IT IS FINISHED
Before Christ came into the world, the laws were given to Moses to govern God's people. These laws are known as the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20: 12-16. At this time, sacrifices were given to God as atonement for sin, such as a lamb without blemish.
Naturally man tends to embellish on what God says and begin making a few rules of our own. The people couldn't always follow the ten laws from God to begin with, let alone all the laws added by priests.
God, knowing that man would not be able to keep from sinning against God's laws, provided a way for man to be made righteous through a different sacrificial lamb. Jesus Christ came to become that sacrifice for man kinds sins. In John 1 verses 29 and 36, the Apostle John spoke of Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
"There is none righteous, no not one." Romans 3:10
"Neither is there salvation in any other (but Jesus); for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12
This tells me that man cannot become righteous or save himself through his own efforts and the keeping of the laws.
At just the right time in history, God sent his son to be born of a virgin. He grew and taught the things of God, he healed the sick and worked to bring the lost (in darkness) to a new covenant with God through Jesus Christ, who is the Light. Jesus had come to bring salvation to man kind, by becoming the sacrificial lamb offered to God as payment in full for our sins.
"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth that Jesus is Lord, and shall believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
Acts 2:12
For 33 years Jesus walked on earth, growing in relationship with the Father (God) and taught with such wisdom that he astonished the temple priests. In time he was rejected, as he was teaching a new Gospel and covenant that was not based on following a set of laws, impossible to keep.
"He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him."
Isaiah 53: 3
The chief priest and elders of the Temple brought accusations against Jesus, though he had committed no sin he was flogged and crucified.
In His final hour, Jesus knowing that all he was to do had been completed and scripture fulfilled, Jesus said he, was thirsty. He was given vinegar to drink and after He had received it Jesus cried out "it is finished." With that, he bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
Jesus was buried in a tomb, but on the 3rd day He was raised from the dead. After He appeared to many He later ascended to heaven and is seated with God on His throne. He had conquered sin and death for all who would receive Him. This small part of the story was taken from the account found in John 19 and 20 in the Holy Bible.
There is so much more to Jesus story, but you can see how Jesus was represented in scripture as a lamb, and how Jesus was crucified wearing a crown of thorns (as a mockery), but what of the Lion?
1. "And I saw lying on the open hand of Him Who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back closed and sealed with seven seals;
2. And I saw a strong angel announcing in a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the scroll?
3. And no one in heaven and earth was able to open the scroll or take a look at it's contents.
4. And I wept audibly and bitterly because no one was found fit to open the scroll or inspect it.
5. Then one of the elders said to me, Stop weeping. See, the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, has won! He can open the scroll and break it's seven seals."
Jesus Christ forever reigns as King Of Kings and Lord Of Lords.
Scripture taken from AMP and NIV
