It is finished.
“So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit..” John 19:30 NKJV
The sense of accomplishment we feel when we finish a project, harvest vegetables from our garden, see a child graduate college, or finally pay off our mortgage is one of life’s greatest feelings. We can replay every failure, hardship, accomplishment and victory that we experienced in the process as we endeavored to reach the goal, complete the task or see the finish line. We can celebrate that we didn’t give up.
The tenacity Jesus displayed is culminated in His final three words: It is finished. He accomplished the task He was given from before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8). The plan was first spoken of at the fall of man in Genesis 3:15 where God speaking to the serpent said: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”
We see through history that the devil tried to eradicate the plan before the advent of the Savior. In Exodus, pharaoh ordered that all male children to be killed. In the book of Esther we see the decree made in an attempt to destroy the nation of Israel. When Jesus was born Herod killed all the male children under the age of two in an attempt to kill the new king that had been born.
In Matthew 4 we find the account of the temptation of Jesus. The devil tried to thwart the plan by having Jesus worship him. At one point in His ministry Peter tried to dissuade Jesus from the cross. Jesus recognizing the spirit behind the man rebuked the devil. In John 4:34 we see Jesus clearly understood His purpose. He said to his disciples “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Jesus dying on the cross realized that He had accomplished the task when He said “It is finished”. Hebrews 12:2 AMP says: “who for the joy [of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [revealing His deity, His authority, and the completion of His work].”
Jesus finished the work He was tasked to do. As believers we need to learn from His example and spend time with God to find out what He wants us to accomplish. We need to run the race set before us (Heb 12:1) finish the race (2 Tim 4:7) and receive the prize (1 Cor 9:24). As we progress in the plans and purposes of God for our lives we need to realize that there may be attempts by the enemy to prevent us from finishing. He may even use other people to try and distract us along the way. The Bible instructs us to submit to God and resist the devil. The end result is the enemy is driven away. (James 4:7) I believe there is real power in a submitted life. And so, like Jesus, our determined purpose is to “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:14). Friend, find your purpose and GO! Don’t give up. Finish Your Race.