I read the following article this week and wanted to pass it along. Greg Lauri wrote the article and I loved it because of its concise and clear way it reminds us of what Christ's death accomplished for us. Hope it helps you enjoy and understand our Lord's passion this Easter Season! 

Finished!

When Jesus had tasted it, he said, "It is finished!" Then he bowed his head and released his spirit.

—John 19:30


The cross was the goal of Jesus from the very beginning. His birth was so there would be His death. The incarnation was for our atonement. He was born to die so that we might live. And when He had accomplished the purpose He had come to fulfill, He summed it up with a single word: finished.

In the original Greek, it was a common word. Jesus probably used it after He finished a project that He and Joseph might have been working on together in the carpentry shop. Jesus might have turned to Joseph and said, “Finished. Now let’s go have lunch.” It is finished. Mission accomplished. It is done. It is made an end of.

So what was finished? Finished and completed were the horrendous sufferings of Christ. Never again would He experience pain at the hand of wicked men. Never again would He have to bear the sins of the world. Never again would He, even for a moment, be forsaken of God. That was completed. That was taken care of.

Also finished was Satan’s stronghold on humanity. Jesus came to deal a decisive blow against the devil and his demons at the cross of Calvary. Hebrews 2:14 says, “That through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil.” This means that you no longer have to be under the power of sin. Because of Jesus’ accomplishment at the cross, finished was the stronghold of Satan on humanity.

And lastly, finished was our salvation. It is completed. It is done. All of our sins were transferred to Jesus when He hung on the cross. His righteousness was transferred to our account.

So Jesus cried out the words, “It is finished!” It was God’s deliberate and well-thought-out plan. It is finished--so rejoice!

The satirical site The Onion ran a humorous (note: fictional) article with a biting truth. The article was titled "World Death Rate Holding Steady at 100 Percent." The article reported:
World Health Organization officials expressed disappointment Monday at the group's finding that, despite the enormous efforts of doctors, rescue workers and other medical professionals worldwide, the global death rate remains constant at 100 percent.
Death, a metabolic affliction causing total shutdown of all life functions, has long been considered humanity's number one health concern. Responsible for 100 percent of all recorded fatalities worldwide, the condition has no cure.
"I was really hoping, what with all those new radiology treatments, rescue helicopters, cutting edge surgeries, health foods/ herbs, new medicines and what have you, that we might at least make a dent in it this year," World Health Organization Director General Dr. Gernst Bladt said. "Unfortunately, it would appear that the death rate remains constant and total, as it has inviolably since the dawn of time.”

The above satire was meant to be humorous but in reality it is very sobering and serious. The reason for this reality is because man sinned and God sentenced death to all who would be born of women. Physical death is appointed unto every human. But the more stark reality is that eternal death is also appointed unto those who refuse to repent of their sinfulness and receive the Lord Jesus Christ. 100% of all who refuse to receive Christ will die forever and forever. Yes 100% ! There has never nor ever will be any improvement on that rate of eternal death for all rejectors of God’s only plan for eternal life, -  the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Physical death is appointed unto 100% of all humans but the good news is that eternal death is only appointed to rejectors of Christ but the gift to all who receive Christ’s gift of forgiveness of sin is eternal life.