What was finished at the cross

John Tetelestai comes from the verb teleo , which means "to bring to an end, to complete, to accomplish. It's the word you would use when you climb to the peak of Mt.

Everest; it's the word you would use when you turn in the final copy of your dissertation; it's the word you would use when you make the final payment on your new car; it's the word you use when you cross the finish line of your first 10K run. The word means more than just "I survived. But there's more here than the verb itself.

Tetelestai is in the perfect tense in Greek. That's significant because the perfect tense speaks of an action which has been completed in the past with results continuing into the present.

It's different from the past tense which looks back to an event and says, "This happened. When Jesus cried out "It is finished," he meant "It was finished in the past, it is still finished in the present, and it will remain finished in the future. Note one other fact. He did not say, "I am finished," for that would imply that he died defeated and exhausted.

Rather, he cried out "It is finished," meaning "I successfully completed the work I came to do. Tetelestai , then, is the Savior's final cry of victory. Remember why Jesus came into the world. The Son of God became a man to live the life you and I would have to live in order to enter heaven. Jesus lived the perfect life. There was no sin in him. Spurgeon says:. Examine the life of the Savior from Bethlehem to Calvary, look minutely at every portion of it, the private as well as the public, the silent as well as the spoken part, you will find that it is finished, complete, perfect.

Every commandment of God was fulfilled in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Throughout his life, Jesus loved God the Father with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, and he loved his neighbor as himself. The life of Jesus was a life of suffering, it was a life of obedience, but it was also a life of conflict with our great enemy the devil.

Look at the world today and ask the question:. Jesus spoke with absolute clarity about Satan or the devil. The Spirit led him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Throughout his ministry we see Jesus casting out evil spirits that were holding human lives in bondage. The story of this conflict goes back to the beginning of the Bible. Satan tempted the man and the woman and led them into sin that caused them to lose the joys of the paradise of God.

They got the knowledge of evil and came under the power of the evil one. It is the explanation of what we see in the world today. What a picture! Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Yet he became sin on the Cross, Jesus took all our on his own body at the Cross. God considered Jesus as the greatest sinner on the cross even though he was a sinless man.

Since all Broken 10 commandments, curses fell on Jesus. Scourge after scourge, Jesus was punished in my place. I deserve that punishment because I have broken all the 10 Commandments, but Jesus took it upon himself. Why have you forsaken me? But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.