Tetelestai. It is Finished.

John 19:28-29 

"28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit."

 {This past weekend, January 2-4, I had the pleasure of going to Passion, I am still in awe of what the Lord did there.   Worshiping the Lord with 20,000 peers is something amazing.} 

Tetelestai. The title of this post, and the overwhelming theme of Passion. This is the Greek word that Jesus spoke on the cross, it is translated into English as "It is finished." 

The thought that has continued to run through my mind since leaving Passion is "It is finished, but the fight has just begun" (this was something Louie said on the last day) 

I am going to try my best to explain this statement.  Let me begin with what Ben Stuart talked about:  the struggle and temptation, or the fight.  See Ben explained that each person is tempted in their own way, like how fish are enticed by different lures.   One may see a fake frog bobbing in the water and bite, while another who sees that as stupid is enticed by a shiny lure.  We, like fish, are lured or tempted in many different ways.  The devil is smart and he knows how to get us thinking.  He knows that what we think about is what we will care about and what we care about is what we will chase.  I am going to use that last statement [what you think about is what you care about, and what you care about is what you chase] as a definition of temptation.   If that is so then we see that the problem has a solution. And that is think about the Lord, fix our eyes on Christ.  Great idea but easier said than done because those lures seem pretty wonderful.  Let me explain it this way, Shakespeare’s "Romeo and Juliet" opens with Romeo pining over Rosaline.  Romeo says none is fairer than Rosaline, that is until Romeo is dragged to a party and sees Juliet, then comes this lovely line:

"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?

It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.

Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,

Who is already sick and pale with grief

That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she. . . .

The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars

As daylight doth a lamp; her eye in heaven

Would through the airy region stream so bright

That birds would sing and think it were not night." 

In other words, Rosaline who? Romeo sees the beauty of Juliet and he forgets the beauty of what he believed he loved.  God does the same for us if we surrender to his will.  He will replace our broken affections with something far more beautiful.  This is how we chase God, we realize that he is far more beautiful than anything else. Romans 8:18  "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." 

You see Satan wants so badly for us to believe that God doesn't love us, but that couldn't be further from the truth. [Our minds can't even fathom the love the Lord has for us.]  Satan wants to convince us that because of our shame and guilt we can never be seen as righteous. That our sin can never be forgiven, and we slowly believe these lies.  We think, how on earth could God love me? We think we will never be good enough, that we are too broken.  But God doesn't need us to have all our ducks in a row to use us... How? Why? Because of one simple word.
Tetelesai. (It is finished) When Jesus uttered this last breath, he won.  He defeated death and he made it possible for us to be seen righteous. See, when Jesus died on that cross hell irrupted in celebration, but they didn't understand that they were celebrating their own death.  Louie, being an Auburn fan explained it like this: think back to the 2014 Ole Miss game, it was a back and forth battle, but when the end came near Auburn was leading. Ole Miss however was driving down the field.  They had a receiver, Treadwell,  make a catch and head for the end zone.  An auburn defender caught up and pulled him down, but it appeared he still scored. The stadium erupted, until it became obvious the player wasn't getting up.  Not only was their best receiver down, but the play was under review. During the review it became clear that this player was seriously injured and would be out for the season.  The stadium became silent... Until the referee came on his mic, "After further review the runner fumbled before crossing the plane and Auburn recovered the football, Auburn ball." Auburn was going to win. What happened when Jesus said, "It is finished" is something like that, see hell thought they won, but Jesus knew better.  Jesus knew that when he said,  "Into your hands I commit my spirit", he was getting ready for a fight.  It was finished and he knew the outcome.  He was going to win , but the fight was at hand. 

Jesus claimed our victory when he rose from the grave!
Tetelesai. IT IS FINISHED. But the fight has just begun. 

This thought brings us to the idea that John Piper presented, that the root of Christianity is not a decision about the truth, but it is in seeing the beauty of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:3-5 "3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants[a] for Jesus' sake." Once we see this glory there is no greater joy.  In the words of John Piper, the greatest good of the Gospel is the gift of the beauty of God in the person of Jesus Christ.  If we look back to what Ben Stuart said about Romeo, Rosaline, and Juliet; we see that these points relate because Ben said that the way we focus on God is to never lose sight of the awe of Christ, the beauty of Christ.  And Piper says that the glory of God is the greatest gift we can ever receive.  Finally,  Ben said that seeing the glory of God is how we keep our minds from falling into sin. 

Hebrew 10:35-39

35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 37 For,

“Yet a little while,

    and the coming one will come and will not delay;

38 

but my righteous one shall live by faith,

    and if he shrinks back,

my soul has no pleasure in him.”

39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.