Way of The Warrior- A Daily Devotional

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. – John 19:30 ESV

Warrior;
In the Book of John, this is recorded as the final event of Jesus’ incarnate walk with Man. It is part of what is called the “7 Words”, these are the last seven sayings that Jesus said, and He said them as He HUNG on a CROSS. Death on a cross was such a horrible, terrible way to die. It was so horrible that from the cross came a brand-new word, “EXCRUCIATING”! God loves us enough that He put His Son through excruciating pain, so that we may not have to endure our punishment. Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:43, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” John 19:26-27, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” Matt. 27:46, “ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME? “John 19:28, “I am thirsty.” John 19:30, “It is finished!” Luke 23:46, “Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.” It is these 7, final words to mankind, that He finished the first part of His ministry on this planet. He came on a RESCUE MISSION, and this part of the MISSION, was complete- IT IS FINISHED!

Leader, these are the last seven sayings that Jesus said on the cross. This is technically Jesus’ final sermon before He wrapped up His incarnate visit! These 7 things that Jesus spoke, prayed, or shared are unto themselves a message about how we should live. Christ gave us an example of how to respond, and how to put others before ourselves in suffering, pain and even death. No matter what we call these last “7 Words” of Christ, they are important for every believer to know and understand what He meant with each one. There’s a bit of a debate on the exact order of the sayings, but no debate on what they were. When you look into what He said, and what HE meant by what He said you will notice that some of the things that Jesus spoke were Old Testament scripture. This is because Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament law (Matthew 3:15). This also again, shows the importance of knowing the entire bible! The Old Testament pointed TO JESUS, and the NEW TESTAMENT was about Jesus’ time on this earth and how the church took that event and changed the world! Jesus said that the Scriptures bore witness of him (John 5:39).

Conduit, many people are daily working to be acceptable to God. They believe that they need to work to be acceptable to God. Many are working for their salvation, believing that if only I can STOP doing this, or START doing this, then God will love me, then God will accept me. WE believe that if we start doing good works, then God will love us, then we will make ourselves acceptable to God. We must remember that we are NOT saved by WORKS, but saved unto works. It is NOT our effort that gets us into a reconciled relationship with CHRIST, it is HIS SACRIFICE that makes us acceptable to God! Religion is man’s attempt to be good enough for God. It started with Nimrod in Babylon (see Genesis 10), and it continues to this day- man working to create a CHECKLIST, so that God must accept us. According to Isaiah 64:6, our works are as filthy rags, the rags, according to scripture, that lepers wrapped around their putrefying flesh. In other words, our good works, apart from Jesus working in and through us, are puss-filled, awful-smelling bandages. Paul in his letter to the church in Ephesus told us; For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9) It is by Grace alone, through Faith alone, in Christ alone, to the GLORY OF GOD alone, and it is the Bible alone! Keep it simple soldier! Jesus paid it all, all to Him we owe- IT IS FINISHED, HE IS RISEN! Today, put down your YOKE! Today, stop attempting to be GOODNUFF for God, you are NOT, only JESUS IS! You do not have to be GOODNUFF for God, Jesus bridged the gap between an unholy man, and a HOLY GOD! IT IS FINISHED, when JESUS ROSE, all who call on HIM, rose with HIM! It is said that a “rising tide raises all boats”. Christ is the TIDE that raises ALL BOATS, who call on the NAME OF JESUS! Happy Resurrection Sunday. Luke 24:1-6; “On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were puzzling over this, suddenly two men in radiant apparel stood beside them. As the women bowed their faces to the ground in terror, the two men asked them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!” Believe on the Risen Christ and know IT IS FINISHED and be SAVED, UNTO GOOD WORKS!