Paid In Full

“I have brought You glory on earth by finishing the work You gave Me to do.” John 17:4

In John 17:4, Jesus used the same word, “finished,” that He used on the cross when He said, “It is finished.” God gave Jesus a work that only He could do. Only He could redeem us and pay for our sins and satisfy the righteous wrath of God against sin.

The Greek word that Jesus used for “finished” was powerful in both legal and financial circles in His day. Legally, if you were brought before a Roman judge, and he pronounced you guilty of a crime, the judge would prescribe the sentence and write out a piece of paper called a “certificate of debt.” On one side of that paper was written the crime that was committed and on the other side was the penalty the crime incurred. The certificate of debt would then be nailed to the prisoner’s door so anyone could read it and see what he had done and what he owed for his crime.

Once the prisoner had done his time – or if someone came and paid his fine – a legal authority would write over that debt the Greek word that Jesus used that is translated as “finished,” which meant, “paid in full.” They would then take the certificate, roll it up, and give it to the prisoner. This was his proof that the full demands of the law had been met. His debt was paid off and he was free to go, never to be tried for that crime again. When Jesus said, “It is finished,” what He actually said was, “Paid in full!” The debt of sin that the entire world owes to God was paid for at the cross.

This verse is also in the perfect tense in the Greek language, which is significant. Perfect tense this speaks of an action that has been completed in the past with permanent results continuing into the present and the future. In other words, the past tense says, “this happened.” The perfect tense says, “this happened and it is still in effect today and will be tomorrow.”

Think of any fault you have…any sin that you have ever committed…when you give your life to Jesus Christ God stamps this one word – “finished” – over it. Jesus has paid every sin debt in full.

God, Thank You for sending Your Son to die on the cross so that the debt of my sins could be paid in full. Give me the courage to share this message of hope with everyone You put in my path that needs to hear it. In Jesus' name, amen