Read Luke 23:45

The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. (Luke 23:45)

How do we know that Christ’s atonement satisfied God the Father and fully covered humankind’s sin? First, the veil of the temple which separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, where the presence of God resided was torn in two. Only the High Priest could enter that small, ultra-sacred room once a year, on the Day of Atonement. But when the veil was split, no longer did a wall of partition stand between humanity and God.

Second, Christ’s death completed the work of atonement because God raised Jesus from the dead. If God had not been satisfied with the death of His Son, the Son would have remained a lifeless corpse in the tomb. The Father raising the Son represents His “stamp of approval” on the whole transaction.

Finally, when the Saviour ascended back to heaven, the Lord seated Him at His own right hand. Had the Father not been satisfied, He would never have welcomed Him back. He then sent the Holy Spirit to begin His remarkable work in the church. Jesus had promised His disciples, “When I return to My Father, I will send the Spirit to you,” and so the Spirit’s arrival on earth proved Jesus had entered heaven again.

We could never work our way into the family of God. The only way to enter heaven is upon the life and death of Jesus Christ. When Jesus said, “It is finished,” He meant that the sacrifice for sin—the atonement—was complete. Paid in full!

Christ came to lift the curse of the law so that we might be adopted into His family.

The Scriptures are fulfilled. The law is abolished. The devil is defeated. He’s still active, of course, but he knows he is defeated and doomed.

There is nothing left to be finished by people. We can add nothing to the death of Christ. Remember His word tetelestai. IT IS FINISHED!

Upon a Death I did not die,
Upon a Life I did not live,
Another’s death—another’s life
I cast my whole eternity.
—PINK, The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross

Adapted by Insight for Living staff from The Darkness and the Dawn by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2001 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com