"It is Finished" Was Just the BeginningSample

Day Six

Mission Impossible? Not for God!

Have you ever been given an important mission? Perhaps you were asked to head up a major project. Maybe you were purposed with single-handedly saving your company from the brink of disaster.

Jesus had a mission. His entire 33-year earthly journey was in service of this mission. What was the nature of His assignment? Well, you could say it was a rescue mission.

Jesus, the Anointed One, was sent by God to rescue mankind from their sins by taking the ultimate punishment for our sins upon Himself. You see, in Genesis 2:17 (NKJV), God gave Adam a simple command, saying, “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Through Adam and Eve’s disobedience, sin entered the world. And as God warned, by this one act of disobedience, Adam and Eve sealed the fate of all humanity and brought death into this world. In that moment, their spirits died. “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12 NKJV). Their sin became our sin, their fate became our fate, and we were powerless to save ourselves from this fate.

You see, sin separates us from the holy and perfect living God. So, in order to bring us back to life, death was required. Blood needed to be spilled. Why? Leviticus 17:11 (NKJV) says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood . . . for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul,” and Romans 6:23 (NIV) says, “For the wages of sin is death.”

As a temporary solution, a yearly sacrifice was made at the temple for the covering of sin. But these sacrifices were not the answer, as it says in Hebrews 10:1–2 (NKJV), “The law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered?”

Jesus’ death on the cross paid the debt of sin for all mankind. Christ did what no one else could do: He lived a perfect life, free from sin, from the stain of Adam. He took all of our iniquity upon His shoulders, and conquered sin at the cross. In John 19:30, Jesus said, “Tetelestai . . .” which means, “it is finished,” the debt is paid, the punishment has been fulfilled! God's work of redemption for fallen man was complete; mission accomplished. The blood of “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” had been poured out on the altar of eternity.

For the Kids

Have you ever pretended to go on an important mission? Maybe you pretended to be a spy assigned to a secret mission or an astronaut headed to space. Jesus had a very important mission. I guess you can call it a rescue mission.

You see, Jesus was sent by God to rescue us from our sins by dying on the cross.
It seems like a really sad story, but it’s one of the greatest stories of all! Jesus died knowing that we would do things wrong like disobey our parents, say something mean to someone in our family or to our friends, or not tell the truth. Jesus died for everybody's sins, so we could be rescued! Now, when we ask God to forgive us—and we are truly sorry for what we've done—He reminds us that He loves us and forgives us for what we did!

Reflecting on the Promise 

Various prophecies were fulfilled at the cross. John 19, Luke 23, Mark 15, and Matthew 27 have many parallels to Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22. From Jesus being rejected (Isaiah 53:5), pierced (Psalm 22:19 and Isaiah 53:5), and having His garments divided (Psalm 22:18) to insults hurled at Him (Psalm 22:7–8), His iconic statement, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Psalm 22:1), and His burial among the rich (Isaiah 53:9). What has the crucifixion fulfilled in your life?