John 19:30
30Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
In today’s installment I’m talking about Christ finishing the war on sin. Because of His sacrifice, we are no longer slaves of sin. The burdens of our sins no longer rest on our shoulders (if we accept Christ’s forgiveness and atonement, that is) and is washed off by the blood. It is in this we find the freedom that He came to give us. As Paul says in Romans 6:14 – For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
That’s it! You can “drop your pack” as we used to say in the military. Your burden is relieved. There is no need to feel the guilt and shame of our sins, no matter how many or how severe. Every sin, big and small, put Christ on the cross and he bore them all for us. Yet even Christians walk around with heavy hearts. We hang our heads in shame for things we have done and continue to do. But why?
We still want to take part in our own salvation. If we reject Christ’s forgiveness (even after accepting and receiving it) we are trying to control it. I do this to myself as well. We drag our feet, letting the burden grow and grow until it drives us into the ground. Then we look for help up and decide we cannot do it on our own and ask God for help. Why can’t we do that from the start?
Wouldn’t it be easier to just reject the burden of shame and guilt from the start? This is already taken care of! IT IS FINISHED: Christ took care of that for us. All sins, past, present, and future. In Mathew 11:30 Christ tells us – For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Christ’s burden is to love, period. Yet, we reject His love and sacrifice for pride and control.
What burdens you today? Christ already took care of it, for it is finished.
