“It is finished.” John 19:30 (NIV)
What is yours when you are “in Christ?”
1. Jesus completed the work of atonement. That means you are forgiven, accepted, and loved.
If you are in Christ, you don’t have to do anything else to be loved and accepted. All that you need is in Christ: “You are accepted in the beloved” (Ephesians 1:6 KJV).
2. Jesus completed full obedience. That means his righteousness is already yours.
If your hope depended on something you had to do, in addition to what Christ has already done, it could never stand. But when your hope of heaven rests on Christ’s work, it’s secure: “God made him who knew no sin to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
3. Jesus completed the decisive victory over Satan. That means the devil is a defeated foe.
Maybe you see Satan working, over generations, in your family. You wonder if some kind of curse hangs over you. But, on the authority of the Bible, no curse can stand against you, if you’re in Christ. How could it? Paul says your enemy is a defeated foe: “If God be for us, who can be against us” (Romans 8:31)?
4. Jesus completed the long night of suffering. That means your suffering will lead to glory.
Weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning. No suffering lasts forever. Look at the new creation—no more sin, no more pain or tears, no more death.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Come to Christ and rest in all that he’s done for you!
All these are important, but which one is most encouraging to you today? Why?
