It is finished John 19:30
God set His plan into motion at the beginning. The Word spoke, God breathed His Spirit, and humanity was conceived. United with God and one another by His Spirit. God’s Kingdom inspired in the Garden of Eden.
When, in isolated thinking, humankind rejected the unity of God’s Spirit that made them one, physical limitations of time and space became the reality of human experience. And in the confines of earthly time, God set out to complete what He’d begun.
Though God isn’t limited by time, His plan for His Kingdome has taken time to reveal. We, His creation, are limited by time and space. When “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” Jesus accepted human limitations of time and space for His earthly lifetime. Living under human constraints, Jesus revealed and completed what was necessary for us to enter God’s redemptive story.
Humankind’s broken experiences have continued to this day. But God’s redemptive story is complete The choice that remains is ours. Choosing to die on our behalf, Jesus laid down His life and completed His task on earth. Over time, God uses His Word and His Spirit to reveal the significance of that task. And in time, we know and experience God’s power of redemption: His Kingdom established in our lives.
Many who should have loved Jesus turned their backs on Him. And in this experience, as with you and me, Jesus was heartbroken. Heartbreak is not the Kingdom way. So, Jesus, with eyes fixed on restoration of the God’s Kingdom, was slain, on the cross. It was He that paid the penalty for our broken relationships and isolated thinking: our sin.
By relating to the broken experiences and relationships of humankind, Jesus, “who knew no sin, became sin Himself.” Becoming a point of connection between God and man, Jesus’ life-and-death encounter with real people is our assurance that God can relate to, understand, and heal man’s experience. And because of Jesus, humankind can relate to, understand, and hear from God.
Jesus never violated any relationship in His life, whether divine or human. Yet, out of miscalculation, misunderstanding and the division and hatred that results, He was killed. And this sacrifice, of the only man who was innocent and perfect, was the final sacrifice that pays for the broken relationships that naturally result from sin. Jesus offers that gift of redemption to every human being who would choose a to connect with Him and genuinely try to understand.
When Jesus died, God’s redemptive story was complete and His Kingdom established and made visible. Jesus’ life on earth created a tangible point of connection between God and us. By continuing in resurrected life, His Holy Spirit makes resurrection power accessible to you and me. And His Kingdom is at hand!
John 1: 1-34, 19:30, 2 Corinthians 5:21, John 14:6, Hebrews 12:2, Matthew 3:2
Pictured: AmaZioni services are alike in many ways. yet diverse as the people who fill their tents and tabernacles. The singing, beautiful, the dancing, communal, and the colors vibrant. The people are lovely and longing to be a part of something bigger than themselves. AmaZioni have a zeal for God. But God who they don’t always know. Each has a story and finds fulfillment in connecting their story to another’s. Community is the African way.