Finished

A Divine Tug O’ War-God and Man.

Who Wins?

Ever Wonder

• Ever wonder why things aren’t clearer in the Word? You’re not alone!• Matthew 13:10-15 (The Message)• The disciples came up and asked, “Why do you tell stories?” • 11–15 He replied, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it

works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them. • Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings

flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. • That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive

insight. • In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re

blue in the face and not get it. • I don’t want Isaiah’s forecast repeated all over again: Your ears are open but you

don’t hear a thing. Your eyes are awake but you don’t see a thing. The people are blockheads! They stick their fingers in their ears so they won’t have to listen; They screw their eyes shut so they won’t have to look, so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face

It is Finished

• John 19:30 (NKJV), 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.• Finished, τελέω teléō; verb from télos (5056), end, goal. • To make an end or to accomplish, to complete something, not merely

to end it, but to bring it to perfection or its destined goal, to carry it through.

• By implication, to pay off or in full, such as taxes, tribute, which is also the meaning of télos (5056). (WSD)

• A tax, toll, custom (Matt. 17:24; Rom. 13:6). • Papyri receipts for taxes have been recovered with the word tetelestai

written across them, meaning “paid in full.” (BKC)• What was paid in full? Man’s debt, to who? To the law

• Galatians 3:13 (NKJV), Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)

What was Finished?

• Redeemed from the curse of the law.• Galatians 3:13 (NKJV), Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a

curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)

• Redeemed from the power of sin.• 1 Peter 2:24 (NKJV), who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having

died to sins, might live for righteousness —by whose stripes you were healed.

• Satan’s power destroyed, freed from the fear of death.• Hebrews 2:14-15 (NIV), Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their

humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

• At-one-ment: United in His death (the old man), resurrection (the new creation), freed from sin.• Romans 6:5-8 (NKJV), 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death,

certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.

I Have Finished

• John 17:1-5 (NKJV), Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

• Finished, τελειόω teleióō; from téleios (5046), complete, mature. • To complete, make perfect by reaching the intended goal. • (I) Particularly with the meaning to bring to a full end, completion, reaching the intended

goal, to finish a work or duty (John 4:34; 5:36; 17:4).• aorist — The aorist verb tense is used by the writer to present the action of a verb as a

“snapshot” event. The verb’s action is portrayed simply and in summary fashion without respect to any process. In the indicative mood, the aorist usually denotes past time, while an aorist participle usually refers to antecedent time with respect to the main verb. Outside the indicative and the participle, the aorist does not indicate time.

• What about John 19:30?

τελειώσας

τελειόω

having completed

VAAPMSN

Finished-Three Cases

• Looking ahead to finish His work

– John 4:34 (NKJV), Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.

– John 5:36 (NKJV), But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.

• Looking back at completion

–John 17:4, (NKJV), I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.

• John 19:30 (NKJV), It is Finished.

– A distinct work from the other “finished’s”, but what?

It Was Finished!

• Jesus said, “I have finished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4),• why did He say “It is finished” in John 19:30? • It was already finished.

• John 17:4- the work You gave. • This speaks of Father’s work. • Jesus had finished, speaking of completion in his past, not the future!

• John 19:30-It is finished. • This speaks of a different work.• This work was other than the Father’s, for Jesus had accomplished

that!• What different work?• Was Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross God’s heart?

What God Desires• Psalm 51:16-17 (NKJV),

• For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.• 17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not

despise.• Hebrews 10:5-10 (NKJV),

• Not Your Will– Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But

a body You have prepared for Me. 6In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure.– Desire, Desire, θέλω thélō; To will, wish, desire, implying active volition and purpose. – Pleasure, εὐδοκέω eudokéō;

» from eú (2095), well, good, and dokéō (1380), to think. » To be well–pleased, to think it good. » It means to think well of something by understanding not only what is right and

good, as in dokéō, but stressing the willingness and freedom of an intention or resolve regarding what is good.

» In the NT, to approve, please, like, take pleasure in.• Your Will

– 7Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—In the volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Yourwill, O God.’ ”

– 8 Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did notdesire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), 9 then He said,“Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish thesecond. 10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christonce for all.

– He does away with the first [Which is not His Will-the Law/knowledge of Good and Evil] so hemay establish the second [Which is His will-eternal life, knowing Him, knowing grace.]

Questions?

• God does not desire or take pleasure in sacrifices?• Why?

– Then why did Jesus need to die?– 1 John 3:2b (NKJV), … but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like

Him, for we shall see Him as He is.– Then why the sacrifices of the Old Testament?

• Because the law requires it.• Hebrews 9:22 (NKJV), And according to the law almost all things are

purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

• The Mosaic Law vs. God’s Law• Is the mixing of fabrics and protein a moral issue?• A mixing…

• How did the law get involved?• It goes back to the garden.

Origins

• Man created righteous– Genesis 1:27, 31a (NKJV), So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male

and female He created them….31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.

• Naked and felt no shame– Genesis 2:25 (NKJV), And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

• Two Trees– Genesis 2:8-9 (NIV), Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man

he had formed. 9 The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

– Genesis 2:16-17 (NKJV), And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

• God commanded not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. – God didn’t want them to know good and evil? – What does this tell us? – They were righteous and didn’t need any more, they had all God intended!– Good and evil speaks of mixing two natures, God’s with a fallen man.

• God wanted them to eat of the tree of life and experience life.– God wanted righteous man (His image) to experience “eternal life.”– Imagine the possibilities.– This is why going back to the garden is never enough, because we never got “beyone.”

Knowledge-Death

• Genesis 2:17 (NKJV), but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”• The day you eat you will surely die!

• Die? • Physical death? • Did they immediately die? Then it must mean something

else. What?• Spiritual death (original sin)

• Ephesians 2:1 (NKJV), And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,

• Ephesians 2:5 (NKJV), even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

The Two Tree’s Fruit

• The tree of life• Life, live forever?• Death referred to spiritual, so life here should refer to spiritual. • John 17:3 (NKJV), And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true

God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.• The tree of life is Eternal Life, knowing Jesus, knowing God! Grace!

• The tree of the knowledge of good and evil• Romans 3:20 (NKJV), … for by the law is the knowledge of sin.• 1 Corinthians 15:56 (NIV), The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the

law.• 2 Corinthians 3:7-8 (NKJV), But if the ministry of death, written and engraved

on stones, was glorious… 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? (death/life; law/grace)

• Deuteronomy 30:15 (NKJV), “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil,

• The tree of the knowledge is the law.

Choice

• Adam and Eve created perfect, righteous• God wanted them to experience Him and not a shadow

(Hebrews 10:1).• Instead of choosing life, they chose death

– They had a choice.– Satan’s lie, you’re not like God, you must do…– Believing a lie, their thinking regarding God and themselves

became distorted.– They began to believe they must to do to be pleasing and

acceptable…– This is the distorted nature Adam passed on to mankind.

• They chose law when God desired they choose eternal life.• Adam chose law for man, not God for man!

True Righteousness

• Adam and Eve-Righteous • Genesis 15:6 (NIV), Abram believed the LORD, and he

credited it to him as righteousness.• Deuteronomy 6:25 (NIV), And if we are careful to obey

all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.”

• Galatians 3:17-18 (NKJV), And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. 18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

The Law’s Fourfold Purpose

1. For sin consciousness• Romans 3:20, Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the

law we become conscious of sin.• Romans 7:7-8, Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known

what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead.

2. Added because of transgressions, until…• Galatians 3:19, What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed

to whom the promise referred had come.• 1 Timothy 1:9-10, We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the

ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine

3. So trespasses might increase• Romans 5:20, The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all

the more,• Romans 7:5, For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at

work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death.• Romans 7:13-15, But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was

good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. 14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.

4. To lead men to Christ, until• Galatians 3:24-25, So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now

that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.

The Law’s Problem

» Galatians 3:10-11, All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.”

» James 2:10, For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

» Romans 2:25, Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised.

» Galatians 5:2-4, Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

» Romans 7:5, For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death.

The Laws Ultimate Problem

• The law, and man demanded Jesus’ death.

• Hebrews 9:22 (NKJV), And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

• Blood speaks

• Revelation 6:10 (NKJV), And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

• Hebrews 12:24 (NLT), You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel. (Genesis 4:10)

Your Work, It is Finished

• John 17:4, (NKJV), I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.

• God’s longing, restoring lost intimacy

• Luke 13:34 (NKJV), O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under herwings, but you were not willing!

• 2 Peter 3.9 (NKJV), The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

• Restoring the hope of Eternal Life, knowing Him.

• John 19:30 (NKJV), It is Finished.

• Hebrews 9:22 (NKJV), And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

Distorted Self-Image

• I have finished the work you have given me to do. • God told Adam he could eat of any tree except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. • In saying this God revealed His plan, His desire, for man to choose life; eternal life. Eternal life is to

know Him. • Jesus lived as a man, sharing His life, the eternal life with them. This was the Father’s will, which

Jesus finished.• In John 17:4 what was finished? God’s demands. • On the cross Jesus said “it is finished.” What was finished? Man’s demands, for man chose law

over life. • Man chose the tree which brought death. What was this death? • The lie, which was a distorted image of God, and a distorted image of himself. • On the cross it wasn’t God’s will which Jesus finished but man’s will.• God’s will is in sharing His life with man, which Jesus finished. Man’s will, demanding

sacrifice/justice/ payment (Heb 12:24, Rev 6:10, Mt 27:17-25)• Why did Jesus have to die? Because man willed it, not the Father.• In the garden, man had not yet eaten the fruit of the tree of life, so had not yet experienced

“knowing Him” in the fullest extent possible. Instead, man , though already made in His image, chose to become more God like through self-effort; a never ending struggle.

• Imagine the possibilities if Adam chose eternal life instead of knowledge.• Such is our quest in choosing grace over law.