Our Savior's Seven Saying's from the Cross part 3

Amen. I enjoyed that worship as always. If you would take your Bible and turn back to John chapter 19. We were in Luke 23 in our scripture reading but we will start off with John chapter 19 here in just a few minutes. Now I think most of you know that this morning we're continuing in our Easter series. In our Easter series has been one title, one theme, and that is we're studying our Savior's seven sayings from the cross. This has been a part one, a part two, and a part three. And some of you know this, some of you might not know this, this is a popular Easter series for many to preach.

As a matter of fact I was talking with a pastor friend of mine this week and he was planning a Good Friday service where they were looking at these seven sayings from the cross. So if you do some studying, if you do some reading, and if you do some listening you will probably run across others who have dealt with this subject, these seven sayings from the cross. Now most of you know that it has been my plan to take three Sundays, three Sunday mornings and look at these seven sayings.

Of course this morning is our third message and my desire has been to look at these seven sayings and also to look at some very important truths that are all centered around the crucifixion, the death of Christ. And we will finish up our Easter series next Sunday, Easter Sunday morning by turning our attention to the resurrection. And my prayer has been, and it is, that we would see Easter Sunday and the resurrection really as the climax of these events because that's what it truly is. Now all along in this series I have mentioned the fact that Easter is a cultural holiday for us. Now that is not all that bad.

Some of you adults will get a day off of work. I'm a little jealous. I don't always get to take off when you take off but I do manage to get my day off a time or two when I need that. And some of you teenagers, some of you children will get a day off from school. And we all do certain things in our lives around this time that we called Easter during this Easter holiday season. One of the things that we do in the life of the church is this. On Easter Sunday we always take off that night. I've done that for years. I think it's a good thing to do.

We come and we celebrate the resurrection and then we go see our family, we get some rest, we eat with our family. We do those things that we like to do. And of course those are cultural things and those are good things. And although these things can be good, I want you to see that there is a danger in these things. If we're not careful we can allow Easter to only be about our traditions. The danger is that we allow the cultural to be what is most important in our lives and also in our families. I said in our first message that Easter is preeminently a Christian holiday. And we need to see that. Easter is preeminently a Christian holiday.

Easter should be first and foremost Christian in our lives, not just in our culture but in our lives. And some of us may have to work harder at that than others. I have mentioned doing some practical things concerning this study. I have challenged us to practically talk about these things with our spouses and in our homes and with our children and I will add to that. I will say that we should press not only the meaning of these things but we should press the personal implications and application of these things as we talk about these things. Now let me show you what I mean.

If you have a spouse or a son or a daughter who is not converted to Christ, we've studied that Easter is about the wrath of God. While Jesus was on the cross, God was pouring out his righteous wrath on Christ. That is a theme of Easter and we should press that. We should stress that truth and that reality in the lives of those in our homes who are not converted because if they're outside of Christ that is the wrath that they deserve and that is the wrath that they will endure for all of eternity. Not only are there practical things that we should do, there are personal things we should do.

And what I mean by that is there are personal things that we should do that are related to our personal worship. We should invest time in reflecting over these things. We should meditate over these truths. We should commit time and prayer and adoration to God for all of these things that we see in the cross and in the resurrection. This is all about personal worship and I would encourage you to take the time to meditate over these chapters and what we've been studying. Allow the Spirit of God to move you towards worship in love and adoration and praise for how God has loved us.

Now I want us to quickly glance at the five sayings that we have already covered. When I do this I just want us to get it all in our mind as we are getting into some new information. First in Luke 23 verse 34 we saw where Jesus offered this plea for forgiveness. Jesus prayed and he asked his father to forgive those who were crucifying him and he even prayed saying that they did not know what they were doing. Now that seems contradictory. They knew what they were doing but yet they did not. So this was a plea. This was a prayer and Jesus was asking his father to forgive them.

And then second in Luke 23 verse 43 we saw where Jesus offered a promise for salvation. To this one criminal who humbly submitted himself Jesus promised him salvation on that day. So there was this promise of salvation for that criminal who was being crucified. Of course we covered those first two sayings in our first message. Last week we covered the third, the fourth, and the fifth saying from the cross. So third in John chapter 19 verse 25 to 27 we saw where Jesus did not pray but he made a promise. He made a promise to provide for his mother. Mary his mother was a helpless widow but Jesus promised to care for her through John. A.W.

Pink the Bible commentator calls this a word of affection. I like that. A word of affection from the cross because that's what it was. Jesus made this promise out of love and out of his affection for his mother not just out of duty. And then fourth in Matthew 27 verse 45 to 46 we saw where Jesus offered an awful yet beautiful prayer and get great anguish to God. As a great physical darkness enveloped the land, a great spiritual darkness enveloped Jesus. God withdrew his gracious presence from Jesus while he poured out his righteous wrath upon Jesus. And as Jesus suffered the eternal hell that God's people deserve Jesus prayed.

This was a great prayer a great suffering and great anguish. And then fifth in John 19 27 and 28 we saw where Jesus made a plea out of his great physical suffering. Simply thirst. John MacArthur calls this a plea for relief because that's what it was. A part of Jesus physical suffering was this unquenchable unimaginable physical thirst. Yes he suffered eternal hell which was compressed in three hours but he truly suffered physically. And in that suffering he made this loud plea asking for relief for his thirst. Now as we turn our attention to the last two statements of Jesus from the cross I want us to see that the tone changes.

Whereas in statements number three, number four, number five they can seem like the words of a victim. Here in statements six and seven we definitely see the words of a victor. What I mean is this it can seem that Jesus was a victim. Think about it with me. Jesus needed someone else to care for his mother then he was forsaken by God and then he cried out for relief in this awful thirst. So he can seem like a helpless victim on the cross. But here in statement six and seven we will see the great victor that he was and he is. So with that said let's turn our attention to the last two sayings of Jesus on the cross.

So number six the sixth saying from the cross Jesus offered a proclamation of victory. We will see in John 19 verse 30 that Jesus offered a proclamation of victory. Let's look at John 1930. Notice what the text says. When Jesus had received the sour wine he said it is finished. The text says he bowed his head and he gave up his spirit. The King James says he gave up the ghost. Now we have already seen what was happening here from John's account. Jesus was on the cross and he had this large inscription above his head and that inscription read Jesus Nanazarene the king of the Jews. Of course the religious leadership did not like this.

They complained to Pilate about this inscription. They wanted this inscription to say that Jesus claimed to be the king of the Jews and of course Pilate would not change that inscription. Now at the time of this proclamation the soldiers had already gambled for his clothing and a group of followers were there at the cross. The text says that Jesus' mother was there and it says that his mother's sister was there and then it says Mary the wife of Clopas was there. Now there is a debate if this is two women or one but then the text says that Mary Magdalene was there and then John was there.

Jesus had already made the provision for his mother through John and he had just cried out for relief for his thirst and right after he received the sour wine Jesus made this declaration, what did he say? It is finished. Now I want you to look at your copy of God's Word. There is a key word here in the statement that I want you to note and this word might surprise you. Look at this word it. This word it. It is finished. Now for me this has led me all week to ask a question. What is finished? What was finished? Now in the original language this phrase is actually one word but it means exactly what our English translations say.

It means it is finished but what was finished? I ran across one scholar that mentioned the fact that many writings, ancient documents from that day have been found using this exact word and this one scholar referenced the fact that one document was discovered that spoke of taxes being paid in full and this particular word was used stating it was finished. The proper taxes were paid. The taxes were paid, they were owed and they were paid in full. It is or it was finished. Now Jesus is not talking about taxes. Although he did engage in dealing with taxes one time before. So what was Jesus saying here?

In this statement Jesus was saying that all the things which the law of God demanded had been done. Those things were finished. He was saying that all the things which are prophesied concerning the promised Messiah they had been brought to pass those things were finished. Even the types in the shadows in the Old Testament which alluded to the promised Messiah those things had come to pass in Jesus those things were finished. All the things which God the Father expected the promised Messiah to say and to do and to accomplish on earth those things had been fulfilled in Jesus those things were finished.

But more specifically all things, all things pertaining to the redemption of men and mankind had been completed so that work was finished and nothing was left undone. There was nothing left to do. AW Pink says and I'm quoting "The costly ransom was given the great conflict had been endured sins wages had been paid divine justice had been satisfied." Now I'm gonna borrow some phrases from AW Pink and I'm gonna add to it. What is he saying and what was taking place? The costly ransom was given it was finished.

"Sins wages had been paid it was finished divine justice had been satisfied it was finished." Now for me I think we need to go a little further here. I think we need to look at this a little more. Some of you might not see it like you should. Every Old Testament prophecy all of the Old Testament predictions concerning the promised Messiah had been fulfilled in Jesus. Satan was defeated meaning that he was made powerless. More specifically the righteous requirements of God's righteous law were satisfied in Christ's death and life. God's righteous wrath against sin had been appeased. It had been satisfied in Christ's life and death.

Man's sin had been properly atoned for in Christ's death and on the cross Christ completed the work of redemption in every way meaning that nothing needed to be done to secure salvation for men. This work was completed perfectly in every way to provide a perfect salvation which was all a work of God's good and perfect grace. Simply it was finished. God's redemptive work for his people had been made through his son and what did he say? Loudly it is finished. And note this, this was not a desperate cry from a dying man. These were not the last words from a languishing man in his suffering. No, these were words of victory.

Jesus' words were declarative. He declared loudly for the whole world to hear that he had provided salvation for men and Jesus is still making this declaration even today. Jesus' words were definitive. He provided a definitive victory over sin and over the grave and over hell. Men and mankind no longer have to be slaves to sin and to death and the grave. Jesus has provided a definitive victory over all of those things. But also Jesus' words were damning. Jesus' words were damning. For all those who heard those words and refused to believe were damning. They were damning themselves even further.

Those who heard those words on that day, they were damned because they rejected the Messiah who declared them and they were damned for rejecting what Jesus had said. But praise God, Jesus' words were delivering. All those who heard these words and believed in Jesus as the Messiah of God, they were delivered from sin, they were delivered from death, and they were delivered from the grave. They were truly delivered. So in these words, or one word in the original, Jesus declared victory. He was declaring a definitive victory, a decisive victory. He won the victory for man's redemption.

He accomplished the work of redemption and he paid that price for redemption. It is finished. Now just like I have done in all these other messages, I want us to see this victory in three places in time. Now because you're familiar with my method here, I don't want you to tune me out. I want you to really listen close. But in eternity past, forever ago, if I can use that language, before time and human history, the cross and the victory that Christ provided on the cross was predetermined by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All of this was prearranged by God in eternity past.

And listen folks, Satan's temptation of Adam and Eve in the garden, it did not surprise God. He knew it was going to happen. When Eve and then Adam sinned and fell in the garden, it did not ruin and bring about defeat for God's plan for man. No. God had won the victory folks. God won the victory over sin and death and the grave. And he did that before time, before these events happened in the garden. He did it in eternity past. Revelation 13, 8 tells us that Jesus was a Lamb of God who was slain before the foundation of the world. That was forever ago. And that means that this victory was prearranged.

It was won before time and before human history. But then in time, on that day, on that awful day, on that beautiful day, Jesus won and proclaimed the victory. You see? He won and he proclaimed the victory. And in time, on the resurrection day, Jesus would offer proof that he most certainly had provided victory, victory over sin, victory over hell, and victory over the grave. But we also have to look at these things in our day and in our time. And I want to ask you a question and I want you to ponder this with me a little. How was this victory proclaimed in our day? Jesus declared it on the cross for all to hear on that day.

But how was this victory proclaimed in our day and in our time? One way that this is declared is in the message. Reading the Word of God, me explaining these truths. You are hearing this victory declared. You have heard this victory declared. You've heard the story, the passages, the Word that declares the victory. You've heard me unpack and explain the victory. And so in this message, in this day, in this time, you are hearing about the victory. I am declaring to you this victory, the victory of Jesus on the cross. But another way this victory is declared is in the Lord's Supper.

When we gather as a church, 1 Corinthians 11.26 says that when we gather and we eat the bread and we drink the cup, we proclaim these things. We proclaim Christ. We proclaim the cross. We proclaim the victory that He provided. So when we gather to participate and worship and remember in the Supper, we are proclaiming this victory. But another way we proclaim this victory is when someone comes to faith in Christ.

When we see someone experience the new birth, when they are converted to Christ and they leave that life of defeat, they leave that life of sin, they leave that life of being a slave to sin, a slave to their flesh, and they trust in Christ. And they are born of the Spirit of God and they become a new creation in Christ. That's when we see the victory in our day. And my question for you is, have you received the victory? And I don't mean that in some charismatic terms, no. But have you received this victory? And notice we should see that Easter is all about victory. Not all about the things that we do during the holiday weekend.

Those things are bad, no. But Easter is about Christ providing victory. Victory over sin, victory over death, and victory over the grave. What does the text say? When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished." And folks, it is most definitely finished. And then the seventh saying from the cross, we see this in Luke 23. Jesus offered a prayer of consummation. Jesus offered and he gave a prayer of consummation. Let's look at Luke 23, verse 46.

"Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.' And having said this, he breathed his last." Now right here in Luke's account, we have what John, in his account, does not give us. In John's gospel, we see that after Jesus declares that the work of redemption is finished, John says that Jesus bowed his head and he gave up the spirit. Now we need to make sure that we understand a particular fact here. Even when Jesus bowed his head in death, Jesus is still the victor. He did not bow his head in any kind of defeat in death.

Jesus willingly bowed his head as the victor, demonstrating victory over death, over hell, and over the grave. But just before Jesus bowed his head in death, Luke tells us what Jesus said, which is the seventh statement from the cross. And in this statement, we see several things that need to be understood if we're going to get the significance of what is happening here. These things need to be understood before we can really look at what Jesus said. Now from a practical standpoint, Jesus' death was unusual. Very, very unusual. Notice what I'm getting at. Victims of crucifixion usually did not die quickly.

History and historians tell us that most who were crucified took days and days to die. One of the things that was done to speed up death when one was crucified was to break their legs. When someone was on the cross, they would literally have to push up with their feet and push up with their legs so that they could breathe. And when someone was on the cross and they would languish in life, what would happen is those officials would come along and they would break their legs with a large club. And what would take place was this.

Because their legs were broken, they could not push themselves up so as to breathe, so that would speed up or hasten their death. But Jesus' legs were not broken. Jesus' legs were not broken. Well, we need to ask what was happening here. Jesus died quickly. If we look at John's account in chapter 19, verse 31, we see that the Jews did request a pilot to get Jesus off the cross. Pilate sent soldiers to go break his legs to speed up his death. But they came and they found that he was dead. So he died unusually fast. Well, this leads me to a question or two. How was this the case? How and why did Jesus die so fast?

Here's where I want you to turn to John chapter 10 with me. I've referenced these verses a time or two, but I want you to put your eyes on verse 17 and 18. John chapter 10, verse 17 and 18. Jesus says, "For this reason, the Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one has taken it away from me, but I lay it down on my own initiative. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from my Father." Now notice in these verses, Jesus says three times that he would lay down his life. Isn't it there? He says three times that he would lay down his life.

Of course, here in John 10, Jesus is speaking of future events. He is speaking of the event that we see in Luke 23, verse 46. And here in John 10, Jesus said that no man takes his life, but that he lays down his life. Jesus said that he willingly, voluntarily lays down his life. He said that he had the power to lay down his life. He said that he had the authority to lay down his life. He said that he had laid down his life of his own initiative, of his own accord and get this. This power, this authority, this initiative, this spoke of power, this spoke of his deity. He was God and he had the power.

He had the authority as God to do these things. And this power, this authority, this divine initiative was an absolute supreme and total power to voluntarily lay down his life. No being had or has this absolute supreme and total power but God. So Jesus said that he had the power of God as God so as to lay down his life voluntarily, willingly. Now back to Luke 23, verse 46. With John chapter 10, those two verses in our minds, we see that at this time Jesus on the cross voluntarily died in his power and in his authority as deity. He made the decision to die at the right time. No man took his life on that day he was crucified. He laid it down.

As he died, Jesus said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit saying this. I am dying, I willingly die." And in the language here, in the language to the father, we see several things that speak of this consummation of these events. First, Jesus addressed God as father. Isn't that obvious? Now notice this is different than the last time he prayed to his father. When he prayed before, he cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" And that was because that was when God's gracious presence was taken from him and God's righteous wrath was poured out on him.

God had truly forsaken him and as a result, Jesus felt and knew that that relationship was broken. But now we see that this relationship was restored because of his perfect sacrifice on the cross. God accepted Jesus and his death on the cross. Their relationship was restored and Jesus again called God "Father." But then second, we see that Jesus committed his spirit unto his father's hands. Now some of you know this, but Jesus actually quotes word for word Psalm 31.5. And Psalm 31.5 says, "Into your hand I commit my spirit." And in what Jesus said here, we need to see what is actually taking place. He was committing himself back to God.

He was offering himself back to God having been perfectly obedient in life and in death. And because he had been obedient in life and in death, he was able to return to the father where he had been before the incarnation. The work of redemption was truly finished and he could go back to his father. So in this prayer, we see that perfect fellowship was restored. And because of Jesus' perfect obedience and perfect sacrifice on the cross, he was acceptable to God. He was able to return to his father. So this was a prayer of consummation, meaning it was finished, meaning everything was done.

And again, we need to see these things in three places in time as well. First of all, in eternity past, all of these things were prearranged by God. Christ's betrayal, his crucifixion and his death, those things were predetermined by God. But get this, not only was this victory won before time in human history, it was consummated before time in human history. If something is consummated, what does that mean? It is finished. It is done. It is complete. If I could use our slang of the day, we could say it like this, the deal is done. An earthly example that might help you.

When a contract is drawn up between two parties, that contract is not complete and it is not done until it is signed. Even if one party signs, it is still not complete until both parties are all parties signed. When the parties sign, the contract is consummated, the deal is done. We need to see and understand that in eternity past, before time and before human history, it was done. The victory was won. It was consummated. It was complete. If I could use a sports analogy, the game was won before it was ever played out in human history. But then second, in time on that day, in time and in human history, God's plan was completed. It was done.

Jesus prayed a prayer of consummation and he committed his spirit unto his father's hands. These things were played out in time and in human history, just as God had planned it all along. But then in our day and in our time, first we need to see that the salvation that God provides us is completed. It's done. It has been consummated, meaning that nothing needs to be added to it. Listen, it only needs to be believed. Do you see? And then in your life, a question that I must ask you, has this salvation been completed, been consummated in your life? Can you say that nothing needs to be done? Oh, his salvation is complete.

But if you're not in Christ, it is incomplete as it relates to you. Can you say that nothing needs to be done, that your salvation has been done? It is complete. Can you say, I have believed, I have been born of God and my salvation is complete? For some of you, you're sitting there and you know it's complete, but yet it's not been appropriated. And you need to trust Christ, just like the thief on the cross. And we should see that Easter is all about the consummation of God's great salvation plan. The work of redemption is done. It has been completed and God has accepted his son. No more work has to be done, folks. It is done.

Luke 23 46 says, Jesus calling out in a loud voice, Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit. And then he breathed his last. It was done. Now, as I move away from our seven sayings of the Savior, our Savior from the cross, I want us to revisit four realities about the crucifixion that we examined back when we started. Now, this is very important for us to see. For me, this wraps all that we've been studying up. It puts a bow on the package. The first thing, the cross and the death of Christ was predetermined. Have I told you that yet?

Now, listen, folks, understanding this fact and emphasizing the fact that this was predetermined elevates the glory of God's grace in the cross. He did not have to do these things. He chose to do these things forever ago. And folks, all this does is help us see God's grace, God's grace, God's grace. The second, the cross and the death of Christ was natural. Jesus' death was a real physical, natural death. Jesus' death was a natural death in every way, a cruel death. But a natural death. And understanding this fact elevates the humanity of Jesus. He was fully God and fully man. And being fully man, he is able to relate to us in every way.

He is not some far off distant God. Jesus lived as we live. He was tempted as we are tempted. But yet, he is without sin. And he was able to relate to us in every way except for sin. And then third, the cross and the death of Christ. It was unnatural. This death was abnormal. He had no sin. He was the righteous one who suffered and bled and died for the unrighteous. First Peter 3 18. Jesus' death was an unnatural death in every way. And understanding this fact enables us to see the substitutionary nature of his death. It was unnatural in that he died in our place. The righteous died for the unrighteous. The sinless died for the sinful.

And then fourth, the cross and the death of Christ was supernatural. In all things and in every way, Christ's life and his death, those things were supernatural. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit. He was born of a virgin. And in respect, tempted as we are in every way, yet in every way he was without sin. And his death was supernatural in that no man took his life. He willingly laid down his life. The righteous one suffered and died for the unrighteous willingly laying his life down for the unrighteous. And understanding this fact enables us to see the fact that Jesus died in our place. He died for our sins.

He died for our rebellion against God. Willingly, voluntarily, as God. Now I close with the question that I ask with the first message. Do you believe in the death of Christ on the cross? Next week I will ask you if you believe in the resurrection. Do you believe in these things? Do you believe in the cross and the crucifixion and the resurrection? Do you believe in all of these things that we have been discussing for some three weeks? Do you believe in this predetermined, natural, yet unnatural, even supernatural life and death of Christ? And listen, if you don't believe them by faith, Easter means nothing.

If you don't believe these things by faith, whereby God has changed your life, you've gone from death to life. You're a new creation in Christ. Easter means nothing. And I say this humbly, but yet seriously, if that's you, enjoy the vacation days. Enjoy the family time. Enjoy it all you can. Because if you die without Christ, you'll suffer the wrath of God. That's the truth of the matter, folks. I'm so happy I don't have to. All by God's grace. So what have we been looking at for three weeks? We've been looking at our Savior's seven sayings from the cross, but so much more.