“The Word of Victory” is the next-to-last chapter of A.W. Pink’s The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross. I’ve been reading through this as part of Tim Challies’ Reading Through the Classics series. Tim gives a good thorough review of the chapter at his site today.

In this chapter Pink examines Jesus’ words, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) These words of Christ are more “approachable” for me than some of His other words from the cross. While Pink digs deep into the implications of this statement, the general conclusions seem to be a little easier to draw out.

Here are the major points that he examines:

“Here we see:
1. The accomplished fulfillment of all the prophecies that had been written of Him ere He should die.
2. The completion of His sufferings.
3. The goal of the incarnation is reached.
4. The accomplishment of the atonement.
5. The end of our sins.
6. The fulfillment of the law’s requirements.
7. The destruction of Satan’s power.”

The first thing that I noticed in this chapter was the disparity between the situation which the onlookers saw, and the actual reality of the situation. Those around the Cross saw a defeated man who was near death. No one survived crucifixion – the man they saw there was in the most helpless, hopeless position imaginable. They would never have guessed that these words were a declaration of the greatest victory that ever had been, or ever would be. As Pink says,

“From the words of the victim, we turn now to the words of the victor.”

This is perhaps one of the most incredible contrasts between perception and reality ever to exist.

Second was the presence and clarity of the Gospel in these words. In 5 of the 7 sections of the chapter Pink digs deep into how this saying us about the Gospel. It really is the climax of Jesus’ work. He told His disciples that He had come to “seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10); He was on the cross to complete that mission. Pink uses words like goal, accomplishment, fulfillment, and destruction to describe what Christ meant when He said, “It is finished.”

“All that a holy God requires has been done…All that is necessary for the sinner is to rest now by faith upon what Christ did.” (p. 121)

The last thing, very convicting for me, was how weak my love and gratitude towards Christ is. As he summarizes again the events surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion, Pink writes:

“We cannot contemplate too often what the Saviour endured in order to secure our salvation. The better we are acquainted with His sufferings, and the more frequently we meditate thereon, the warmer will be our love and the deeper our gratitude.”(p. 115)

I think of Christ’s words in Luke 7:47 – “Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” My love for the Lord isn’t small because I don’t have much sin to forgive; my problem is that I don’t realize the actual depth of my sin, and how much God has forgiven through Jesus’ sacrifice. The only way to grow in my love for Christ is to stay near the Cross, to stay near the Fountain that both reveals and cleanses my sin day by day.