It is Finished. (John 19:30)

This was one of the final words Jesus spoke just before giving up his spirit.

It takes lots of strong doubtless confidence to utter such a sentence before one dies. Nobody ever in planet earth has mentioned so. Even if Paul said that "I have run my race well" in 2 Tim 4:7, he speaks about his personal life. He has just finished his race and its upto God to decide if he has really won it. Of course Paul did win his race.

If Jesus really did finish his work so perfectly, what did he actually come for? What did he accomplish?

1. 1 Tim 1:15 - He came to save us (sinners). He did that.
2. Mark 2:17 - Before saving us, he called us towards repentance.
3. Luke 19:10 - Before calling us, he was seeking us.
4. Mat 20:28 - To give his life as a ransom.
5. John 10:10 - For us to have abundant life.
6. Mathew 5:!7 - To fulfill law (Old testament).

All the above verses clearly point at one thing. His requirement to come to this filthy world was for our salvation.

Interestingly, if Jesus fulfilled law in the cross, it means that "the law" was unfulfilled till Jesus died. Even if the Jews received a lot of punishment or gave big sacrifices to be forgiven, Jesus says that it was not a fair thing that happened. Our sins are so huge that it required God himself to come down, suffer and die. Nothing compensated our sins but the pure and innocent blood of Jesus. We should understand how expensive salvation is.

Another interesting thing to note:

Jesus could have said "It is finished" at Gethsemane, after His resurrection or even just before his ascension. But, He said this after the suffering at the cross and before giving up His spirit. This simply means that the sole purpose of His visit was the cross and as a result, our salvation. He did not come to perform great miracles or to display Himself as a king or God. He came only to save us.

Psalms 103 : 1

Bless the Lord, my soul.

We do not read anywhere in the bible "O my body, praise the lord."

There are mentions in the bible of "Praying in the spirit" & "Praising in the spirit". 1 Cor 14:14,15  

The reason is that the body (flesh), being our primary enemy would always try to oppose your relationship with God. We may translate this as the body will not praise God, but the soul will and should.

Galatians 5:17 - The flesh opposes The Holy Spirit. An enemy to the holy spirit cannot praise God, right?

We really need to have this in serious consideration. Our efforts should not be focused on satisfying the flesh, but to satisfy the soul. The flesh always demands, falls to temptation easily and makes everybody a loser.

The soul is the thing within us which defines our character. The soul is the thing that gets punished or enjoys life as a result of what we do. Maybe from God's point of view, we are just souls. Not spirits or bodies. So, safeguarding the soul is the most important thing we should do. We are required to guard our souls Joshua 23:13, Proverbs 4:23, Duet 4:9.

The bible requires the soul to pray and offer your body as a sacrifice to God. (Rom 12:1)

The body at many times becomes the winner causing severe destruction to the soul.

The 1972 Andes flight disaster can be one small example of how bad the flesh can make you. Read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Andes_flight_disaster

When the body initiates its needs, that is when men lose control and do thefts, rape, cheating and every other known and unknown sins. The body cannot be overcome that easily. Many of us claim to be so clean just because we did not experiences such hardships.

The bible says that sin is a disease to the soul (Ezek: 18:20). Psalms 41:4 - Heal me for I have sinned. Do we give that kind of attention when we sin? We cannot bear a simple mosquito bite are able to hold on to serious sins that bring destruction.

The only way the body loses its control is when we get power. The power is only by The Holy Spirit. (Acts 1: 8). When we get this power, we will be God's witnesses. This is different from the bearing witness condition. Our life will be clean and we will BE witnesses. Again, the soul wins as the  character or the inner person changes. To bear witness, even the flesh can do.

A brother once  told me that the power is given to us only to die for Christ. We should understand how powerful early Christians were. History says that families were eaten by lions together when they stood for Christ. Imagine how hard it would be for a mother to allow her son or daughter to be eaten by Lions an still stand up for Christ. Do we have that kind of power?

Bless the Lord,  my soul.

This experience of our soul blessing God for his support, guidance, protection etc. Blessing is different from thanking. Blessing has a lot of affection and gratitude. My soul, which I have to safely take to the kingdom of heaven, bless God.

The body will forget his mercy that forgave you.

The body will forget his affection that healed you.

The body will forget all his kindness that brought you up from the pit.

The body will forget his love that takes pride in crowning you.

But you O soul, will face the final judgment. Do not forget and ALWAYS remember his loving kindness.