Thesis
On the cross, Jesus cried out 'It is finished' — a single Greek word, tetelestai, that in His day meant a debt fully paid, a sentence fully served, and a victory fully won. Because Jesus completed everything necessary for our right standing before God, our relationship with Him rests entirely on what Christ has done, not on our own performance, goodness, or religious effort. This stunning reality is the foundation and fuel of all genuine worship and praise.
Key points
- 1
The entire Old Testament — from the Garden, to Passover, to the sacrificial system, to the bronze serpent — was one unified picture pointing forward to the cross.
- 2
The Greek word tetelestai ('it is finished') carried three everyday meanings in Jesus' time: a debt paid in full, a sentence fully served, and a military victory fully accomplished on someone else's behalf.
- 3
Our salvation was accomplished entirely by Christ; the only thing we contributed to it was the sin that made it necessary.
- 4
Many people live as though it 'was' finished, 'is kind of' finished, or 'will be' finished — but Jesus declared it definitively and presently finished.
- 5
The thief on the cross is the clearest picture of grace: he contributed nothing but his sin, yet Jesus welcomed him into paradise solely on the basis of what Christ had done.
- 6
Because it is finished, God loves us as we are — not merely as we should be — and we stand before Him completely forgiven and fully justified.
Outline
Introduction — A Father's Unconditional Love
Pastor Rocky shares the birth of his fourth son and reflects on the overwhelming, unconditional love he felt holding him. He admits that while that love is easy to understand for his child, he often struggles to believe God's love for him works the same way.
The Big Idea — Jesus Finished What We Never Could
Pastor Rocky introduces the sermon's central theme: we praise God because Jesus, in His final word from the cross — 'It is finished' — completed everything necessary for our right standing with God.
The Old Testament as One Unified Picture
Using the analogy of 'The Sixth Sense,' Pastor Rocky walks through key Old Testament moments — the Garden, the Exodus Passover, the sacrificial system, and the bronze serpent — showing how each pointed forward to the cross and to Jesus' cry of 'It is finished.'
Tetelestai — Three Meanings of 'It Is Finished'
Pastor Rocky unpacks the Greek word tetelestai in its three first-century everyday contexts: a business debt stamped 'paid in full,' a criminal sentence marked 'fully served,' and a military victory declared by an evangelist on behalf of a city that did none of the fighting.
Three Wrong Beliefs About 'It Is Finished'
Pastor Rocky identifies three distorted views many people hold — that it 'was' finished (God's love was conditional in the past), that it's 'kind of' finished (Jesus plus our effort), or that it 'will be' finished (needing to clean up before coming to God) — and contrasts each with Jesus' definitive declaration.
The Thief on the Cross — Grace Illustrated
Through a vivid retelling of the dying thief's exchange with Jesus, Pastor Rocky illustrates that the only basis for standing before God is what Jesus has done. The thief's sole credential was 'the guy on the cross said I could come.'
Call to Respond and Closing Declaration
Pastor Rocky leads those who have never surrendered their lives to Jesus in a prayer of faith, then speaks a blessing over the congregation grounded in the completed work of Christ: fully forgiven, fully justified, and fully loved as they are.
Memorable moments
the only thing that you and I contributed to our salvation was the sin that made it necessary
this book is not about what you and I have to do to get to God. It's actually so much better than that. This book is about everything God has done to get to us
he did not say it was finished. He did not say it's kinda finished. He did not say it it will be finished. He declared it is finished
And if you and I stand before God one day and he says, basis do you deserve to be here? And we start that in the first tense we've gone horribly wrong. Because I believed, because I'm good enough, because I've gone to church, you've gone horribly wrong. That answer is in the third tense. It's because he and everything he did.
God loves you as you are, not even as you and I should be
Application
Pastor Rocky's call is simple and personal: stop trying to earn or maintain God's love through performance, and rest in the finished work of Jesus. If you've been living as though it 'was' finished, or only 'kind of' finished, or 'will be' finished once you clean yourself up — let this be the moment you take Jesus at His word. The debt is paid. The sentence is served. The victory is won. Your one move is to turn toward Him and say, 'I believe it is finished.' For those who already follow Jesus, let tetelestai move from head knowledge to soul-deep confidence that fuels genuine, grateful worship every single day.
