#WALKWITHJESUS 18
After Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, he died. At that moment the temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook. The rocks split. The Roman commander and those guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened. They were terrified. They exclaimed, “He was surely the Son of God!”
Matthew 27:50, 51 & 54 NIRV
Reading: Matthew 27:45-56; Mark 15: 33-41; Luke 23:44-49
Jesus died. That should have been the end of the story.
But Jesus Christ was not, and is not, a mere man, He is also the Son of God and what the religious leaders happily thought was the end, was really – The Beginning.
One of the greatest things Jesus ever said was, “It is finished” (John 19:30). He was saying 'my obedience is finished, my suffering is finished, my job of taking the wrath of God is finished, my mission to be the propitiation for your sins is finished, my battle with Satan is finished and I've won.'
Jesus' work was finished. He had finished covering and atoning for my sin. He had finished paying my penalty to God. He had finished creating a new covenant for me. He had finished establishing my entrance to Eternity.
And because his work is finished, our mission has begun.
Several things happened at the moment of death, when Jesus gave up his spirit: the Lamb of God was slain and his blood shed for the sins of the world; the veil of separation between man and the most holy of holies was torn open forever; the chasm that separated man from God was bridged forever; and a new and better covenant was cut by God the Father, with God the Son, for us, the pinnacle of His creation.
So when Jesus breathed his final breath on the cross and said “It is finished” - it was actually the beginning of the fulfilment of God’s plan of redemption which He had foretold in the Garden of Eden when He cursed the serpent, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15
Prayer
Dear Father, “Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.”
For the family
Continue doing this 15-day devotional study about Easter that is suitable for children.