“IT IS FINISHED”

“When He had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”  (John 19:30)

Good Friday brings us to the foot of the cross, where the final words of Jesus ring out with earth‑shaking power: “It is finished.” In Greek, the word is tetelestai -- a single word that carries the weight of eternity.

In the ancient world, tetelestai was written on receipts to mean “paid in full.” It was spoken by servants reporting a completed task, by artists stepping back from a masterpiece, by priests announcing that a sacrifice had been offered without blemish. It was a word of completion, fulfillment, and victory.

And Jesus chose that word. Not “I am finished,” as if His life were slipping away. But “It is finished” -- a declaration, not of defeat, but of triumph.

At that moment: The debt of sin was paid in full. The long‑awaited sacrifice was complete. The work the Father gave Him to do was accomplished. The barrier between God and humanity cause by our sin was torn down. The serpent’s claim on humanity was shattered. What began in a garden with a forbidden tree ends on a hill with a rugged cross. What sin broke, Christ restored. What we could never do, He did perfectly. And He did it willingly.

When Jesus cried tetelestai, He wasn’t whispering resignation, He was proclaiming redemption. The Lamb of God was not overcome by death, He was offering Himself in love. The cross was not a tragedy to endure but a mission to complete.

Good Friday reminds us that our salvation does not rest on our striving, our goodness, or our spiritual performance. It rests entirely on the finished work of Christ. We don’t add to it. We don’t improve it. We simply receive it.

Because of tetelestai, you can rest.  The work that saves you is done. The grace that holds you is secure. The love that claimed you is complete. It is finished! 

-- SOUND BITES Ministry™

#6341

OVERFLOWING GRACE

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth... For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”  (John 1:14,16 ESV)

The church where we worship when we’re in Florida for the winter months – Grace Church in Cape Coral -- is in the midst of a sermon series called “Overflow.” This 5-week series is highlighting what God’s grace is, how it fills our lives with renewal, and how it invites us to live from a deep sense of spiritual fullness rather than lack. The opening video each week shows water flowing into a large container and continuously spilling over to other smaller containers, which are also overflowing.

This series reminded me of a children's sermon a colleague of mine shared many, many years ago at the church I served in Cleveland Heights, Ohio -- Church of the Saviour. I tend to remember children's sermons because of their use of visual imagery. This pastor said to the children that the abundant love that God offers is like receiving a free bag of popcorn when we don't deserve it. She handed each child a half-filled bag. She asked the kids if they thought that was like God’s love. Heads nodded in affirmation. Then she said that God's love doesn't stop there. At that moment her husband walked out carrying a gigantic bag of popcorn. It was about as tall as he was. He began to fill each child's bag. But when each bag was full he didn't stop there, he kept pouring the popcorn from what seemed to be this endless reservoir. Popcorn overflowed everywhere, all over the chancel steps! The kids couldn’t believe it. The congregation couldn’t believe it. And the head custodian wondered who was going to clean up this mess!

The overflowing grace that God gives us is demonstrated in the abundant life Christ brings – “grace upon grace” -- when we invite Him into our lives. There is plenty to share. Need more grace? There’s an endless supply. 

-- Rev. David T. Wilkinson, SOUND BITES Ministry™

#6284

THE UNOPENED GIFT

Several years ago, a woman in our congregation made me the most amazing white chocolate cheesecake. She used the finest ingredients. She put white chocolate shavings all over the outside. It was beautifully and lovingly prepared. It must have taken hours to create. She brought it to the church in a beautiful box, gave it to one of our staff, and said, “This is for Pastor Adam.” I was not in the office that day, so the staff member placed it in the refrigerator in the sacristy of our church. She planned to tell me about it but forgot. Six weeks later, the woman wrote me a note and said, “Did you like the cheesecake? I never heard back from you and just wanted to make sure it was okay.” I had no idea what she was talking about. Later, we found the cheesecake in the sacristy refrigerator, with the bow still wrapped around the unopened box!

Christ offers us the gift of salvation -- a word that is full of life and deep meaning. The gift came at a great cost to Him. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 NLT)  The gift was for you and for everyone you know. I would ask: Have you opened the gift? Have you accepted God’s grace? “For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 NLT)  And, knowing that Christ has asked you to share the gift with others, have you told them about it? Don’t wait until it’s too late to share the story of God’s amazing grace. 

-- Adapted from “Revival: Faith as Wesley Lived It” by Adam Hamilton

#6283

GRACE POURED OUT

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”  (Titus 3:4-7 ESV)

Grace is what sets Christianity apart from every religion in the world. God’s unearnable salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life offered, not as a reward, but as a free gift. Nothing -- absolutely nothing -- required on our part, except to believe. No fine print and no strings attached. When we trust in what Christ has done, when we rely solely on His promises, all the treasures of heaven are ours. It doesn’t matter how miserably you’ve failed in the past. It’s irrelevant how messed up your life is right now. Grace is true and certain no matter what you might do or fail to do in the future. It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? But that, in a nutshell, is the simple gospel. The only question is this: Have you received Christ’s remarkable gift? 

-- Max Lucado in “Life lessons: Book of Galatians” 

#6278

GOD’S AMAZING GRACE

“He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all – how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32 NIV)

Take all your anxieties to Calvary, Paul urged. Stand in the shadow of God’s crucified Son. Now pose your questions. Is Jesus on my side? Look at the wound in His. Will He stay with me? Having given the supreme and costliest gift, “how can He fail to lavish upon us all He has to give?” (Romans 8:32 NEB)

“’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.” When John Newton penned this promise, he did so out of personal experience. His greatest test came the day he buried his wife, Mary. He had loved her dearly and prayed his death would precede hers. But his prayer was not answered.

Yet God’s grace proved sufficient. On the day she died Newton found strength to preach a Sunday sermon. The next day he visited church members, and later he officiated at his wife’s funeral. He grieved but in his grief found God’s provision. He later wrote, “The Bank of England is too poor to compensate for such a loss as mine. But the Lord, the all-sufficient God, speaks, and it is done. Let those who know Him, and trust Him, be of good courage. He can give them strength as their trials increase… and what He can do He had promised that He will do.” (From “But Now I See: The Life of John Newton” by Josiah Bull.)

Let God’s grace dethrone your fears. Anxiety still comes, for certain. The globe still heats up; wars still flare up; the economy acts up. Disease, calamity, and trouble populate your world. But they don’t control it! Grace does. 

-- Max Lucado in “Grace: More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Imagine”

#6184

 

AMAZING GRACE

“Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.”

When I was young, I was sure of many things; now there are only two things of which I am sure: one is, that I am a miserable sinner; and the other, that Christ is an all-sufficient Savior. He is well-taught who learns these two lessons. 

-- John Newton

#5870

FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE

SPECIAL NOTE: Today, March 29, 2024 marks the 25^th anniversary of this SOUND BITES Ministry in memory of our son, Dustin, who had died on this date the previous year (1998) from a brain tumor at the age of 16. Dustin was buried on Good Friday and two celebrations of his life and of God’s love were held on Easter Saturday – one in Green Bay, Wisconsin where I was then serving, and one in Cleveland Heights, Ohio where I had previously served and where Dustin had grown up.

Since SOUND BITES began 5,826 quotes, including today’s, have been sent out to our e-mail subscribers or Facebook followers or Blog readers around the world. As we continue through Lent, let today’s SOUND BITES quote speak to you, and then let it overflow to others everywhere. Please freely share with friends and family, with school and work mates, and with neighbors and fellow church members. We would love to hear from you. Simply send an e-mail to SOUNDBITESMinistry@gmail.com with where you live and how God is using SOUND BITES to minister to you or through you to others. You are welcome to comment below as well. – Rev. Dave Wilkinson

FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE

“One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Jesus: ‘Aren’t you the Messiah? Save Yourself and us.’ But the other criminal rebuked him. ‘Don’t you fear God,’ he said, ‘since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this Man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in paradise.’” (Luke 23:39-43 NIV). 

On the day Christ died, the angels must have been struck speechless at God's sacrifice. But perhaps even more amazing to them was the conversation between Christ and a common criminal.

For the condemned thief on the cross, time was running out. Regardless of what he had done before, in the end, he did fear God. He realized that his judgment after death would be totally determined by God.

Like the convict on the far side who insulted Jesus (Luke 23:39), this man must have come to the cross with knowledge of Jesus. He understood Jesus was no criminal. Even more important, he must have realized Jesus was God's Son who was headed back home to the paradise from which He had come.

Believing this, the thief decided to make one last request. He asked Jesus to save him when He arrived back in heaven. What an interesting contrast between the criminal who mocked Jesus to save him physically and this man who sought Jesus to save him spiritually.

Of course, Jesus said yes. He was being crucified for this very purpose -- to save sinners and to promise heaven to all those who ask.

Two thousand years later, the invitation still stands. 

-- Leith Anderson in “Christian Reader” magazine 

#5826

WHAT’S SO AMAZING ABOUT GRACE? – Part 1

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast.”  (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV)

It is commonplace in all the churches to call Christianity a religion of grace… It is a staple diet in the Sunday School that grace is “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.” And yet, despite these facts, there do not seem to be many in our churches who actually believe in grace… They may pay lip service to the idea of grace, but there they stop. Their conception of grace is not so much debased as non-existent. The thought means nothing to them; it does not touch there experience at all. Talk to them about the church’s heating, or last year’s accounts, and they are with you at once; but speak to them about the realities to which the word “grace” points, and their attitude is one of differential blankness. They do not accuse you of talking nonsense; they do not doubt that your words have meaning; but they feel that, whatever it is you are talking about, it is beyond them, and the longer they have lived without it the surer they are that at their stage of life they do not really need it. 

-- J. I. Packer in “Knowing God”

#5670

THE MIRACLE OF GOD’S GRACE

“Because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions -- it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”  (Ephesians 2:4-7 NIV)

We are not meant to be seen as God’s perfect, bright-shining examples, but to be seen as the everyday essence of ordinary lives exhibiting the miracle of His grace. 

-- Oswald Chambers in “My Utmost for His Highest”

#5633

LIVING A TRANSFORMED LIFE

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God -- this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is -- His good, pleasing and perfect will.”  (Romans 12:1-2 NIV)

Living a transformed life is not possible on our own. Most of us do not live up to the best that we know how to live. Deep within we know that there is room for improvement. We can do better. Connecting our desire to do and be better with God’s amazing grace creates a partnership that leads to transformation.

We know that living a transformed life means living at God’s direction with grace-given capacity. This is more than we can do on our own, and, in fact, living the transformed life does not mean trying harder. It means trusting more and staying close to the only One who can make us more that we are.

As we learn to put our trust and faith in God, we become open and available to receive God’s forming and transforming power in our own lives. In our better moments we know that God is at work within us that provides the transformation. This is the day to claim God’s presence and help as you live the transformed life. 

-- Reuben P. Job in “A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God”

#5561

GRACE AND PEACE IN CHRIST

“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  (Philippians 1:2 NIV)

Grace (charis) was hard for ancients and is hard for moderns to believe. We want to earn our respectability. Or we feel we have rights entitlement. Because we do not understand the depth of our self-centeredness, the brokenness of our relationship with God, we cannot comprehend the impossibility of our saving ourselves by our own actions. Grace is God’s work in Christ Jesus to give to us the undeserved favor of God. Grace puts things right; grace is love’s unmerited initiative that frees us to love God in return.

We do not phantom peace until we shudder before wrath. When things are not in line with what God wants, nothing is right. By the act of God in Christ Jesus, wrath is replaced by a healthy, right relationship. Peace is rightness with God, in which inner tranquility is matched by outer harmony. To live “in Christ” is to live in undeserved favor, in harmony and accord with God’s plan of rightness and compassion. 

-- Richard and Julia Wilke in “DISCIPLE: Remember Who You Are”

#5308

THE LORD’S MYSTERIOUS WAYS

“From Paul, an apostle. I was not chosen to be an apostle by human beings, nor was I sent from human beings. I was made an apostle through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Jesus from the dead.,. Jesus gave Himself for our sins to free us from this evil world we live in, as God the Father planned. The glory belongs to God forever and ever.”  (Galatians 1:1,4-5 NCV)

It’s often said, “The Lord works in mysterious ways.” How true. Start with the gospel of grace. The enemies of God being offered unconditional pardon and adoption into the royal family of God? Heaven’s most glorious riches lavished on the least deserving? It all reads like a fairy tale. And it gets even wilder. God announces His intention to partner with the likes of us so others can experience His love and grace. He could use angels or employ some other supernatural means. Instead He uses us. And what do we do? Mostly we stumble and fall and fail. Yet the Lord never gives up on us and never aborts His plan. He works in us and through us, despite us. The villains become heroes. What a mystery! What a miracle! What a God we serve!

-- Max Lucado in “Life Lessons: Galatians”

#5139

A SACRED SPOT

“So Zacchaeus ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus, for He was about to pass that way.”  (Luke 19:4 ESV)

Let me ask you something… Do you know the redeeming love of Christ in your life? Has He turned your life around? Has He loved you into life?

There is a beautiful old story about Zacchaeus the tax collector. It tells how in later years, he rose early every morning and left his house. His wife, curious, followed him one morning. At the town well he filled a bucket, and he walked until he came to a sycamore tree. There, setting down the bucket, he began to clean away the stones, the branches, and the rubbish from around the base of the tree. Having done that, he poured water on the roots and stood there in silence, gently caressing the trunk with both hands. When his amazed wife came out of hiding and asked what he was doing, Zacchaeus replied simply, “This is where I found Christ!”…

Do you have a sacred spot where you would declare, “This is where I found Christ; this is where Christ loved me to life”? 

-- Adapted from James W. Moore and Bob J. Moore in “Lord, Give Me Patience… And Give It to Me Right Now!”

#5138

A FACTORY RESET

“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”  (2 Corinthians 5:17 NRSV)

When my iPhone started misbehaving a while back,… we did a hard reset. It’s also known as a factory reset because the iPhone is restored to the original manufacturer’s setting it had when it left the factory floor… All the settings, applications, and data are wiped clean. It’s a fresh start. It’s a new phone.

You are a new creation [in Christ]… New as in factory reset. It doesn’t mean like new. It means brand new! It’s new in time, new in nature…

When you put your faith in Christ, it’s a hard reset. It doesn’t just clear the cache. It completely clears your history, as if it never happened. That’s what the word justified means -- just as if I’d never sinned.

That’s more than a mnemonic device. It’s more than a paradigm shift. It’s a factory reset.

At the cross, Jesus turns if only regrets into what if possibilities. He sets us free from sin and the shameful feelings that go with it. The prison doors of past guilt and future fear fly wide open… They cannot coexist with God’s perfect love. His love reboots our heart, our soul, and our mind so that we can be fully alive, fully present… Amazing, isn’t it? 

-- Mark Batterson in “If: Trading Your If Only Regrets for God’s What If Possibilities”

#5085