"It Is Finished" Jesus Christ's final words, hanging upon that cross, were: "It is finished" (John 19:30). What does that mean? It means that when Jesus Christ showed up twenty centuries ago, he had not come to start a new religion. He had come to end all religion. Religion is about what we do for God. The message of Jesus--what he called "the gospel" or "happy announcement"--is about what God has done for us. Religion hands us a stack of bills to pay. The gospel hands us a blank check. The Central Message of Christianity The central message of Christianity is not what many people think--including many people who have been attending church their whole lives. Like an adopted orphan who has trouble accepting that his new parents really love him, we all deeply believe that God deals with us on terms of religion, not gospel. What then is the central message of Christianity? The core message of Christianity is not that God condemns or judges or punishes. The primary message of Christianity is not that God teaches or commands or instructs. The main message of Christianity is not even that God helps or strengthens or empowers. The central message of Christianity is that God substitutes. We understand this in theory from everyday life. A substitute teacher fills in for the regular teacher who is out sick that day. A basketball player comes off the bench to sub in for a tired or injured player. And what was happening when Jesus was on that cross, uttering his final words, "It is finished"? He was completing his work as our substitute. He was subbing himself in for us, if we will have him. But this was not like one basketball player for another. It was more like a king subbing himself in for a condemned prisoner. On the cross, Jesus was suffering the death, the sentence of condemnation, that all of us deserve. He exhausted the full penalty that our sin deserved, for any who desire it. And so he said: "It is finished." The Devastating Problem How does this land on you? Maybe it sounds interesting, but not all that compelling. Perhaps you believe there are people out there who really need some major forgiveness from God--our prisons are full of them. But you're doing okay. Maybe the notion of a king substituting himself for a condemned prisoner raises your eyebrows--I'm not a guilty prisoner, you may think. You're friendly with your neighbors and drive the speed limit. You don't know what handcuffs feel like and you never dropped out of school. You vote as any thought