Oh Father, as we now come to Your Word, we only come as hungry beggars who need to be fed. And so we ask that You would feed us with Your Word, that You would nourish our souls, nourish our hearts, renew our minds, by the power of your Spirit working within us in order that we may grow in Christ's likeness. Thank you for the assurance that your Word always does your work and that it will not return void to you. And to that end, O Lord, we commit ourselves to the study of your Word and ask that you would bless this time Strengthen us in our walk. Meet us where we are. Meet our needs as you know them to be, that Christ would be glorified in this time. In His name we pray. Amen. Well, if you have your Bibles with you, please turn to John chapter 19. If you don't have a Bible, if you need a Bible, we do have Bibles out in the foyer. They're just right over there on the counter. And if you don't have a Bible at home, of course, please feel free to take one of those Bibles home with you. We would love for you to have it just as a gift. Of course, it's a good thing for every household to have multiple Bibles. But if you don't have one, feel free to grab one of our Bibles out there. They are free for the taking. Today we're going to be looking at John chapter 19 verses 28 to 30 as we continue our study in John's Gospel. And of course, to address the question just one final time, is it kind of weird that we would be studying the crucifixion at Christmas time? It absolutely is not, because Christmas would have no meaning if it were not for the crucifixion. The ultimate meaning of Christmas is seen in the crucifixion of Christ. They're two sides of the same coin. Christmas gives meaning to Easter, Easter gives meaning to Christmas. So we praise the Lord that we have fallen on this passage on this day, Christmas Day, to study the crucifixion. But what is it that makes Christmas special anyway? It is a special day, but why? Why is it special? I mean, I think probably like just about anything else, if you were to go out and survey 5,000 people who are, well there's nobody at the mall today, but say you go out tomorrow and ask people as they're doing all their returns, what makes Christmas special? If you ask 5,000 people, you're probably going to get 5,000 different answers. If you ask Andy Williams, who sang the classic, it's the most wonderful time of the year. If you ask him what makes this a wonderful time of the year, he says it's the kids jingle-belling and everyone telling you to be of good cheer. Like you need to be told that. Otherwise, you wouldn't even know, right, to be of good cheer. Other people might say that it's because this is when people exchange gifts with one another and they show kindness to one another. I mean, who doesn't like receiving gifts, right? Everybody does. Once upon a time, pagans would have said that the thing that makes this time of year special is that this marks the time of year when we've crossed over the winter solstice and the days begin lengthening. Maybe others would say it's because of all the time we get to spend with family and loved ones around this time of the year. Or maybe they'll say it's the lights. Who doesn't love Christmas lights? Or maybe they'll say nothing. Nothing makes it special. If they're being kind of honest with themselves, if they're unregenerate. And to some extent or another, all these answers, except the last one, maybe do add to what makes Christmas special in a sentimental sense. But the sad and the terrible reality is that the vast, vast majority of people have absolutely no idea what makes Christmas special. Somewhere in their minds they may have some kind of, some degree of awareness of the religious significance of the holiday, of Christmas. They've probably heard at least some of the traditional Christmas songs that herald the birth of Christ. But the significance of Christ's birth The true significance of Christ's birth has never actually crossed their minds, and it certainly, and sadly, has not penetrated their hearts. Jesus, in their minds, is no more significant than other men for whom we have holidays. Men such as St. Patrick, maybe, or George Washington, or maybe just the American soldier in general. But the problem with that kind of thinking, that Jesus is on par with all these other men and women that we have holidays for, the problem with that kind of thinking is that it actually ignores, or at least shows an ignorance of the significance of the Incarnation. When God Himself stepped down from His throne, took on flesh, and was born of a virgin in a manger. If Jesus didn't do anything more significant than George Washington or the American soldier, then okay, Christmas is just another holiday and there's nothing really special about it. Something that we don't have to think too deeply about. Something that we don't have to get too excited about. But Jesus' birth reminds us and it represents something far, far more significant than anything that any other human being in all of human history has ever done. And if we miss the significance of Christ's birth, we miss the true significance of Christmas. See, it is not the most wonderful time of the year because of all the great food, the blessing of abundant food, although that's great. It's not the most wonderful time of the year because we get to spend time with family, or because there are all these lights, or because we get to receive all these presents. It's the most wonderful time of the year because it's the time of year in which we remember that God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, who was born just a little more than 2,000 years ago in a manger in Bethlehem. Now, we know that Jesus wasn't born on December 25th. In fact, he probably wasn't even born in December. He was probably born more in the springtime. It's nevertheless a time for us to remember that God did not just leave us to our sins. God did not just leave us in the darkness, but he sent light into the world. John said back in chapter 1 verses 4 and 5, in him, in Christ, was life and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it. So Christmas reminds us of some very important truths. Christmas reminds us that God hates sin and that He came to wage war against the effects of sin. But Christmas doesn't only remind us of what God hates, it also reminds us that He loves. In fact, He loves enough that He would forsake His comfort, temporarily veil His eternal glory, and take on flesh and live a life of perfect obedience to the demands of His own holy law. He loves enough that he came to offer himself as the one and only true and acceptable sacrifice for sin. The angel told Joseph, who would be Jesus' earthly father, he said to him, you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. That journey started with Jesus' divine conception in Mary's womb. But the fact that Jesus was born ultimately to give His life as the one and only atoning sacrifice for sin tells us that the birth of Christ and God's offer of reconciliation, the forgiveness of sins, these things are two sides of the same coin. They're closely, closely related to one another. Anytime we think about this, It's a blessed time. But to have an entire day, maybe even an entire season in which we set our minds more steadfastly on this wonderful truth is also a deep and rich blessing. We've been studying John's Gospel verse by verse now for over four years. And this year we have the providential blessing to land on the verse in which Christ lays down His life on the day that we remember and celebrate His birth. And let us never forget that if Christ had not remained in the Father's will until the very end, if He had not died as a perfect, unblemished sacrifice for sin, then there is no tangible significance of His birth. At least no more significance than we can ascribe to other great men and women and other historical figures. But the point of our passage today is that the whole reason that Jesus took on flesh and became a man was in order that He may accomplish our salvation in its entirety. That is the reason that God became a man. That He could accomplish our salvation in its entirety. We must therefore understand that there is nothing that we can add to or subtract from what Christ has accomplished from our salvation. It was entirely accomplished by Him. The significance of Christ's birth and death were actually very subtly hinted at in the verses that we began to look at last week. So we'll start with verses 28 and 29 and take a second look at these verses and see if this foreshadows the significance of Christ's death. John writes, after this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, I am thirsty. A jar full of sour wine was standing there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to his mouth. Now, one of the things that we have made note of repeatedly throughout our study of the arrest and the crucifixion and the resurrection to come of Christ, is that there are no accidents here. There's nothing that happens by chance. There are no accidences. There are no coincidences. God ordained even the most minute details surrounding these events, just as He ordains every detail. But in this case, he includes even the most minute details in Christ's crucifixion, including the actions of the guards, including the mocking of the crowds that Christ endured, including the guilty verdict of Pontius Pilate, and the fact that Jesus was offered sour wine or vinegar to drink by his enemies, which we saw last week was a fulfillment of Psalm 69 verse 21. But with that much said, I think John was probably making an assumption when he wrote this. He was probably assuming when he recorded this verse, specifically verse 29, that we would catch the significance of the type of branch that was used to put the vinegar soaked sponge to Jesus's mouth. He tells us that the sponge was put upon a branch of hyssop. And the fact that a hyssop branch was used reminds us both of the fact that Jesus came to die and the reason that Jesus had to die. Maybe you remember that part of David's prayer of repentance in Psalm 51, where he says this in verse 7, he says, Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. There's a hint for us right there of the significance of hyssop. This verse reminds us that hyssop has something to do with being cleansed, with being purified before God, with being forgiven by God. So the first reference that we find in scripture to Hesop is all the way back in Exodus chapter 12. We find the reference in verse 22 where God was giving Moses instructions for the very first Passover in Egypt. God warned back in Exodus 12, 12 saying quote, I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. both man and beast, how against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments. I am the Lord." The question that should be in anyone's mind in that context would be how in the world could anybody escape God's terrible, terrible judgment? And the answer was by putting the blood of the Passover lamb on their doorposts. And so Moses and Aaron instruct the Hebrew people in verse 22 saying, you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts. And none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning. So we see there again, there's a ceremonial cleansing with the hyssop branch. Leviticus 14 talks of how the hyssop branch was specifically the type of branch that was to be used by the priests as they worked in the temple when they would sprinkle blood when atoning sacrifices were offered. Was the fact that Jesus was given a sponge with a hyssop branch important? Was that detail significant? Absolutely. Was it coincidental? Was it accidental? Of course not. Of course not. In Jesus' case, it wasn't lifted to His mouth in order to sprinkle blood for His cleansing and for His purification. Rather, it was to collect His blood that was shed. The true atoning blood, which every other blood sacrifice in the Old Testament simply foreshadowed. The only blood that ever truly cleansed and made whole and made atonement for sin. Indeed, the blood that even David himself required when he asked to be cleansed and forgiven of his sin. Friends, Jesus was born for this. He was born to make atonement for sin. He took on flesh. for this very purpose. He was born in order that He may accomplish our salvation in its entirety by His once and for all atoning sacrifice for sin. And the Hyssop branch was an important part of that ceremonial process. It was only at this point that all the Scriptures had been fulfilled. And Jesus, Despite the fact that he's, we can't even imagine how much blood he's lost or what kind of fever he must have had in this moment. He is aware enough that he knows that everything has been fulfilled. And so it's no surprise that the next verse records Jesus giving up his spirit and dying. We read this in verse 30. Therefore, when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said it is finished and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Now I think it's important to note from the outset that nobody murdered Jesus in the truest, ultimate sense. Nobody was able to take his life from him before all of the Scriptures had been fulfilled. And all the work that the Father had given him, had sent him to accomplish, was completed. He didn't die until he willfully, John says, gave up his spirit. It wasn't that his spirit departed from him against his will. It's that he released his spirit. John's pointing us to the reality that Christ was actually triumphant in his death. He's pointing us to the reality that God is sovereign over and had a purpose in even the most evil event that's ever taken place, which is exactly what the crucifixion of Christ was. The only innocent man who's ever lived put to death. But nothing's more evil than that. John's pointing us to the fact that Jesus alone is Savior, because He alone upheld and fulfilled all of the Scriptures, and thus He alone was an acceptable substitute and sacrifice for sin. It's very important that we keep those terms in mind, that He was a substitute. and that he was a sacrifice for sin. Isaiah was one of the prophets who foretold Christ's coming. We read and we meditate on his prophecies of the coming of the Messiah every year around Christmas time. He writes in Isaiah 9, verses 6 and 7, "'For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace.' On the throne of David, and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. That told us that Jesus was coming. But Isaiah would also tell us why Jesus had to come. And the true and ultimate significance of His death on Calvary would be revealed in what Isaiah would write of Christ's death when he wrote this in Isaiah 53, verses 4-6, Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God. and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has gone to his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him." Now, one of the things that you might notice when you read that passage is that it's written in past tense, even though this isn't going to happen for hundreds and hundreds of years. Why did Isaiah write this in the past tense, do you suppose? Just like when Paul talks about salvation as if it's already, you know, past in Romans chapter 8. It's because it is so sure that you may as well speak of it in past tense because when God decides that he's going to do something, He's going to do it. And there's nothing that can stop Him. There's nothing that can thwart His plans. There's nothing that can get in His way. And so Christ fulfilled all of the Scriptures. Nothing thwarted God's plans. It happened just as He had planned. And so when Isaiah describes all these things, that He bore our sorrows, our shame, our sin, our transgressions. The Lord caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. This, my friends, this is why He had to come. This is why He came. This is why He emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men, as Paul tells us in Philippians 2.7. It was all so that He, so that Christ Himself could pay the sin debt that was owed by His people. It was to present Himself as the one and the only substitute who was qualified to stand in the place of ruined sinners, and to thereby pay their sin debt, cleanse them of all sin, and make atonement for their sin. He drank the sour wine. He drank the vinegar that his enemies gave him. But far, far worse is what Isaiah has described for us in Isaiah 53. Far, far worse is the fact that he drank the cup of God's wrath against the sins of His people. He drank the wrath of God that you and I deserve without the slightest drip of mercy in order that we may drink from the cup of His mercy without the slightest drop of wrath. Now somebody might say, well, why couldn't God just say, okay, I forgive you and let that be enough? Why did Jesus have to die? Why did God have to take on flesh and die? I mean, doesn't that seem kind of barbaric? And while it's perhaps true that there's a gruesome aspect of it, it's because sin is gruesome. If you don't like how barbaric it is, you've got to think, well, okay, it's making payment for something that's really bad then, right? Sin is vile. Sin is disgusting. It's completely wicked. Yes, the remedy, the only remedy, was gruesome. It was barbaric, but the reason that Christ had to die, the reason that God couldn't just say, OK, I forgive you and let things be. The reason that Christ had to die is because all of us have sinned and the wage of sin, that is what we have earned for ourselves as a result of our sin, is death. And this goes all the way back to the first prohibition that God gave Adam in the Garden of Eden against eating from the tree of good and evil knowledge. From the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, warned God back in Genesis 2. From the day that you eat from it you will surely die. That was the warning. The consequence of death, the consequence of sin was twofold. It was death, but it was death physically and it was death spiritually. It was death physically in the sense that yes, decay would set in. His body would, he deserved instantly for his body to just stop functioning and for that to be the end of his physical life. That's what he deserved. It was spiritual in the sense that Adam's nature in that moment that he sinned fell. He would go from having this intimate close fellowship with God to having no intimate close fellowship with God. And when Adam defied God, when Adam sinned, Adam's nature fell. Paul says this in Romans chapter 5 verse 12, he says, therefore just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. Adam was what you and I might call our federal representative, or our federal head. That is, he was representative of the entire human race. And we can only inherit the nature of our parents. You realize that, right? You can't give birth to somebody who has a different nature than you do, because you have a human nature, right? And so, it's the same with everybody. We can only inherit the nature of our parents. And thus, because Adam's nature fell, our nature fell as well. And so when he sinned, we all became guilty of sin. We sin both by nature and by choice. And thus as Richard Phillips notes, quote, we are all justly condemned to suffer both the physical death of our bodies and the everlasting death of our souls in hell. End quote. That's justice. That's all that justice requires. We all deserve death. It's the consequence of sin. It's God's universe. He's the one who gets to write the rules. You don't have a universe. You don't get to write the rules. That is the consequence of sin. Death is. But, God is merciful. God is merciful and He is abounding in loving-kindness. When Adam and Eve sinned, they immediately experienced spiritual death. But God withheld physical death. That is, they didn't die, at least not instantaneously. Why not? Because God extended mercy and grace to Adam. The question is, how could God be just? How could God be true to what He said was the consequence for sin and yet show grace? And the answer is by taking the life of a substitute in their place. Before driving them out of the garden we read in Genesis chapter 3 verse 21, the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. In order for them to survive in order for them to live. Not only did blood need to be shed, but they needed to be clothed in what the sacrifice had. The animal that was sacrificed so they could live, that animal had done nothing wrong. That animal had no sin and its death was nevertheless necessary for Adam and Eve to live. James Montgomery Boyce says this in his commentary he says quote what God was showing was that although they themselves deserve to die physically it was possible for another to die in their place end quote so then why did why did Jesus have to be the one to die Why couldn't it have just been an animal? And the answer is because the death of an animal was never actually sufficient for taking away the stain of sin. Hebrews 10.4 says this, it says, it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. So what was the purpose of those things? to serve as a reminder that all sin, all sin has consequence and that the wage of sin is death. Jesus had to die because God had to provide what God requires. It's a very important principle that you wrap your mind around whenever you're reading scripture. God must provide what God requires. This was the lesson that Abraham and Isaac learned on Mount Moriah when Abraham was instructed to slay Isaac. As they're going up there, Isaac notices they've got all the things necessary for making a sacrifice, except a sacrifice. He says to his father, where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Boy, that had to really rock Abraham's world to hear that question. But this is what he said back to Isaac. He said, God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son. The principle being, God must provide what God requires. And we have an insufficient offering to give. We have only flaws and sin in everything that we do. God requires perfection. So what have we to give? That's why the hymn says, nothing in my hand I bring. We have no perfection to offer and yet God requires a perfect sacrifice. And so if we were to have a substitute who would be truly capable of being sacrificed as an atonement for sin, God had to provide the Lamb. as John the Baptist referred to him as, the spotless lamb who takes away the sin of the world. And in Jesus, that's exactly what we have. God so loved the world that he sent his only son, the Lord Jesus, to be born of a virgin in a manger in Bethlehem and to die as a sacrifice and substitute for all who believe on him. This was God's intention. This was God's plan all along. God doesn't change plans because God doesn't change. God knows all things from eternity. This was God's eternal plan. God had said back to the serpent back in Genesis 3 after the fall, He said in Genesis 3.15, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. This was the first prophecy of Christ. The seed of the woman. Notice, that offspring would normally be referred to as the offspring of a man or the seed of a man but this promised seed would not have an earthly father he would have an earthly mother he would be the seed of the woman but from that point forward Throughout the Old Testament, the assumption is made that the reader will understand that the only hope for all of humanity was that this child, the seed, the promised Messiah, the Christ, God Himself taking on flesh, God incarnate, would be born when the fullness of time had come, in Paul's words. But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, Why Paul? So that, he says, notice that's the purpose of him being sent and born under the law, so that he might redeem those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons. It's from Galatians chapter 4 verses 4 and 5. And having accomplished this, It is not in defeat, but it is in triumph that Christ proclaimed, it is finished. There are no sweeter words that anyone could ever possibly string together than these three words. For anyone who has savingly believed in Jesus Christ, these words, it is finished, are a fount of never-ending heavenly joy, blessing, and delightful assurance of salvation. It's one word in the original Greek, shetelestai. But this is the shortest of the seven things that Jesus is recording as having said upon the cross. While it's the shortest thing that he says, it is by far, and it's not even close, it is by far the most important thing that Jesus said on that day. To understand why it's the most important thing that he said that day requires that we understand the answer to the question, what? What was finished? And you might come up with a number of answers. I mean, how about his life on earth? Yes, his life on earth was finished, at least for now. But what was his purpose in life? Why did he come? You might say, well, to do the Father's will, yeah. These words tell us that he was faithful to remain in the will of the Father even until his very last breath. What else did that entail? It meant upholding and fulfilling all of the laws and requirements of God's law that we and everyone else have failed to uphold and fulfill. And yes, he died having finished all that God required. That is, having upheld and fulfilled all of the demands, all of the requirements of the law. We also might say that the suffering that was necessary for our sins to be atoned for, that that was finally finished. Remember that when he says this, he's actually quoting the last line of Psalm 22, which foretells of all the suffering, Psalm 22 foretells of all the suffering that Christ would have to endure on our behalf. But having been scourged, beaten, mocked, spit upon, having endured the terrible pain of crucifixion, dehydration, not to mention the terrible thirst that went along with all this. All this suffering that he endured on this one day, all this suffering was finished. As was his greater suffering. The greater suffering which involved enduring God's wrath as it was poured out fully on him as our substitute and our sacrifice. He was now at the point where God's wrath was no longer being poured out upon him. and where man's fury could never lash out at him again. We might also say that all the prophecies related to Jesus coming to redeem his people were now finished, now fulfilled. Almost every detail that the biblical authors give us of the crucifixion was actually foretold in the Old Testament. just scattered along like breadcrumbs, where if you follow this trail and you compare this to what Jesus endured, you'll notice that there is no difference between these two pictures. Everything that was going to happen here was foretold here. And Jesus fulfilled all of these prophecies in a way that no other person in all of human history ever possibly could. If somebody were to go into Jerusalem today and claim to be the Christ, We'd have to say, no, it's impossible because you don't fit the fulfillment of all the prophecies that are in Scripture. But above all, when Jesus said, it is finished. Tetelestai. Praise be unto God. It's a proclamation of the finality, of the completion, of the accomplishment of our salvation. In the words of John Calvin, the whole accomplishment of our salvation, and all the parts of it, are contained in His death. The work required for our redemption was finished. And that, friends, that is some good news. That it is finished. Because since the fall, these are words that all of creation have been longing to hear. Jesus said back in John chapter 10 verse 11, the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. And now he has. Now he has. There is nothing, not even one little thing that remains to be done that's necessary for the redemption of sinners. He came in flesh to do it. He promised that he would do it. And now he has done it. It is finished. Now, there is no other religion, there is no other philosophy in all the world, in all the religions of the world, that has words that compare to this. See, every religion has its ideas about what you must do to be saved, or what you must do to be at peace with God, or what you must do to be reincarnated in a better condition than you were in this life. Every religion has some ideas about what you must do. Do this, do that, they say, and you'll be at peace with God, or you'll whatever. But Christianity says not do this. It says it is done. It is finished. Everything that is necessary for your salvation has been accomplished. It's already done. It's already finished. All you need to do is believe. It's yours. It's done. It's finished in its entirety. See, when we Christians say that we believe in Jesus, what we mean when we say that is that we really do believe that Jesus did everything that was necessary for us to be reconciled to God. Everything that was necessary for our sins to be atoned for. Everything that was necessary for our redemption. But maybe the one question that remains, is how much do you have to believe? How strong does your faith have to be? That's a good question. How strong does your faith have to be? Now you might notice that sometimes I say believe in Jesus and sometimes I say believe on Jesus. Which might sound kind of weird because we don't talk about believing on anything. We talk about believing in things. So what do I mean when I say believe on Jesus? What does that mean? Well, consider in your minds, picture an ice skater who goes out to a lake to practice their ice skating. The temperature appears to all be in the correct conditions, but the ice skater knows that if they are wrong, The ice will break and they will plunge to their death in the icy waters. The question is, do they trust that the conditions are really right for standing on the ice? And likewise, friends, if I asked you, how much of Christ's merit do you need to be saved? Is it 99%? You got that other 1% covered for yourself? What about 99.9%? No, you better trust in Christ's merit entirely. True saving faith is willing to stand entirely on Christ's merit. And the answer to that question is, I have no merit before God. I need all of Christ's merit imputed to me. I need to stand entirely in His merit, because I have none of my own. And so you put the fullness of your weight on Christ's merit and believe, you trust that it is sufficient for you, that it is sufficient to bear your weight. Now back to the question, how strong does your faith have to be? Well, the person who has only a little bit of trusting confidence in the ice and yet stands on the ice is nevertheless equally secure to somebody who is abounding in trust that the ice will hold. One isn't more safe than the other. What matters is not the size or the strength of the ice skater's confidence. What matters is the strength of the ice. And likewise, it is not the size or the strength of your faith that saves you, it is the sufficiency of Christ and His merit that saves you. We aren't saved by the strength of our faith, but by the strength and sufficiency of our Savior, our substitute. And so, how strong does your faith have to be? The size of a mustard seed. Teeny tiny is enough to move mountains. Now it's significant to note that the Greek word tetelestai is actually a term that has financial connotations. That's a word that in the Roman Empire would be stamped onto a contract. Think of it like a receipt or like a bill in which payment was due to indicate that the debt was paid in full. That's what it means. It means paid in full. And that nothing else was necessary to complete the purchase the financial transaction. And it's for this reason, friends, that the Protestant Reformers took a stand for the doctrine of sola fide. That salvation is through faith alone. Alone. That's the key word. Faith alone. As opposed to faith plus anything. Faith plus merit. Faith plus works. Faith plus money. We aren't saved by faith plus works. We aren't saved by faith plus money. We aren't saved by faith plus anything. We're saved by grace alone. Through faith alone. In Christ alone. Because it is finished. It's finished, and so it has to be alone. It is finished. Christ's work of redemption is finished. There's nothing that needs to be added to it. It has to be, therefore, faith alone. Not faith plus anything. Not even faith plus obedience. Faith alone. Faith alone is how we are saved. It is finished. Everything that was necessary for us to be reconciled to God, everything that was necessary for our sins to be atoned for, was completed, was finished by Christ. And thus we look to Him alone for our salvation, rather than to our works, or to our obedience, or to anything about us or that flows from us. Our debt is paid in full. And when you really believe that, that changes everything. See, the priests of the Old Testament, they always had more and more and more work to do. It's for that reason that there was no designated place in the temple for them to sit down. See, the sacrifices that they made on behalf of the people were all temporary sacrifices. There were always, always more animals to sacrifice, more blood to be shed, because there were more sins to atone for. But with Jesus, the author of Hebrews says this, Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3, When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Why did He sit down? Because His work was over. It was finished. There were no more sacrifices to be made. There was no more blood to be shed for the remission of sins. There was no more priestly work to be done to atone for sin. The author of Hebrews reiterates this later on, he adds to it, writing in Hebrews chapter 10 verses 12 to 14, But he, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until his enemies be made a footstool for his feet. For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. The baby who was born in a manger came for this purpose, to pay our sin debt in full, thereby reconciling us to God. He offered his own life, the only qualified life in all of human history, as a perfect, unblemished sacrifice, dying so that we might live He was resurrected from the dead on the third day, proving that His work was sufficient, proving that the Father was pleased with the Son's work. And He's now ascended into heaven, where He's doing what? He's sitting at the right hand of the Father. His work completed, our redemption fully accomplished by His atoning sacrifice. Redemption accomplished. That is God's gift to all who believe in Christ. What could we possibly give Him in exchange? Ourselves. That's how it changes everything. When you truly believe it, when you truly believe that it is finished, that your work, that your salvation was accomplished by Christ's work, and that even your works don't add to anything that Christ did. When you understand that, you have this sense of thankfulness that drives you to do good works, drives you to serve God in your life. Has He redeemed you? Do you believe that He has redeemed you completely? Or is there anything else that you have to add to it? Do you believe that His sacrifice was enough? Do you believe that His work was sufficient? If your answer is no, or I'm not sure, you must know that the alternative to standing on him in faith is to stand on sinking sand. That's what all other ground is. Sinking sand. Even saying, I believe, okay, but I still have to do good works, right? That is to stand on sinking sand. Faith alone, friends, Faith alone, not faith plus anything, not faith plus works. Believe on Christ. Put the fullness of your proverbial weight upon Him and you'll see that He is sufficient and that there is nothing that you can add to the gift of salvation that He has accomplished for all who believe. The whole reason that Jesus was born, the whole reason that He stepped down from His throne in glory and took on flesh and became a man is in order that He may accomplish our salvation in its entirety. We must therefore understand that there is nothing, there is absolutely nothing that we can add to or subtract. from our salvation. It was entirely accomplished by Him. Good works and service unto God flow from this, but those things don't reconcile us to God. And so we must never be fooled into believing that our good works can add to what Christ has already done or that there's anything that we can do to add to what Christ already did. It was Saint Anselm who said this, he said, quote, sinful man owes God a debt for sin, which he cannot repay. And at the same time, he cannot be saved without it. Praise be to God that Jesus Christ, when the fullness of time had come, from the riches of His grace and mercy came in order that He may pay that sin debt that we could never pay. and he finished what he came to accomplish. Praise be unto God that there is nothing left for us to earn that Christ himself has not done and earned for us. What a joy it is to be freed from bondage to sin and self, and what a joy it is to be freed from the feeling that we need to earn God's love, which is what every other religious system in the world offers. Jesus came to die and he died that we might live and live unto him for his glory what a joyous and heart-melting blessing it is to be able to say for God so loved even me even me that he sent his only son so that by believing on him I shall not perish but have received eternal life. Merry Christmas. What a gift. What a Savior. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for this passage and to know that Christ's work was indeed finished. We thank you for sending him into the world to take on flesh and to live a perfect life. We thank you that he humbled himself and took on flesh, that his life was one of perfect obedience, constantly remaining in your will, Father. We thank you that he alone was qualified to take our sin and to take the Father's wrath upon himself in our place. And we thank You that He conquered sin and death. Thank You that He finished the work that was necessary for our redemption. Teach us, O Lord, to trust in this, to put the fullness of our weight on this single truth, that what He came to accomplish, He did in its entirety. Teach us, O Lord, to live in the light of this truth, that Christ may be glorified, and that our hearts may be filled with joyful thanksgiving and praise unto you. In his name we pray. Amen.