It Is Finished / He Is Risen -- 3/31/13 Sunrise Service

 Sunday, March 31, 2013      (Sunrise Service -- 7 a.m.)

IT IS FINISHED  /  HE IS RISEN

            Nothing too heavy this morning.  I want to stick two little phrases in our mind.  Both of them are well known to us, but I want to bring them out of our memory and post them in a prominent place, so that we will be thinking about them today. 

It Is Finished -- Who spoke those words?

     What was finished?  Did Jesus mean that the disasters of life had finished Him off?  Or did He mean

  that it was over and He was finally out of His misery; He wouldn't have to suffer any more?

     If not, then what did He mean?

         Summary of John Cross' threefold meaning...

                                    ... the Lamb was slain

                                    ... the debt was paid

                                    ... the job was done

         It was a cry of victory!  Back to John 17:4. 

         He had drained the cup of God's wrath...  I John 4:10

         Without that victorious cry and what it represented, there would be no resurrection.  The Jesus who rose from the grave was victorious over death, and the resurrection was God's open proclamation of the victory.   (See Rom 1:4)

He Is Risen -- Who spoke those words?  Yes, the angel.  Read all:  He is not here; He is risen!

                Praise God! 

      They had all watched Him die.  They had heard His victorious cry, "It is finished."  They had heard Him say, "Into thy hands I commit my spirit."  But still, they couldn't comprehend it all.  All they were sure of was the fact that He was dead and had been buried.  Though they should have known better, with sad hearts they too were inwardly crying, "It is finished."  All their hopes had been shattered by the cross.

      But when the angel said, "He is risen," it was the beginning of a transformation.  His death on the cross

was not the end.  It was the means by which the Man of Sorrows would reclaim ruined sinners like you and me.  He is indeed the Messiah.  He died, but the grave couldn't hold Him.

          Death cannot keep his prey, Jesus my Savior;

          He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord.

          Up from the grave He arose with a mighty triumph o'er His foes...

Now let's apply these truths to our lives...

           

            It is finished!  When we come to Jesus in repentance and faith and He gives us His life, it is finished!  The reign of sin in our lives is done.  We are no longer bound to the god of this world, but we are new creations in Jesus Christ.  Sin shall no longer have dominion over us, because we are not under law, but under grace.  Praise God!  "For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again."

            He is risen.  We serve a risen Savior.  Jesus said in John 14, "Because I live, you shall live also."  We were dead in our trespasses and sins, but now we are alive in Him. 

            Let's read it in Eph. 2:1-10...

                  And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. [That's Paul's description of the old life, the way we were.]  4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),  [It is finished!  The old life is done.]  6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [We have risen.  That is, we have been raised up with Christ]  7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [It is finished.  The old life is done.  We are risen from death and have passed over into life.  But now let's make sure we understand that it is due to nothing in us.  We take no credit whatsoever]  8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

            And praise God, though we are alive in Him even now, that life will one day get better.  Jesus not only rose from the dead, but He is the firstborn among many brethren.  In other words, those of us who are His will rise again with Him.  As Jesus put it, "I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live" (John 11:25).

            Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!

            Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!

            We have been raised up and seated in the heavenlies with Christ; that is a foretaste of glory.  But the day is coming when Jesus will return in all His glory and then we will have more than the foretaste, for we shall see Him as He is.

            It is finished!  He is risen!  Two great truths that amplify one another.  Because Jesus said, "It is finished," we can now proclaim with joy, "He is risen."