What was finished in John 19:30 where it says, “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost.”?
My dear friend, John 19:30 is the most wonderful verse I can think of to the ears of a true believer on the Lord Jesus Christ, for it shows definitively that the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary for our sins was totally completed, and the gates of heaven would now be open to poor, lost sinners like you and like me through faith in His finished work…His sacrifice on our behalf. I think that William MacDonald, in his Bible commentary on this verse, gives a most clear and enthusiastic response to your question: “’It is finished!’ The work His Father had given him to do! The pouring out of His soul as an offering for sin! The work of redemption and of atonement! It is true that He had not yet died, but His death, burial, and ascension were as certain as if already accomplished. So the Lord Jesus could announce that the way had been provided whereby sinners could be saved. Thank God today for the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross of Calvary!”
A New Testament verse that helps us to understand the significance of the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ is found in 1 John 4:10 where we read: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” We know from 1 Timothy 1:15 that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, but in this verse, we find that it was the love of God that sent Him to be the propitiation for our sins. Propitiation describes a sacrifice, like the Old Testament sacrifices of a lamb, offered in order to appease God’s wrath over our sins. Christ Jesus was sent by God to be the blood offering to remove our sins, and to satisfy God’s righteous demands. In Hebrews 9:22 we learn that “without the shedding of blood is no remission of sins”; then in verse 26 we read of Christ: “…but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
You might recall John the Baptist’s words in John 1:29: “…John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” The Lord Jesus Christ was our sacrifice, our sin offering (2 Corinthians 5:21). The words “it is finished” indicates that His time of suffering for our sins was over, the price, the cost of our redemption, was paid in full, so then He gave up the ghost, or in other words, He died. But then, when He did bow His head in death, we see from the wording of verse 31 that “He gave up” His spirit. MacDonald went on to say: “That He gave up His spirit emphasizes the fact that His death was voluntary. He determined the time of His death. In full control of His faculties, He dismissed His spirit—an act no mere man could accomplish.” Thus, we see confirmation that Jesus Christ was indeed God with us, the very one and only Son of God, because only the Son of God could die to redeem sinners (Romans 5:8,9).
And now, my dear friend, have you been saved by the blood of the Lamb? If not, you can be saved just now by putting your faith in Christ Jesus, in His finished work on the cross; you can be saved just now as you read this response to your question. In John 3:16 we read: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (SF) (680.6)