Hello from your friends at New Horizon Church!

"It is Finished (John 19:30)."

Those three words were the last our Lord Jesus Christ spoke before He died on the cross. "It is finished." Easter is when the Church remembers the day, three days after those three words were spoken, that Jesus rose from the dead. "It is finished." Those words and how you hear them have everything to do with your eternal life.

What was finished as Jesus breathed His last breath on the cross? The payment of the debt of sin, that is what was finished. Jesus saw that all those animal sacrifices which had taken place at the Temple by the hands of the High Priests in Israel for all those years didn't finish anything for the Jews. He knew that until a perfect Man would be offered up as the perfect sacrifice for mankind's sinful, fallen nature, nothing would ever be finished for the payment of the debt of sin.

But He was the Perfect Man. Jesus is the virgin-born son of Mary, the Son of God. God come to the earth as man. The Father in heaven sent Him in order that He might be the needed perfect Saviour for fallen mankind. The scriptures teach that Jesus was "born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law . . .(Galatians 4:4)."

The people who caused Jesus to be crucified thought that they were getting rid of a trouble-maker who was upsetting their perfect religion. The people who actually crucified Jesus thought that they were getting rid of a trouble-maker who was upsetting their perfect nation. In both cases they were wrong.

"It is finished." Jesus did and does bring trouble to people who refuse to hear Him and trust Him as Lord and Saviour. Jesus has finished the way of salvation for everyone who will come to Him in faith and trust. And, He has finished the way to God the Father. "No one may come to the Father except by the Son."

When Jesus cried out those three words, He knew that He would come all the way to death. He really did die there on the cross. The record of scripture is clear on that, as the soldiers came and ran that sword into His side and the result proved Jesus was already dead. Jesus was dead, and then He was buried.

"It is finished." But, on the third day Jesus rose from the dead! Every other person in the history of the world who has died has stayed dead (we speak here even of those who were miraculously raised from the dead by Jesus or the prophets or Jesus' disciples, for, though they were brought once back to life they all died a second time and that death held them dead). But not Jesus. He is alive and even now He is in heaven, in our human flesh.

"It is finished." That resurrection, that coming out of death and back into life is the promise for every man, woman, boy or girl who ever has or ever will lived. All will be raised from the dead one day. But there will be only one of two ends for all people at that last great resurrection from the dead. As our Lord taught, when all are raised He will say to those who loved Him in this life "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34)." But, He shall say to those who would not love Him here, "Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41)."

"It is finished." Jesus has finished the work of salvation. This we remember not only at Easter time but all year round. We do so, because we love this Lord, our Saviour. We call you now to repent of your sins, to turn away from the sinful life in which you have been trapped for far too long. Turn to Jesus in prayer and faith. Find a true Church where God's Word is the rule, the only rule, for faith and life and listen to Jesus speak to you through His Word preached in that Church.

If you will do this, we are ready to help you in your walk of faith and love for the Lord. Won't you come to one of our worship services, 1:30 P.M. every Sunday.

Link: http://www.cornerstoneurc.org