1
00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:12,070
Thank you, Ben. 
So we're continuing our 

2
00:00:12,070 --> 00:00:17,790
miniseries in the lead up to 
Easter, going through various 

3
00:00:17,790 --> 00:00:24,630
phrases that were standing out. 
And last week we had Ben 

4
00:00:24,630 --> 00:00:30,270
preaching about do what I have 
done and he was talking about 

5
00:00:31,030 --> 00:00:35,560
Jesus and washing the disciples 
feet and talking about service 

6
00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:38,120
and so forth. 
If you haven't heard it, go back

7
00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:39,880
and listen to it. 
It's a great preach. 

8
00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:46,240
This week we've got it is 
finished, which you might think 

9
00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:52,200
is a bit of a strange one given 
that next week is Easter, but 

10
00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:58,200
sort of we've got a great preach
lined up for next week, so well 

11
00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:01,960
worth coming along. 
Can I encourage you? 

12
00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:08,360
As Shaykhun said, it's a time 
when people are more likely to 

13
00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:13,480
come into church to walk through
those doors and that is half the

14
00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:17,280
battle. 
You know, we want to be friendly

15
00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:21,840
to people when they walk through
those doors, but quite often 

16
00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:23,840
they need to walk through those 
doors. 

17
00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:29,760
We're also believing about going
out onto the streets and that's 

18
00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:32,920
part of the prayer walk that 
Shagun's talking about. 

19
00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:41,160
So just encourage you, encourage
me to actually prioritise that. 

20
00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:49,680
Let's pray. 
Father God, we thank you that 

21
00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:54,880
you sent Jesus. 
He is the most important person 

22
00:01:55,760 --> 00:02:01,120
on this world. 
Lord, we thank you that he came 

23
00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:08,000
from heaven and he died for us. 
Lord, that was always your first

24
00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:12,080
plan. 
Lord, we thank you that you sent

25
00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:13,760
him. 
Amen. 

26
00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:23,040
So I'm speaking from John 19. 
I'm only going to grab a couple 

27
00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:25,720
of verses rather than reading 
the whole thing. 

28
00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:32,960
But sort of these are just a 
couple of verses and we'll get 

29
00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:39,400
into it. 
And as you would expect, it's 

30
00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:42,080
got the words, it is finished in
it. 

31
00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:51,240
So at John 19 verse 28 through 
to 30 in the NIV later, knowing 

32
00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:56,840
that everything had now been 
finished and so that scripture 

33
00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:02,280
would be fulfilled, Jesus said I
am thirsty. 

34
00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:09,120
A jar of wine vinegar was there.
So they soaked a sponge in it 

35
00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:16,400
and a sorry soaked a sponge on 
and put it on a stalk of the 

36
00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:21,840
hissop plant and lifted it to 
Jesus lips. 

37
00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:29,320
When he had received the drink 
Jesus said it is finished. 

38
00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:34,480
With that he bowed his head and 
gave up his spirit. 

39
00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:41,400
Sorry, I'm trying to provoke my 
timer to start because yet 

40
00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:44,840
again, I will have no clue of 
how long I'm talking for. 

41
00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:52,960
I wonder, when you read that and
picture the scene, do you 

42
00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:57,520
imagine that it is finished as a
whimper? 

43
00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:03,200
As a whisper? 
It's funny, I see a few shakes 

44
00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:07,440
of the head, but what goes 
through my head is exactly that 

45
00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:10,160
it is finished. 
I don't know. 

46
00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:14,120
I was thinking about this. 
I wonder in part if it's because

47
00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:22,200
I imagine death being the sort 
of last day that going quietly, 

48
00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:26,640
You know, this is his last 
breath, basically, and he's 

49
00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:31,160
saying it is finished. 
If we read the other Gospels, 

50
00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:38,200
though, it becomes clear that it
wasn't a quiet whisper. 

51
00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:46,280
Jesus cried out again in a loud 
voice and then gave up his 

52
00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:50,120
spirit. 
That's Matthew's record marks. 

53
00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,760
With a loud cry, Jesus breathed 
his last. 

54
00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:00,640
Luke. 
Jesus called out with a loud 

55
00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:05,200
voice. 
Father, into your hands I commit

56
00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:08,920
my spirit. 
When he had said this, he 

57
00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:13,720
breathed his last. 
So John doesn't say explicitly 

58
00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:17,960
that Jesus was speaking in a 
loud voice, but I think we can 

59
00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:25,840
take it that he was. 
So the thing about that is you 

60
00:05:25,840 --> 00:05:35,160
can go from Jesus just dying to 
Jesus going, it is finished and 

61
00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:40,400
you go hold on a moment then was
Jesus not in pain? 

62
00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:46,800
Was he not nailed to the cross? 
He's shouting Jesus, it is 

63
00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:51,720
finished. 
And we can think that, well, we 

64
00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:58,960
say Jesus was man and God. 
So perhaps then He just forwent 

65
00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:05,480
his manhood at that stage. 
But if we go down that line, it 

66
00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:12,760
ignores everything in the Bible.
You see, God was seeking for a 

67
00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:19,920
people to live their best life 
and He created us to live that 

68
00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:25,600
life. 
He experiences pain when we 

69
00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:30,400
don't do that, and that is why 
Jesus was sent. 

70
00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:37,960
Jesus was both man and God, but 
the point is, he's both at the 

71
00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:43,200
same time. 
He doesn't forego his manhood to

72
00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:46,680
get round feeling the pain on 
the cross. 

73
00:06:47,280 --> 00:06:53,840
He experienced it all there, but
he was focused on something 

74
00:06:53,840 --> 00:06:56,960
else. 
You see, it wasn't just the 

75
00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:03,600
nails that held him to that 
cross, it was his love for each 

76
00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:08,680
one of us. 
You see that it is finished is a

77
00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:13,160
sound of a builder laying the 
final stone. 

78
00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:19,640
It's the sound of a runner 
crossing that finish line. 

79
00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:25,080
The Greek word. 
Because we all like a bit of 

80
00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:29,120
Greek and theology, don't we? 
Or is it just me? 

81
00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:38,400
The Greek word is tetelestai and
I probably butchered that, but 

82
00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:42,560
we'll go with it. 
And it's translation is it is 

83
00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:44,880
finished. 
But it was a regular word. 

84
00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:51,400
It was used in business, written
on receipts and what it meant 

85
00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:57,640
there was paid in full. 
Amazing, isn't it? 

86
00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:03,480
It was used injustice. 
When a prisoner had completed 

87
00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:11,640
their sentence and they sort of 
moved out of prison, they 

88
00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:18,040
received a certificate of debt 
which had Tete Leste on it. 

89
00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:23,120
It basically meant that debt has
been fulfilled, it's been 

90
00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:25,920
cancelled, it's no longer 
relevant. 

91
00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:32,559
Isn't that amazing too? 
These two things tell us. 

92
00:08:35,039 --> 00:08:42,000
That's why that's not working. 
Tell us how we can interpret 

93
00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:45,520
what God, what Jesus is saying 
on the cross. 

94
00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:52,000
It is finished. 
So what was it exactly that was 

95
00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:56,480
finished? 
Well, one of the things is that 

96
00:08:56,480 --> 00:09:03,800
Jesus came to die on that cross.
Yeah, from the very beginning in

97
00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:09,480
Genesis through to Malachi that 
we were in a few weeks back. 

98
00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:15,960
There's this red thread, as 
people refer to it, running 

99
00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:21,920
through all of history. 
It's the promise of a rescuer. 

100
00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:30,920
Thousands of years God's people 
lived in a state of to be 

101
00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:35,760
continued. 
It's coming, but not yet. 

102
00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:42,800
There were shadows in men of 
God, of Jesus. 

103
00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:51,560
You look at Abraham, You look at
David, Joseph, Elijah, Isaiah. 

104
00:09:51,560 --> 00:09:52,920
I knew I was going to trip 
there. 

105
00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:59,600
Elijah and Elijah and Isaiah, 
Daniel, Joshua, Joan. 

106
00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:03,960
I'm Joan. 
That's a story about Jesus. 

107
00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:08,040
It's a story about persecution 
and redemption. 

108
00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:13,560
It wasn't intended as the story 
of human persecution, even 

109
00:10:13,560 --> 00:10:16,600
though that's how we can 
identify with that. 

110
00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:24,680
Every time a prophet spoke, 
every time a king failed, every 

111
00:10:24,680 --> 00:10:30,120
time a psalmist cried out for 
mercy, the tension grew. 

112
00:10:33,560 --> 00:10:35,880
It's that Sunday school adage, 
isn't it? 

113
00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:40,080
So the Sunday school teacher 
asked a question, and the kid 

114
00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:43,880
answers with, well, the answer's
got to be Jesus. 

115
00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:51,800
Yeah, the answer was always 
Jesus to Genesis, to Malachi. 

116
00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:57,240
It's about Jesus. 
He was born of a virgin that was

117
00:10:57,240 --> 00:11:02,160
prophesied in Isaiah. 
He was born in Bethlehem. 

118
00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:05,360
He was descended from the King 
David. 

119
00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:11,920
Even when He was on the cross, 
his hands and His feet were 

120
00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:15,200
being pierced. 
That's in Psalm 22. 

121
00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:19,160
In fact, Psalm 22 carries a lot 
of things about it. 

122
00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:26,400
Psalm 22 says my mouth is dried 
up like a potsherd and my tongue

123
00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:34,880
sticks to the roof of my mouth. 
Psalm 6921 finishes with and 

124
00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:42,800
gave me vinegar for my thirst. 
Jesus is there on the cross, and

125
00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:49,720
he's looking to the complete 
fulfilment of scripture, of the 

126
00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:55,240
written word of God. 
Jesus is focused on the cross, 

127
00:11:55,560 --> 00:11:59,640
on completing the word of God, 
of finishing it. 

128
00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:09,120
See, back in Genesis 3, there 
was a curse that came and God 

129
00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:15,400
said to Adam and Eve, well, he 
said it to the serpent. 

130
00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:23,040
He said that the serpent's head,
the devil, the accuser, his head

131
00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:28,800
would be crushed and the serpent
would strike the heel. 

132
00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:36,240
You know, I'm sure the accuser, 
the devil, assumed that it was 

133
00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:40,080
finished. 
He'd killed Jesus, the Son of 

134
00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:45,120
God. 
God continues to speak. 

135
00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:51,840
He continues to speak to us 
today through His Word, but also

136
00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:59,800
through his Holy Spirit. 
But it is all because of what 

137
00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:03,240
Jesus did, of what Jesus 
accomplished. 

138
00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:10,240
We wouldn't have the Holy Spirit
without Jesus having come and 

139
00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:16,600
gone back to heaven. 
Jesus is the completion of all 

140
00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:20,040
that God set out to do and 
accomplish. 

141
00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:26,960
So that's prophecy. 
That's the completion of the 

142
00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:31,840
word of Scripture. 
But the other thing that we 

143
00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:35,160
looked at that we talked about 
earlier was that certificate of 

144
00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:38,400
debt. 
The debt was finished. 

145
00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:45,360
The bill was paid in full. 
The curse is broken. 

146
00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:50,680
See, in the beginning we lived 
with God. 

147
00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:55,080
We walked with God in the call 
of the garden. 

148
00:13:56,480 --> 00:14:01,080
And then we did something. 
We did something that God had 

149
00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:08,040
told us not to do. 
And the result of that was a 

150
00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:12,120
curse. 
Now, this isn't Adam and Eve's 

151
00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:15,560
curse. 
This is all of us. 

152
00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:24,000
The result of our actions are a 
broken world, See? 

153
00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:31,760
The result of our actions 
should, in a just world, be 

154
00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:35,720
death. 
See, We're condemned to die. 

155
00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:39,480
Now you might go hold on a 
moment. 

156
00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:45,840
We do something that God says 
not to do, and that's it. 

157
00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:49,360
We're condemned to die. 
Surely not. 

158
00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:56,240
What kind of God would do that? 
Here's the thing you're missing.

159
00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:03,920
When we did something that was 
against what God had told us not

160
00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:09,880
to do, that created the 
separation between US and God. 

161
00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:20,320
That meant that we were forced 
out of His presence because He 

162
00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:25,240
is holy and just. 
It's one of the challenges in 

163
00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:31,720
marriage is you can do something
that causes pain to the other 

164
00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:36,960
person and you have to work out 
how to reconcile it. 

165
00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:42,720
But here the problem was far 
bigger. 

166
00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:50,480
You see, we were separated from 
God, but now we can't come into 

167
00:15:50,560 --> 00:16:00,240
God's presence, so we're stuck 
to butcher some film quotes. 

168
00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:05,080
We're dead already. 
We just don't know it. 

169
00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:10,080
Yeah. 
If you live without Jesus, 

170
00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:16,440
you're dead. 
Yeah, because God created us, 

171
00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:20,640
but he created us to live with 
him. 

172
00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:28,720
Our life comes from God. 
So if we're separated from God, 

173
00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:35,080
we no longer have life. 
It's only through God's grace 

174
00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:38,920
that we breathe that without 
Jesus that we breathe and walk 

175
00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:44,280
around. 
But eventually that rule comes 

176
00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:51,640
in and it says no, you die 
because we're now no longer 

177
00:16:51,640 --> 00:17:00,280
supported by gods in US. 
See, salvation then trying to 

178
00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:04,960
get back into presence of God, 
Well, there's nothing you can 

179
00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:08,000
do. 
There's no works you can do. 

180
00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:12,200
You can't be good enough to come
back into God's presence. 

181
00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:16,160
See, imagine with me for a 
moment. 

182
00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:21,880
You've got a mortgage, you've 
got car finance, you've got 

183
00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:24,960
finance for other things, say 
furniture. 

184
00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:29,760
It seems to cost an arm and a 
leg to buy a sofa these days and

185
00:17:30,360 --> 00:17:34,400
and you're right at the limit of
what you can afford. 

186
00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:39,440
Everything you've got coming in 
is going out on these things, on

187
00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:43,880
food and so forth. 
And then war breaks out. 

188
00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:50,800
America and Israel decide to 
invade Iran and now petrol 

189
00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:57,040
prices are jumping by 35 PA 
litre and food prices go up. 

190
00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:04,000
It's all overwhelming. 
It's that stomach drop moment. 

191
00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:09,880
I can't pay this, there's 
nothing I can do. 

192
00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:18,360
But imagine somebody steps in 
and they pay everything. 

193
00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:23,080
They pay off your mortgage, they
pay off your car, they pay off 

194
00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:31,480
your sofa. 
Finally you can sleep, the 

195
00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:36,240
weight is lifted. 
Finally you can live. 

196
00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:47,520
See, that's the but God moment. 
Jesus loves us so much. 

197
00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:56,160
Jesus loves you, Deborah. 
Jesus loves you, Lizzie. 

198
00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:06,960
Jesus loves you, Ethan, so much 
that he came from heaven. 

199
00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:14,800
As Ben told us last week, he 
came from a place where he was 

200
00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:22,200
King of Kings and stepped down 
to earth as a lowly baby. 

201
00:19:24,120 --> 00:19:31,400
See, we needed a Saviour, we 
needed a Redeemer, somebody to 

202
00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:38,560
put us back in right with God. 
We needed someone to pay the 

203
00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:44,520
price of our wrong. 
We needed someone to pay the 

204
00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:52,680
full price to cancel our debt. 
See, in the spiritual realm, 

205
00:19:53,720 --> 00:20:02,800
everyone who has recognised they
need Jesus, everyone who has 

206
00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:08,840
made Jesus in charge of their 
life, what they do each day, 

207
00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:15,520
everyone who has started a 
relationship with Jesus, they 

208
00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:19,840
get this metaphorical 
certificate of debt with 

209
00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:25,080
Tetelesti put on it, paid in 
full. 

210
00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:29,440
Jesus didn't give us a payment 
plan. 

211
00:20:30,360 --> 00:20:36,280
Oh well, you know, pay this 
amount every week and by the end

212
00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:42,000
of your life you'll be right. 
No, he didn't even give us a 

213
00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:47,040
discount. 
Oh, sales happening 50% off. 

214
00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:55,360
No, He paid in his blood, paid 
in full. 

215
00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:01,000
The dead didn't disappear, it 
didn't go. 

216
00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:09,440
It was settled by Jesus so it 
would never be demanded of you 

217
00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:15,120
again. 
We can live because of Jesus 

218
00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:19,760
sacrifice, because of his mercy,
because of his grace. 

219
00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:31,000
Another thing that was finished,
the system, I've titled it, but 

220
00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:35,960
if you'd walked into the temple 
on the morning that Jesus was 

221
00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:40,960
going to be crucified on the 
cross, you'd have seen a 

222
00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:48,800
massive, thick curtain in there.
It was a barrier keeping 

223
00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:55,760
everyone out, except for once a 
year a priest would go through 

224
00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:59,560
that curtain. 
It stood between the dwelling 

225
00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:05,600
place of God, the Holy of 
Holies, and the rest of the 

226
00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:11,160
world. 
It was a constant reminder that 

227
00:22:11,360 --> 00:22:16,360
you are not clean enough, you 
are not holy enough. 

228
00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:26,720
But that afternoon, when Jesus 
gave up his spirit, that curtain

229
00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:31,640
was torn in two, and it wasn't 
by human hands. 

230
00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:33,680
Who would have had to start at 
the bottom. 

231
00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:39,320
No, God tore it from the top 
down. 

232
00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:49,000
The need for a sacrificial 
system was no longer required. 

233
00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:56,440
You see, Jesus sacrifice was the
ultimate sacrifice. 

234
00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:03,520
The price had been paid in full 
for everything, fire and 

235
00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:08,440
everything going forward. 
He completed it full. 

236
00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:16,720
The religious treadmill of do 
more, give more, sacrifice more.

237
00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:20,160
It's abolished. 
It's finished. 

238
00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:26,720
The way is open into God's 
presence now. 

239
00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:36,560
The old covenant was finished 
and a new era, a new covenant 

240
00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:42,960
covenant was established in the 
temple. 

241
00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:46,960
There wasn't any place for a 
priest to sit. 

242
00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:52,760
That's because the priest's work
was never finished. 

243
00:23:55,160 --> 00:24:02,920
But in Hebrews 10 and Mark 16, 
Jesus is recorded as going and 

244
00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:06,400
sitting down at the right hand 
of God. 

245
00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:20,160
See, it is finished. 
So if prophecy is fulfilled, if 

246
00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:29,360
the debt is paid, if the curtain
is torn, why do we live as if 

247
00:24:29,360 --> 00:24:36,400
we're carrying around the bill? 
See, Jesus said it is finished. 

248
00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:42,880
No, I am finished. 
No, it is finished. 

249
00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:48,640
See, I am finished is the 
language of exhaustion. 

250
00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:54,440
It's the thing we say when 
things haven't gone quite as we 

251
00:24:54,440 --> 00:25:00,240
plan them to. 
It's the thing that we say when 

252
00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:03,520
we fall into that sin for the 
thousandth time. 

253
00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:08,600
We feel like God must be fed up 
with us. 

254
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:15,640
We see God as the tyrant rather 
than the loving Father. 

255
00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:22,160
We see Jesus as God and perfect,
which he is. 

256
00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:27,800
But we then compare ourselves to
that idea of perfection. 

257
00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:34,680
We treat our relationship with 
Jesus as a spiritual treadmill. 

258
00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:41,160
You're all here on a Sunday. 
You might be attending because 

259
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:44,360
you think that's the thing 
you've got to do to be the 

260
00:25:44,360 --> 00:25:49,800
perfect Christian for God to be 
pleased with you and smile on 

261
00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:55,160
you. 
We run our race striving for 

262
00:25:55,160 --> 00:26:00,920
that finishing line, trying to 
get clean enough, holy enough. 

263
00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:07,960
We try to add our little plus 
sign to the cross. 

264
00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:17,520
The cross plus my good behaviour
equals salvation. 

265
00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:23,800
I don't know whether you've been
to the Louvre or perhaps the 

266
00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:29,720
National Gallery is is more easy
for us to reach, but in there 

267
00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:35,640
there's a load of masterpieces. 
Yeah, beautiful works of art. 

268
00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:41,120
You can go and see them. 
Here's the thing though, you 

269
00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:46,920
can't improve on those works of 
art, on those masterpieces. 

270
00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:52,680
You can't get out your little 
permanent borough and and 

271
00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:56,880
improve those things. 
In fact, I suspect if you did, 

272
00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:00,880
you'd end up in a lot of trouble
for defacing them. 

273
00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:09,160
See, I'm a doer. 
Over the last month, though, 

274
00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:16,520
God's been talking to me about 
resting in what He has done. 

275
00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:26,280
To accept it is finished means 
that I have to give up what I 

276
00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:32,680
would do to try and save myself.
I can't save myself anyhow. 

277
00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:38,440
In many ways, it's an assault on
my pride. 

278
00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:52,320
But Dre says put the pen down. 
The Ledger is closed if you've 

279
00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:57,200
been living in shame. 
And just because I didn't get 

280
00:27:57,200 --> 00:28:03,240
the difference between shame and
guilt, shame is where you say 

281
00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:09,440
I'm a bad person, OK. 
Guilt is where you say I did 

282
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:11,600
something wrong. 
All right? 

283
00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:21,120
So if you're living in shame, 
that isn't of Jesus, that isn't 

284
00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:25,720
who he says you are. 
It's not who he's calling you to

285
00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:30,600
be. 
That's the accuser in Zephaniah 

286
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:38,840
3 verses 15 to 17, it says the 
Lord has taken away your 

287
00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:43,720
punishment. 
He has turned back your enemy. 

288
00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:48,480
The Lord, the king of Israel is 
with you. 

289
00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:55,800
Never again will you fear any 
harm on that day. 

290
00:28:56,520 --> 00:29:01,920
That's when Jesus died. 
They will say to Jerusalem, do 

291
00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:07,520
not fear Zion. 
Do not let your hands hang limp.

292
00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:14,600
The Lord your God is with you, 
the mighty warrior who saves. 

293
00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:23,600
He will take great delight in 
you, in his love. 

294
00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:32,600
He will no longer rebuke you, 
but will rejoice over you with 

295
00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:37,360
singing. 
We gather here and sing some 

296
00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:40,400
great songs and they were 
amazing this morning. 

297
00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:45,240
All about Jesus. 
And he's there right back 

298
00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:49,800
singing over each one of you, 
singing over you. 

299
00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:54,640
Jesus isn't asking you to do 
more. 

300
00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:57,960
He's not asking you to try 
harder. 

301
00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:05,680
He's asking you to rest. 
When Jesus said it's finished, 

302
00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:15,080
he meant your shame is finished,
your striving is finished, your 

303
00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:23,000
separation from God is finished.
And he didn't mean that you've 

304
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:28,040
done enough up to this point. 
That well done, good and 

305
00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:30,120
faithful servant, you've done it
all. 

306
00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:38,520
No, Jesus has done it all and we
just need to accept that there's

307
00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:44,240
nothing we can do. 
To add to that, Jesus sat down 

308
00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:48,520
at the right hand of God. 
It is finished. 

309
00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:56,560
As we move to Easter, it's easy 
to jump ahead. 

310
00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:01,280
It's easy to jump to the 
Hallelujah of the resurrection, 

311
00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:10,000
but for the disciples, on that 
Friday, it is finished would 

312
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:12,080
probably have felt like a 
funeral. 

313
00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:18,800
They saw a tomb. 
They saw a stone that had been 

314
00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:22,880
rolled over the tomb entrance. 
They saw silence. 

315
00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:28,000
They assumed finished meant 
over. 

316
00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:34,480
They went back to their day jobs
because they didn't know what 

317
00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:41,320
else to do. 
As we leave today, realise the 

318
00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:46,440
work of salvation wasn't 
finished when the stone was 

319
00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:52,760
rolled away. 
It was finished on the Friday 

320
00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:59,800
when the blood was shed. 
Sunday was just the proof, but 

321
00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:02,000
the payment happened on the 
Friday. 

322
00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:10,240
I hope that you walk out of here
not needing to strive to be 

323
00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:14,480
better. 
I hope that for myself, I have 

324
00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:19,800
to keep repositioning myself. 
I hope that you're not wondering

325
00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:26,240
if you're loved, You are. 
I hope that you're not hoping 

326
00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:36,440
you're forgiven because you are,
but knowing you are because of 

327
00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:42,680
what the King of Kings did. 
He looked at your life, looked 

328
00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:46,200
at your debt, and shouted to the
heavens. 

329
00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:55,400
It is finished. 
Next week we're going to hear. 

330
00:32:56,040 --> 00:33:00,480
Whom are you seeking? 
I'm excited for that. 

331
00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:05,800
Have a great week. 
Be blessed, Jesus. 

332
00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:09,120
Jesus. 
Jesus. 

333
00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:13,520
Thank you. 
Jesus, we've sung and and it's 

334
00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:19,600
been plain that you deserve all 
the glory, all the praise. 

335
00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:26,160
Jesus, we hold you as just 
amazing. 

336
00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:30,680
Lord, that you would sing over 
us is wonderful. 

337
00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:38,360
That you would come to earth 
from heaven for us, it's just 

338
00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:42,160
amazing. 
Lord, may we never take it for 

339
00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:45,800
granted. 
May we never stop singing of 

340
00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:50,920
what you've done for us. 
And Lord, may we be a people who

341
00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:57,600
go out amongst the world here 
and proclaim your life for those

342
00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:01,400
people. 
Lord, may people here and be 

343
00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:06,320
turned to you, Thank you Jesus, 
Amen.