When He had received the drink,
Jesus said,
“It is finished.” With that, He
bowed His head
and gave up his spirit. John 19:30
Centuries before
Christ walked the earth, the prophet Isaiah wrote of the coming Messiah. He
told of the pain and sufferings of Christ as he would be led like “a lamb to
the slaughter”. (Isaiah 53:7) In 53:11, Isaiah revealed that “after the
suffering of His (Messiah’s) soul, He will justify many”. And the apostle Paul
explained it in Ephesians 4:22-24; “Their life of sin is stripped away, and
they are clothed with Christ’s goodness.”
The Bible teaches
that the exchange took place on the cross of Calvary as Christ gave up
His spirit. The Greek word used for gave up in John 19:30 means to forgive,
pardon, remit or cancel. His was a willing exchange.
Christ left
everything in heaven—His Father, the angels bowing down, His royal diadem, His
throne. He left it all, as He stepped into a body of flesh, zipped it up over
His glory and became as one of us. He exchanged His glory for my sin. “It is
finished”—His final proclamation from the cross.
My acceptance of that exchange happened the
moment that I received Christ as my Savior. The old life of sin and shame was
forgiven, pardoned, and cancelled for a new life in Christ. He remitted, or
paid the price, for what I owed.
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