IT IS FINISHED Matt Papa Welcome to our Good Friday service here at Emmaus Road Church We come to one of those moments in our calendar year when we take some concerted time to stop, and in our hearts, kneel before the Lord in abject love and awe because of what He has done for us In truth, there is (or should be) an element of this in our daily lives, an element of our coming and our going, our working and our resting But particularly on this night, we have an opportunity to pause and remember the death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…His life given in exchange for our own His blood shed for us, as our sin held Him there until all was accomplished Once and for all Jesus offered up His life And so many in the world today miss this important fact Because Jesus was and is the perfect, sinless Son of God, He is also the perfect sacrifice to atone for sins His sacrifice alone was and is sufficient to atone for every man, woman, and child, and not just those living today, but for the sins of the whole world Such was the purity and blameless nature of our Lord, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world For one and all, and for once and for all, He offered up His life Jesus Christ’s death and Resurrection is efficacious for all who respond in faith to the well-meant Gospel offer And anyone can respond if they are willing , and when one does respond to that offer of salvation, that one is saved by grace alone - it’s not of works so that no one can boast about it And that one is saved by faith in the Son of God Our culture is steeped in a debt-mindset We borrow to purchase, and then we have to pay back what was borrowed, and that with interest It costs us more than the pricetag promises, thus our debt becomes greater than we expected and the interest is incurred and compounded Did you know that in the same way, our sins stack up as we find ourselves unable to pay the debts we owe to a holy God, whose love for men and women made in His Image keeps Him from destroying us utterly for the sins we have committed 1 Peter 1:3–12 [3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, [4] to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, [5] who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. [6] In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, [7] so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. [8] Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, [9] obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Jesus hasn’t stacked or even “picked” His team in advance, though He knows who will and won’t respond to the Gospel And such is the graciousness of our Lord, that He has made Himself known through that which had been made, the witness of Creation, also through His perfect Word, the Bible, and by the testimonies of the Saints - those who’ve put their faith in Christ and have been born again Additionally, He gives us the very precious gift of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us Jesus was and is the perfect sacrifice without blemish, just like the sacrifices from the Old Covenant also had to be without blemish But this isn’t about bulls and sheep and goats This is about the perfect Lamb of God laying down His life so that all may go free from the penalty of sin, which is death eternal in the Lake of Fire Only His perfect sinlessness makes this possible If Jesus had to atone for any sin of His own doing, He would not have been able to be our sufficient sacrifice, and the way to salvation would be closed to us But Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, lived a perfect life and was without sin Praise be to God for the spotless Lamb Atoning blood was shed on that cross on Golgotha This goes back to Abraham and taking Isaac, all the way back to Mt Moriah to make a sacrifice God challenged Abraham to offer up his one and only Son, Isaac, as a burnt offering Abraham was heavy hearted about this turn of events, especially after waiting for a child for so long This was the child of promise through whom many would come into the world, including the One who would deliver humanity from sin and death It made no sense to Abraham, but he chose obedience to the voice of God over his own understanding He trusted YAHWEH, and though he couldn’t see the outcome in that moment, Abraham chose to trust the Lord, figuring that God could raise the dead if it came to that Many scholars believe that the most proper meaning of God’s name may be “He Brings into Existence Whatever Exists” And so God will Himself provide Himself the Lamb But in Genesis, God provided in that scene a ram, not a lamb, as a substitute for Isaac But on that same hill, 3 centuries later, the promised Lamb would be sacrificed Jesus provided Himself, the lamb He is THE Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world! Love conquered when Jesus said “It is finished, It is done. To the world Salvation comes!” Hallelujah, we're alive because of what Jesus has accomplished for us! This is the incredible result of Christ’s death and resurrection, all done out of obedience to the Father, making a way for every person - every man, woman, boy, and girl - to have salvation if they so choose Who is this King so strong and mighty? His Name is JESUS - YESHUA - Our Messiah - our Savior - Our King It’s CHRISTOS in Greek, but the Hebrew word mashiach means the “Anointed One” Jesus is the Christ - He is the Mashiach - the Messiah He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords He has eternally existed within the Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit He was born of a virgin He was not made by God, but is God, just as the Spirit is God and the Father is God He lived a sinless life, but died a sinner’s death for you and for me, that if we simply respond in faith that Jesus is who He claimed to be, and that He really did what He claimed to do, we can and will be saved As many modern, American Christians seem to be largely disengaged from many of the creeds of the early church in the first century, I wanted to include one for us this evening The creeds are a concise dissemination of what the Christian faith teaches and therefore what we should believe Anathasian Creed (partial) That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity, neither blending their persons nor dividing their essence. For the person of the Father is a distinct person, the person of the Son is another, and that of the Holy Spirit still another. But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal. What quality the Father has, the Son has, and the Holy Spirit has. The Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, the Holy Spirit is uncreated. The Father is immeasurable, the Son is immeasurable, the Holy Spirit is immeasurable. The Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, the Holy Spirit is eternal. And yet there are not three eternal beings; there is but one eternal being. So too there are not three uncreated or immeasurable beings; there is but one uncreated and immeasurable being. Similarly, the Father is almighty, the Son is almighty, the Holy Spirit is almighty. Yet there are not three almighty beings; there is but one almighty being. Thus the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. Yet there are not three gods; there is but one God. Thus the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord. Yet there are not three lords; there is but one Lord. Just as Christian truth compels us to confess each person individually as both God and Lord, so catholic (universal) religion forbids us to say that there are three gods or lords. The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten from anyone. The Son was neither made nor created; He was begotten from the Father alone. The Holy Spirit was neither made nor created nor begotten; He proceeds from the Father and the Son. Accordingly there is one Father, not three fathers; there is one Son, not three sons; there is one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits. Nothing in this trinity is before or after, nothing is greater or smaller; in their entirety the three persons are coeternal and coequal with each other. So in everything, as was said earlier, we must worship their trinity in their unity and their unity in their trinity. Anyone then who desires to be saved should think thus about the trinity. But it is necessary for eternal salvation that one also believe in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ faithfully. He is the One the earth has waited for God's remedy for sin with mercy for all men This is the ONLY way to salvation, the one and only way to saved, to be made right with God and have that relationship that was broken in the Garden made whole once more, so that we would have fellowship with our Maker IT IS FINISHED, It is done! It is completed, once and for all - one time of Christ dying to atone for our sins, on that cross, was sufficient for all time and all people IF they believe on Him The one atoning sacrifice of the Lamb of God was enough to cover the sins of every person who has ever lived, but it is only applied to those who receive that gift in faith To this sin-filled world Salvation has come, and Yeshua is His Name, and His name means Salvation Hallelujah, we're alive! Hallel Ja - Hallelujah - that means “Praise be unto God” Hell was silent when Jesus cried: It is finished! Satan’s defeat was always sure, but it was this moment that it was done and solidified forever Did you know that the earth shook and trembled - there was an earthquake at the crucifixion according to Matthew’s Gospel “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open.” The sun bowed its head - the sun was darkened at that hour The veil of the Temple was open for men as Jesus went down in the cold of the grave In the Tabernacle in the wilderness wanderings, as well as in the Temple, only the High Priest could go into the Holy of Holies and only once a year to make atonement for the people But it was repeated year after year because it was insufficient But no more! It had been accomplished That veil that separated the people from the Most Holy Place was torn asunder, and now we have access to God through Jesus Christ Jesus defeated the darkness when He overcame death His free and willing sacrifice of Himself was sufficient for all time, for He did not offer the blood of lambs or bulls, but His own precious blood was poured out to cover us with that atonement The keys of the Kingdom were placed into the hands of children and priests and of fishers of men The Apostles took the Gospel and spread it with authority as those who had been with Jesus In that generation, the Gospel was established and any and everyone who believed took that message to all who would listen because it was (and still it) truly Good News The only pedigree you need to share the Gospel is to have believed on the Gospel and embraced Jesus as King Through all generations His voice will be heard, even until today and until He comes again Creation resounds the victorious words: It is finished, it is done! The work of Love is forever completed He has accomplished it all Any and every sinner can find forgiveness and new life in Jesus Hallelujah, He's alive! Join the song of the ransomed Bride It is finished - that’s our victory cry! PLAY - Matt Papa song - It is finished