A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to His lips. When Jesus had tasted it, He said, "It is finished!" Then He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. John 19:29-30
Recently when my friend went to pay her son's tuition for school that is due monthly, she found that it had already been completely paid for by an anonymous friend. She could not believe it! She left the school that day owing nothing, grateful that she had such a kind, generous friend. Imagine, for a minute, if she had insisted that she pay the tuition anyway. The school would not have accepted it because the full amount of tuition had already been paid. Her friend had taken care of that payment for her. My friend owed a payment to her son's school, but you and I owe an infinitely greater payment as a result of our sin: death. Praise God that when we were lost in our sin, Jesus paid that price for us in full. He died on the cross and faced death so that we could have a restored relationship with God and have eternal life with Him if we place our faith in Him.
The last thing that Jesus said before He died a painful death on a cross was, "It is finished!" (John 19:30). He had previously stated that He was thirsty, which certainly spoke to His physical thirst, but also signified that He was ready to face the "cup of suffering" required of Him to pay the price for the sin of the world. Now, He declared that that cup of suffering was finished. Another translation for this phrase is "paid in full." He had done everything necessary to pay the price required for our sin, and He paid that price in full, completely.
Understanding the magnitude of Jesus' death and resurrection, Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1 about His sacrifice on the cross to pay for the sins of humanity. He calls believers to live lives that honor God. "You know," he writes, "that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God" (1 Peter 1: 18-19). In other words, Peter is writing to remind believers that Jesus was the perfect, sinless sacrifice for the sins of humanity and that He paid the complete payment required for our sins. He paid it in full, which means it has already been done. We simply have to trust that Jesus' death and resurrection paid the payment we owed. My friend, if you trust in Him, your sin-debt that you owed has been paid in full!
As you meditate on the fact that Jesus has paid the payment owed for your sins, write the words, "paid in full," on your bathroom mirror with a dry-erase marker or on a notecard. If you chose to write the words on a notecard, place that notecard in a place that is visible to you where you will see it often. As you see it, thank God that your sin has been paid for in full by Jesus.
Read 1 Peter 1:13-25 (NLT)
So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.
Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.
You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.
For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. As the Scriptures say,
“People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field.The grass withers and the flower fades. But the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.
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