"Finished before It Began"

Revelation 16.17 NLT

“Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. And a mighty shout came from the throne of the Temple in heaven, saying, ‘It is finished!’”

The book of Revelation describes seven angels who pour out seven bowls of God’s wrath upon the earth. The suffering which results is unspeakable… malignant sores, bloody seas and rivers, darkness, pain, drought, fire, thunder, lightening, earthquakes, mass destruction, islands washed away, mountains leveled, and one hundred pound hailstones! The devastation and loss of life is immeasurable. 

Then it’s over. Seven angels. Seven bowls of wrath. The near annihilation of the planet and a final angelic proclamation:

“It is finished!”

These words have been spoken before. They are the last utterance of Jesus when He died on the cross.

“It is finished!”

John 19.30

With those words, the Bible says “He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” Long before I was born, Jesus paid for my sins and suffered the full measure of God’s wrath in my place. Prepayment was made and my salvation was secured about 2,000 years ago. 

Jesus will repeat these words at the end of time.

“It is finished! 

I am the Alpha and the Omega – 
the Beginning and the End.

To all who are thirsty I will give 
the springs of the water of life without charge!”

Revelation 21.6

Long after I die, Jesus will again remind me “It is finished!” and invite me to drink for eternity from “the springs of the water of life without charge.”

When I was a little boy waking up in the middle of the night and afraid of the dark, I would crawl into my parent’s bed. There was no place safer than between Mom and Dad. I could sleep with the absolute assurance that they would protect me from any possibility of harm. 

Today I am at rest between the “the Alpha and the Omega – the Beginning and the End”. There is no safer place to be. I will never need to suffer the wrath of God for my past sins. Jesus took care of that two millenniums ago. 

For me, “It [was] finished” before it even began.