It is Finished - Death By Love -
It's finished.
A phrase that has been said in many different languages and meaning different things. This phrase has stood its ground in many ways and been declared in victory and in defeat. Right now at this very moment, I am dwelling on it's earliest use and undoubtedly it's most powerful declaration.
I wrapped up my reading of Mark Driscoll's "Death By Love" this morning and still each page of the beautifully written book ring out at me and pierce at the heart of my self-proclaimed righteousness.
Each of us deserve the very worst. We deserve Hell and yet we expect Heaven and continue to live like Hell. I have run across a few individuals who say that they can't believe in a God that sends people to Hell. They believe that by thinking that our Almighty God sends people to Hell they can justify their actions and beliefs and continue to live apart from God. The problem with this is that their view on humanity and God is flawed. God does not send anyone to Hell but rather we have chosen Hell for ourselves at the moment we enter this world. We are sinners at the very core and nature of who we are because of our first parents. Therefore, we are all sinners by nature and choice. Look at Ephesians 2:1-3
The crucifixion of our Savior was the most horrifying imagery this world has seen. A body so torn and broken even beyond the point of recognition - hung by nails. Evey prophetic word and vision had come to pass about Him... Words on a page that were written hundreds of years before He came to this Earth were now fulfilled. His body may have been broken but no bone was cracked. His blood ran out of Him but He never gave up. He was marred and spit at and stripped of dignity and finally with His last breath, He said "It is finished." Sin has been defeated and man's wickedness could be taken away by an everlasting righteousness. His sufferings were now over; both in body and in soul. The work of man's salvation and redemption was now complete and accomplished. What is important for us to realize is that He gave Himself to die. No one forced Him. No one made Him lay His arms to be nailed. No one could ever force the Son of the Most High God to die but rather He alone gave Himself away to be the price for our sin. His life was freely given up on that cross. Surely this is the Son of God. The greatest gift and sacrifice was made. A death by love.
A phrase that has been said in many different languages and meaning different things. This phrase has stood its ground in many ways and been declared in victory and in defeat. Right now at this very moment, I am dwelling on it's earliest use and undoubtedly it's most powerful declaration.
I wrapped up my reading of Mark Driscoll's "Death By Love" this morning and still each page of the beautifully written book ring out at me and pierce at the heart of my self-proclaimed righteousness.
Each of us deserve the very worst. We deserve Hell and yet we expect Heaven and continue to live like Hell. I have run across a few individuals who say that they can't believe in a God that sends people to Hell. They believe that by thinking that our Almighty God sends people to Hell they can justify their actions and beliefs and continue to live apart from God. The problem with this is that their view on humanity and God is flawed. God does not send anyone to Hell but rather we have chosen Hell for ourselves at the moment we enter this world. We are sinners at the very core and nature of who we are because of our first parents. Therefore, we are all sinners by nature and choice. Look at Ephesians 2:1-3
"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."Thankfully, the next word in Scripture is a wonderful word! Verse 4 through 9:
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."You see it is that God in His almighty wisdom and kindness and compassion sent His perfect Son to us so that sinful nature and desires would be forever defeated and we could live a holy life with Him.
The crucifixion of our Savior was the most horrifying imagery this world has seen. A body so torn and broken even beyond the point of recognition - hung by nails. Evey prophetic word and vision had come to pass about Him... Words on a page that were written hundreds of years before He came to this Earth were now fulfilled. His body may have been broken but no bone was cracked. His blood ran out of Him but He never gave up. He was marred and spit at and stripped of dignity and finally with His last breath, He said "It is finished." Sin has been defeated and man's wickedness could be taken away by an everlasting righteousness. His sufferings were now over; both in body and in soul. The work of man's salvation and redemption was now complete and accomplished. What is important for us to realize is that He gave Himself to die. No one forced Him. No one made Him lay His arms to be nailed. No one could ever force the Son of the Most High God to die but rather He alone gave Himself away to be the price for our sin. His life was freely given up on that cross. Surely this is the Son of God. The greatest gift and sacrifice was made. A death by love.
