So when Jesus had received the sour wine,
He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
John 19:30 (NKJ)
Someone said, ‘Consider the work of Calvary. A perfect work, perfect in every respect, perfect in every aspect.’ One of the last utterances of Jesus on the cross was: ‘It is finished.’ In Greek, it’s just one word: tetelestai. But it’s the perfect tense of a verb that means to do something perfectly. It could be translated in this way: It is perfectly perfect or it is completely complete.
What happened on the cross was a divinely ordained exchange. Think of the key word ‘exchange.’ All the evil due to our sin of rebellion towards God met together upon Jesus, so that all the good due to the sinless obedience of Jesus might be made available to us… Or, to say it shortly, the evil came upon Jesus that the good might be made available to us …
Wow! Meditate on that. It’s contrary to our natural thinking, and we could never, ever reason it out.
Now, instead of saying “us” say “me.” This is very personal, it’s just you and God. You know what they say at the cross? That there’s only room for one at the foot of it. You’re the one now. You’re looking up at the cross, you see His body beaten, bleeding, a horrifying spectacle, something that you don’t really want even to look at or think about.
And then you declare this: ‘The evil due to me came upon Jesus that the good due to Jesus might be made available to me.’ It’s when you make it personal that the message would hit home deeper. You may not have felt any change but you have opened the way to the treasure house when you’ve grasped that one central truth…
Let’s look at some aspects of the exchange. Ten are listed. And, that’s not even complete. It’s just a sample. These are 10 different aspects of the work of Calvary. Ten different ways to view what God accomplished there by the death of Jesus.
- Jesus was punished that we might be forgiven – Isaiah 53:6b
- Jesus was wounded that we might be healed – Isaiah 53:5b
- Jesus was made sin with our sinfulness, that we might be made righteous with His righteousness – 2 Corinthians 5:21
- Jesus tasted death for us that we might share His life – Isaiah 53:12
- Jesus was made a curse that we might receive the blessing – Galatians 3:13
- Jesus endured our poverty that we might share His abundance (riches) – 2 Cor. 8:9
- Jesus bore our shame that we might share His glory – 1 Peter 5:10
- Jesus endured my rejection that I might have His acceptance with the Father – Ephesians 1:6
- He was cut off that we might be joined to the Lord – Matthew 27:46
- Our “old man” was put to death in Him that the “new man” might come to life in us – Ephesians 4:22-24
With God on your side, you are richer than you think! How could anyone doubt God’s love anymore?
Take a pause and express your heartfelt thanks to Jesus for such an unfair but glorious divine exchange!
At the Cross by Chris Tomlin:
(The above content is adapted from www.escapetoreality.org – the divine exchange – 10 things Jesus accomplished on the cross by Derek Prince)