I enjoy sewing and quilting.  After putting hours and hours into a sewing project, I sigh with relief when I can say, “it’s finished!”  Recently, while staying in place at home, my husband and I worked for a couple of days on a puzzle.  When we finally completed it, I took a picture to send to my daughter and told her it was finished.

Whether it’s a sewing project, a construction project, or some other event taking place, being able to say something is finished can give ourselves a feeling of accomplishment and joy.

But that phrase is also associated with the most important event to have ever taken place in all of history.  When the long expected Messiah, hung on a wooden cross, His body bruised and bloody, made this one last statement, He accomplished something we could never possibly do for ourselves.  He made a way for us to receive forgiveness from our sins.  He made a way for us to have a personal relationship with Himself, and He made a way for us to spend an eternity in heaven with God.

At that moment when Christ willingly gave up His life, the darkened earth shook and the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom.  That veil that kept people from having personal access to God is no longer there.  Now as believers in Christ, we can come boldly before the throne of God to receive mercy and grace.

When you read about the account of the crucifixion of Jesus, it is a horrible thing.  The beatings He endured, the mocking and humiliation inflicted upon Him, was awful.  To think that the Son of God, the Creator and the great Light of the World, willingly endured that for me is both humbling and heartbreaking.  I cannot imagine standing there watching all He was going through as His earthly mom and a few others did.

But those three words changed everything.  Because His death was not the end.  His death was the beginning of a new covenant between God and man.  The plan of salvation was completely in place and ready to begin the ushering of souls, otherwise eternally lost, into the Kingdom of God.  That phrase was the ultimate words of accomplishment that brings eternal joy to all who will believe and receive.

On this Good Friday, as we reflect on the death of Christ, may we with humble hearts thank Him for finishing the plan put in place from the foundation of the world.  And knowing that just as sure as He arose on Easter morning, one day He will call our name to come to Him.  It may be in our death or it may be when God decides to send His Son to gather His children home.  Either way, I long for the day when He declares about the numbered days of my life, “It is finished!  Welcome home!”