When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, It is finished.
John 19:30.
Hudson Taylor (1832 – 1905), the well-known missionary in China, was the child of true Christian parents. From their example he learned early in his life how helpful and valuable the Bible is. His parents’ exemplary life impressed him, and he endeavoured to be as good a Christian as they were. But it didn’t succeed, he himself said later. All his efforts failed, so that finally he considered himself a hopeless case who could not expect anything good after death. So he wondered whether it wouldn’t be better to enjoy life to the full. And he found enough friends to support his view.
One day Hudson was searching for something interesting to read in his father’s library. In a box of pamphlets he found a small gospel tract. “There will be a story at the beginning, and a sermon or moral at the end”, he thought. “I’ll read the beginning and leave the end for those who like that sort of thing.”
As he read, Hudson came across the expression “the finished work of Christ”. He wondered why it didn’t simply say “Christ’s atoning work.” Then he remembered Jesus’ words on the cross: “It is finished!” What was finished? He gave the answer himself: “Full and perfect atonement for sins. The entire debt was paid by Jesus Christ as the substitute. Hudson went on deliberating: “If all the work was finished and all the debt paid, what is left for me to do?” And he knelt down to claim the work of redemption for himself by faith and to thank his Saviour for it.
Image credit: By London: Morgan & Scott – Scan from the original work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6604872