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When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, It is finished! And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. John 19:30

For so long now God's people have missed out on the promises of God simply by not knowing what Jesus done on the cross. These very important words, "It is finished," seem to be lost in modern church teachings. With their mouth they confess Jesus but by actions they deny Him. Because we don't know (or really believe) what Jesus did, our actions cannot line up with the Word of God. When Jesus finished the work "After this, Jesus, knowing all was now finished (ended), said in fulfillment of the scripture, I thirst." John 19:28. He also started another work, Hebrews 8:13 (Amplified Bible), "When God speaks of a new (covenant or agreement), He makes the first one obsolete (out of use). And what is obsolete (out of use and annulled because of age) is ripe for disappearance and to be dispensed with altogether." Some seem to know what He finished but don't realize the fullness of what He started.

Jesus said in Luke 16:16 "Until John came, there were the Law and the Prophets; since then the good news (the Gospel) of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone strives violently to go in." This scripture also speaks of a beginning and an end, an end to the law and prophets and the beginning of the gospel of the Kingdom of God. Jesus did a lot of teaching on the Kingdom of God. I believe with this teaching Jesus was bringing a "transition" period into place. He was leading them from the old way into a new way. When the Jewish people came to Jesus and asked Him questions, He answered them correctly according to the law, but in the process He always pointed out the Kingdom of God in His answer. The four books of the gospels, (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) should have been kept in the Old Testament because they were still under the law at the time; Jesus had not yet finished His work. That is why Jesus answered them correctly according to the law. This is where many of God's people are missing out on what Jesus started; they can't break away from the law. They still are seeing the answers Jesus gave according to the law and are ignoring His answers concerning the Kingdom of God. The new covenant church, the body of Christ, did not start until after Jesus finished His work, the death, burial and resurrection.

It took His blood to seal the testament. The "strives violently" comes when we realize that we cannot take an old work (old wine skin) and add a new work to it (new wine). The New Testament is not an addendum to the Old Testament.

Matthew 5:17 "Think not that I come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill."

Hebrews 10:9 "Then said He, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that he may establish the second."

Hebrews 7:11 "If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?"

Hebrews 7:12 "For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law."

The book of Hebrews says that "after the death of a testator then the judgment (the reading of the will or testament)." This is when the New Testament came into effect, after the death. This is also what the book of Hebrews is talking about, the death of Jesus and the reading of His will. Paul (a brilliant lawyer) spent a lot of time in Hebrews comparing Old Testament scriptures to New Testament scriptures. How much better a covenant we now have through Christ Jesus. I had heard this scripture taken out of context and preached at many funerals meaning that after death we stand in judgment before God. This is the wrong interpretation of this verse. It has nothing to do with our judgment but the reading (judgment) of the will or testament of Jesus Christ. Thus, a new covenant is what we are under.

Jesus said in John 4:34, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work." He also said in John 17:4 that ...I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." So I can stand on this, that He DID finish the work the Father sent Him to do.

Now we can see the scriptures in a different light. From the standpoint of a new work (way of serving God) having been done, we can see that the scriptures are talking in a finished work language.

John 9:39"And Jesus said, for judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind."

John 12:46 "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness."

He said, it is finished; that is, the whole will of God; as that he should be incarnate, be exposed to shame and reproach, and suffer much, and die; the whole work his Father gave him to do, which was to preach the Gospel, work miracles, and obtain eternal salvation for his people, all which were now done, or as good as done; the whole righteousness of the law was fulfilled, a holy nature assumed, perfect obedience yielded to it, and the penalty of death endured; hence a perfect righteousness was finished agreeably to the law, which was magnified and made honorable by it, and redemption from its curse and condemnation secured; sin was made an end of, full atonement and satisfaction for it were given; complete pardon procured, peace made, and redemption from all iniquity obtained; all enemies were conquered; all types, promises, and prophecies were fulfilled, and his own course of life ended: the reason of his saying so was, because all this was near being done, just upon finishing, and was as good as done; and was sure and certain, and so complete, that nothing need, or could be added to it; and it was done entirely without the help of man, and cannot be undone; all which since has more clearly appeared by Christ's resurrection from the dead, his entrance into heaven, his session at God's right hand, the declaration of the Gospel, and the application of salvation to particular persons.

Galatians 4:3 "so we [Jewish Christians] also, when we were minors, were kept like slaves under [the rules of the Hebrew ritual and subject to] the elementary teachings of a system of external observations and regulations."

Galatians 4:4 "But when the proper time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject to [the regulations of] the Law,"

Galatians 4:5 "To purchase the freedom of (to ransom, to redeem, to atone for) those who were subject to the Law, that we might be adopted and have sonship conferred upon us [and be recognized as God's sons]."

Galatians 4:6 "And because you [really] are [His] sons, God has sent the [Holy] Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba (Father)! Father!"

Galatians 4:7 "Therefore, you are no longer a slave (bond servant) but a son; and if a son, then [it follows that you are] an heir by the aid of God, through Christ." *Some people know that we have been delivered from the law, but they don't know what we have been brought into.

1 Corinthians 12:13 "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."

Peter said in Acts 2:38......Repent (change your views and purpose to accept the will of God in your inner selves instead of rejecting it) and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of and release from your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is a Spiritual baptism (not water baptism), at your new birth. This is when we are brought into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. The same moment our sins are forgiven.

So then ....Romans 6:18 "And having been set free from sin, you have become the servants of righteousness (of conformity to the divine will in thought, purpose, and action)".

This is what the Message Bible says in Romans 6:22 "But now that you've found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way!"

Galatians 3:13 "Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree'? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the Cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse."

These following scriptures list some of the things that we have been "made."

Titus 3:7 "That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

2 Corinthians 5:21 "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

Ephesians 1:6 "To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."

Ephesians 2:6 "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:"

Colossians 1:12 "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:"

Revelation 1:6 "And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

Revelation 5:10 "And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on earth."

Galatians 5:1 "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

Philippians 3:10 "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;"

The term "being made" is a reality of what Jesus made us (right now), and for us to walk in this truth. We have been made righteous, kings, priests, free, in the likeness of His death, justified, holy, saints, and the list goes on. This is how God the Father sees us now. One reason people can't see themselves this way is because they still have a sin conscience and don't believe in the finished work or Jesus. They can never see themselves worthy because they still identify with sin. They need to be set free. Jesus stood in the synagogue and proclaimed, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all of them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is the scripture fulfilled in your ears." Luke 4: 18-21. Notice who He was talking to. It was not the Gentiles, but He was talking to the Jews, the religious people. They were held captive by their religion.

Just because we are free from the law does not mean we are lawless. Jesus even appeased the wrath of God toward us...

Isaiah 54:9 "For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee."

Isaiah 54:10 "For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee."

Romans 5:9 "Therefore, since we are now justified (acquitted, made righteous, and brought into right relationship with God) by Christ's blood, how much more [certain is it that] we shall be saved by Him from the indignation and wrath of God."

1 Thessalonians 1:10 "And [how you] look forward to and await the coming of His Son from heaven, Whom He raised from the dead -- Jesus, Who personally rescues and delivers us out of and from the wrath [bringing punishment] which is coming [upon the impenitent] which is [investing us with all the privileges and rewards of the new life in Christ, the Messiah]."

1 Thessalonians 5:9 "For God has not appointed us to [incur His] wrath [He did not select us to condemn us], but [that we might] obtain [His} salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)."

Now that's Good News!!

 

David Peoples