It is Finished. Chapter Two. Tetelestai!
Building Life on the Foundation of Christ’s Finished Work
We lived in a small two-bedroom apartment before our youngest son was born, when our three older kids were little. Our place overlooked an elementary school playfield. We often gazed out at the field and dreamed of having a home with a yard where our children could play freely. As apartment life began to feel more confining, one day, we took the kids out to that field and prayed, asking God to help us find a home we could afford. Working as a children's pastor meant a modest income, and I knew it would be a long shot to find something within our budget. But we let our kids dream and pray big.
Not long after, my husband, Ted, discovered a house across the street from the church where we worked—one in foreclosure. After some research, we learned that the price was within our small budget. It took months of patience, but eventually, we became homeowners. Excited, we dove into renovations. Armed with sledgehammers and help from friends, we demolished everything, believing it would be a quick fix. But it wasn’t.
After several months of DIY renovations, we moved in—ready or not. We had a working bathtub, a toilet, and a crooked sunroom we planned to tear down one day. It wasn’t perfect, but it was home. For a few months, it felt blissful, but the honeymoon phase wore off quickly. Washing dishes in the same tub I bathed in became unbearable, and I silently decided I’d had enough. I was ready to find another solution while we finished the renovations. It started to feel like a never-ending nightmare.
One chilly night during spring break, we cranked up the fireplace in the crooked sunroom to keep warm. The fire burned throughout the night, with Ted adding logs to keep it going. The following day, I woke to the blaring sound of the smoke detector. When I opened my eyes, the room was filled with smoke. I immediately called for Ted, who had already risen to prepare for early morning prayer at the church. He had been reading Revelation 15, where smoke fills the Temple of God, when the smoke detector went off (true story!).
We quickly gathered the kids and called the fire department. Within minutes, they arrived, rushing in like bulls in a china shop. Much of our hard work was demolished in seconds.
Though it was a temporary setback, that fire turned out to be an answer to my prayer. Insurance covered our stay in a hotel for months while our crooked sunroom was replaced, and most of our renovations were completed. By the time we moved back in, the house was nearly finished.
What drove our dreams was the hopeful expectation of a finished product. Even in moments of discouragement, hope pushed us forward, helping us persevere past the obstacles until we finally saw the victory of those dreams fulfilled.
Hope is the word “elpis” in Greek. It means “joyful expectation.” In our English vernacular, we often use that word to refer to something we are wishing for. However, to wish is very different from expecting.
One of my favorite stories in the Gospel of Luke is when Gabriel visits Mary with the news that she would bear a son. Her response is full of hope: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.” (Luke 1:46-49)
Did you hear it?
Mary looked beyond her current fear and the shocking news that she, a mere girl, would bear the Son of God. Instead of rejecting the idea or doubting the angel, she declared that future generations WOULD call her blessed. She wasn’t looking for fame or applause—she was looking into the future, to her children and generations to come, as recipients of blessing because of her “yes.” Indeed, she was terrified. She didn’t quite understand HOW it would happen, but she did not doubt God’s word. She received it and made it her own: “Be it unto me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38)
Just like the finished dreams my husband and I had that drove our work, Jesus was driven by a finished dream—the dream of re-establishing what God had initially created and designed at the beginning of time. Hebrews 12:2 says, “For the joy set before him he endured the cross.” The joy set before him was the hope (joyful expectation) that what was lost would be found. He looked beyond the shame of the cross to reclaim His valued possession. He looked beyond time, to you. You were the joy that was set before him.
Tetelestai
Seconds before Jesus took His last breath, He cried out, “Tetelestai!” which means, “It is finished!” It was a term commonly used among merchants when a debt had been fully paid. They would stamp the note “tetelestai” to denote that the payment was paid in full.
For something to be “tetelestai’ed,” the debt had to be held against something of great value; a payment was needed to restore what was owed. Once paid, what was valuable was free of debt.
Before fully grasping what Jesus “tetelestai’d,” we must understand what was valuable and why it needed to be redeemed.
Genesis—the book of beginnings—tells the creation story of the earth and all that was in it. Man, made in God’s image and the recipient of His perfect love, had all he needed—no lack, except another to share in this love. Woman then was formed from his rib; a partner to share in God’s creation. They were given the task of ruling the earth; having dominion (which means to subjugate), and to multiply.
Before they were created, the Garden in Eden was completely and perfectly finished. They lived in this finished work. They walked and talked with God in the cool of the day—they had a good relationship with God; a RIGHT relationship. Imagine it: God Himself would walk and talk with them like friends—sharing with them, co-partnering, co-creating, and co-ruling.
Where Did It Go Wrong?
Let’s look at Genesis 3:1-5
“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Contrast what the serpent said as well as how Eve responded with what God said in Genesis 2:8
“The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…and the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Did you catch the serpent’s deception and Eve’s error?
The serpent misquoted God. He portrayed God as stingy (“you shall not eat of every tree”) and Eve didn’t remember what God said, (“the tree which is in the midst… you shall not eat”). God did not say either. God’s direction was very simple. They could eat of any tree they wished except of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree of life was the only tree specifically mentioned to be in the “midst” (which means center or middle). The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not given a specific placement. The Tree of Life was specifically mentioned to be in the midst (center) of the garden and that they could have eaten freely from it. The tree of life represents Jesus- He is central to everything. Everything flows from Him. If they had eaten of this tree, thier eyes would be opened to eternal life.
Truth was twisted- it was the subtlest twisting, yet that is how one is deceived. Eve’s deception was rooted in a desire to be like God. The serpent planted the seed of lack, that God was withholding something from her.Eve already had everything she needed. She was already like God- made in His image and right relationship with Him. She ate from the wrong tree. Adam followed suit. In the account in Genesis 2 where God gives instructions as to what fruit they should eat, woman had not yet been created. Could it be that Adam was the one who was supposed to relay God’s instructions to Eve and failed to do so properly?
We often think of this tree as bad. It was not bad- nothing God made is bad. It’s that they were supposed to leave that tree alone. It was a tree that opened their eyes to thier nakedness. What God had intended to remain pure, now became a point of lack and shame and so they took matters into their own hands and attempted to sew fig leaves together to cover themselves- aka. self-righteousness. Self-righteousness is nothing more than trying to be right apart from God. Eating of this tree brought spiritual death-they were driven from the garden and away from the presence of God. It also brought physical death. Sin entered the world and began its reign of terror, holding mankind in captivity. (Romans 6:23)
Because the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was part of the fall of man, no part of that fruit could be part of the restoration.
“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12)
Self-Righteousness
Being a Christian is not about becoming more righteous or following rules; grading your holiness on scales of right and wrong. It is not about being fully righteous one day, after trying hard to obey and be like Jesus. Eternal life is not about escaping this world and all of its trappings nor about going to heaven and escaping Hell - although this is all partially true, it is not complete. This type of Christian living is exhausting and it is what “eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” looks like. There is no restoration in this, the garden shows us this is true. If you have been a Christian for years and lack joy, passion, or feel distant from God and yet you might say that you do “all the things,” chances are, you have been eating from the wrong tree.
Eternal life is about knowing God; God our Father, and His Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit- here on earth. It is also about receiving Christ’s eternal righteousness. Being a Christian is not about going to Heaven one day, it is about getting heaven into you. (John 17:3) Religion is like a whip that keeps you “doing” Christian things. The Gospel is about looking at what He has done.
The Tree of Life
Jesus is the Tree of life- everything is peripheral to Him. If we are working to become more like Christ by our own efforts and self-disciplines, we are living from the knowledge of good and evil, aka. Self-righteousness; our attempt to become righteous (fig leaves). You cannot make yourself holy or righteous by anything you do.
When Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they discovered how unlike God they were. Thier eyes were opened to thier nakedness; where before, the glory of God had been thier covering. They were in the right relationship with God, made in His image before they ate the fruit, feeling no shame or guilt, and they immediately became aware of their unworthiness and shame entered. Because they were created in God’s image, not in His righteousness, the glory of God left them. They were created without sin, perfect and righteous, but they didn’t have God’s eternal righteousness, thus when they fell, they abandoned the glory of God. This point is important because had they been made in God’s eternal righteousness, they would not have been able to fall. They would have related to God forever through that righteousness because they would have been in Him, His righteousness working through them.
Consciousness of sin produced condemnation, which led to self-righteousness, thus, they covered themselves with fig leaves. When they became conscious of thier sin, they hid from God. Yet, God pursued THEM. Thier sin did not repel God nor did He turn His head in disgust; He came looking for them. Even after they were banished from the garden, God continued to pursue them. Scripture is filled with stories of God coming near people in sin. God himself came to earth as a man and entered into mankind’s sinful state. We must guard against a theology of a God who cannot coexist with sinful mankind, which teaches that God is angry at sin and that he is opposed toward sinful humanity and cannot be in the presence of sin. Scripture proves otherwise.
Adam wasn’t created because God was bored; nor was he created because God lacked relationship. Adam was created to be a recipient of the perfect love that God IS; God’s identity is love.
David wrote in Psalm 8:3-6
“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor.You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;You have put all things under his feet.”
God created Adam and Eve kingly and majestic, to be surrounded by God's glory. “Glory” is the word “kabowd,” which means goodness, abundance, riches, and authority. In other words, Adam and Eve were given the right to rule and reign with the authority of God. They were to display this glory through co-reigning, co-creating and co-partnering with God.
Adam and Eve responded to God’s “Where are you?” with, “I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.” God said, “Who told you that you were naked?” (Genesis 3:7-11)
The tactic of the enemy is to deceive us into believing that God withholds from us. Suppose he can get us to think that we are unloved, unforgiven, too sinful or that God is angry, distant or indifferent to us, or that pleasing God keeps us working ourselves to the bone until we finally collapse in exhaustion. In that case, He has us exactly where he had Adam and Eve.
God is still responding like He did in the garden, “Who told you that?” Who told you God was angry with you? Who told you you are unforgiven every time you make a mistake? Who told you that you are unworthy?
Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.” The word “world” in Greek means “kosmos,” which means order, government, universe, and world. The word for sin used in this passage is a noun “hamartia” which means to be without a share in, to miss the mark, to err (there are eight definitions for sin. There is even one meaning which refers to sins you don’t even know you committed). The word death is “thanatos” which means physical death and separation from the life of God. In other words, Paul is saying that when Adam ate from the wrong tree, he abdicated his authority, the glory of God, and allowed sin into the world, making every person born a slave to it. (Romans 6:20 “You were slaves to sin) You can liken it to being born on death row. Adam traded God’s glory for the corruptible and was instantly separated from the life of God and physical death was imminent.
God had to drive them from the garden lest they eat of the tree of life and remain in that state forever. When God drove them from the garden, He placed two Cherubim at the East entrance of the Garden with flaming swords that turned every which way. Throughout the narrative of scripture, beginning with this story, we find people moving either west or east. Whenever a people moved West, such as Abraham and the Israelites, it was always a picture of moving toward God. You will even see this picture in the west of the tabernacle where the Ark, which hosted the presence of God, was placed. When one moved East such as Cain, after he killed his brother, and the people who built the Tower of Babel, etc. it was a picture of people moving away from God.
The Cherubim were placed East of the Garden to guard sinful man from moving toward the presence of God until sin was dealt with once and for all. There are many types and shadows in scripture of Cherubim guarding the presence of God, such as the ones placed over the Ark of the Covenant; the most exciting being the two angels who stood at the tomb after Jesus was raised to life. No longer were they wielding swords, they stood at the entrance and declared that Jesus was no longer dead but alive because the judgment had fallen on Jesus; bearing the shame of the cross, becoming sin, and defeating death. The judgment has been put away, and we can enter into the presence of God. Through Christ, the Garden was restored to mankind.
In Luke 19:10, Jesus said, “For the Son of Man is come to seek and save that which was lost.” The word save is “sozo, " meaning to make whole, rescue from destruction. The word lost is “apollymi,” which means to destroy, to put out of the way entirely, abolish, and render useless. In other words, Jesus came to rescue, restore, and make whole what had been destroyed, which means that it had to have value to have it stripped.
From the account in the Garden, we can see a great many things that were lost:
Freedom.
Right relationship between God and one another.
Glory.
Life.
Their right perception of God.
Rest.
Peace.
Authority.
This was never a part of the plan. The Bible is a narrative of a rescue mission; of a God moving toward fallen humanity; showing them that He would go to such extremes as to come down Himself and die so that what was lost might be found. To show us that our attempt at saving ourselves utterly fails while in the state we were in. We were of such value that God would rescue us back to himself. We were made for His Kingdom.
In the following chapters, we will explore what Jesus restored through His Finished work. Once we see what He has done, we will explore how we can live in His Work.
Chapters:
3. Saved. Why did Jesus have to die, and how to live in that freedom.
4. Righteousness- the substance of salvation and how to live free from cycles of sin and shame.
5. Forgiven. How to forgive as you have been forgiven.
6. Complete. Know your inheritance and give freely.
7. Loved. Created to be loved and give love.
8. Peace. Live free from guilt and worry.
9. Rest. How to live in perpetual rest no matter the circumstances.
10. Called. What is your purpose and how to fulfill it in this world?