"Finished!" I love the sound of that word. Last Saturday I finished the wiring in my garage. Today I cut up and hauled away the sumac and ash trees I cut down yesterday, even raking the yard so there is no trace of their having been laying there overnight. Cameron and Mike finished the roof and vent installation. Sitting on the back deck this afternoon, I finished Sunday's sermon. There is a special satisfaction when a task is finally accomplished.
In John's Gospel, the last words of Jesus as he hung on the cross were, "It is finished!" In the Greek, it is actually a single word, "tetelestai." It wasn't the last gasp of a dying man, gratefully wimpering that the suffering is over; it was a cry of triumph, meaning literally, "It is accomplished!" He had fulfilled the prophecies, offered himself as the sacrifice for our sins, and accomplished the mission on which he had been sent: the rescue of a world lost and dying.
It isn't over yet. The Revelation at the end of the Bible has these words in the last chapter, verse 6, ""It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End."
"It is done." God loves accomplishment. It is woven into the very fabric of life to finish what we start. Even the Creator of all that is takes pleasure in the accomplishment of his eternal purposes. After all the effort, all the work of salvation, it is finally accomplished and he shouts through the vastness of the universe, "It is done!" This is deeply significant for our efforts; whenever we finish a task, we participate in the work of God. My pleasure in accomplishment is a reflection of God's. Finishing these projects will not shake the world, but through them I experience just a small taste of Christ's victory, and give thanks tonight.
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