John 19:30

As Jesus hung on that cross, beaten … bloodied … humiliated … naked, He uttered a simple statement just before He committed His spirit to the Father and breathed His last. He said, “It is finished.”

“It” was finished. The journey. The sacrifice for our sins. The ushering in of a new way to live life. “It” was finished.

The fact that He was finished means that we can be finished. Finished with the old us; a person who tries to make life work in their own power, with their own resources, and with their own goals and agendas. The atonement for our sins means that we are finished with being separated from God, in this life and for all eternity. And then, we can progressively be finished from all the remnants of the old us. Day by day, we can be finished because he said “it is finished.”

The great songwriter, Paul Hewson, wrote these words: “Every day I die again and again am reborn. Every day I have to find the courage to walk down into the street. With arms out, gotta love you can’t defeat. Neither down or out, there’s nothing you have that I need. I can breathe.”

Every day, we can die (be finished) and be reborn with the new us taking more territory in our hearts. When we put our trust in what Jesus did on the cross, He has reclaimed as our hearts as His own. However, it is daily that He possesses our hearts more and more as we die … as we make the choice to be finished. The cross means that sin no longer has to have power over us and we can choose to be finished.

Take a few quiet moments and meditate on the words “it is finished.” Sit quietly, in a prayerful stance, and let the words reverberate in your soul. Gently and silently repeat the words within your heart. 

Next, prayerfully read the following statements and then prayerfully add your own … Finished with doing life in my in strength/Finished with worrying what others think about me/Finished with be independent of God/Finished with defending myself/Finished with making my life about what I have/Finished with medicating my loneliness/Finished with focusing on what I do rather than who I am/Finished with trying to prove myself/Finished with worrying about my appearance and image/Finished with focusing on myself rather than others.

Thank you, Jesus, that I can be finished with self because You were willing to pour out Yourself for me. May I live today with an awareness of being finished and the courage to live in dependence on Your love and provision.

“See from His head, His hands, His feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did ere such love and sorrow meet or thorns compose so rich a crown? Oh the wonderful cross … bids me come and die so that I may live.” When I Survey the Wondrous Cross