finished there are seven more things to do, and tomorrow is a whole new list, and when that goal is met we will make new ones and on and on. We are never really finished are we? Even when we come to the end of something we look back and realize that it wasn’t done perfectly. There is always something that could have been done better or wasn’t finished right or whatever the case may be.

But at the core of our being is a longing, a desire for completeness, for an ultimate and final, until “It is Finished!” As I reflect on my life I see so clearly the struggle and conflict within me, this desire for attaining “completeness” seems unsatiable. Maybe you can identify with it too. “I just want to be finished with school. I just want to be finished being a kid I want to be a grown up and be free. I just want to be finished with this job and move on. I just want to be finished with this part of my life; I am ready for something else. I just want to be finished being a grown up; it’s too much responsibility.” How refreshing it is, like a breath of fresh spring air after the dark of winter, when we go to the Scriptures and see that at its heart, at it’s essence is this truth: “It IS finished!”

We crave completeness, for things to be finished but we can never really obtain it because of sin. Completeness had to be obtained on our behalf. And so, we must look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, the one man who could truly say, “It is finished.” That completeness is now ours by faith in the one that actually accomplished it.

And we can rest assured, when Jesus said “It is finished”, it is not like the familiar checked off to-do list. No, when Jesus said “It is finished”, He is not just saying, “Yeah, I got it done”. He is saying, “I finished it completely, fully, perfectly, all sufficiently in such a way that it is once and for all, never to be repeated or replicated”.

Filling the box of Christ’s to-do list of redemption is a giant check mark, and nothing has been or can be added to it. But you know what the incredible thing is? The thing that continues to just baffle me and humble me, as it should you. The fact that Christ takes His redemption, the one with the giant check mark, the one that cost him his life to complete, and the one He literally worked Himself to death to accomplish. He takes it and hands it over to me and you; for my sins and yours.

What a wonderful Savior we have! Do you feel it in your heart to give Him thanks and the glory? If so, please take it upon yourself to be more Christ-like and follow HIM in all the things you do. May our LORD, protect you and guide you in your journey and quest as you seek Him and His Way.

GOD BLESS YOU.