The last word Jesus spoke from the cross “Tetelestai.” A word used in the Roman world within business and tax documents proclaiming “Paid in full.”

However, I struggle with the fact that if it is “paid in full” (or “finished” as most translations say) and then there is nothing more that needs/could be done, then what was the resurrection? Why the celebration of the resurrection? What does it proclaim? What does it change?

The resurrection was simply the receipt of what was paid for on the cross. The receipt for your freedom from sin, death, hell, and Satan. It is a receipt that transforms your life into ‘a different kind of normal.”

‘A different kind of normal’ life is defined and purposed in the resurrection.

• Defined: We are resurrected people. We are no longer defined by what we were but what we are. We are no longer constrained by our past but freed to our present and future. We represent the freedom that Jesus brought coming out of the grave.

• Purposed: We live to show the resurrection through everyday life. We fight for marriage and relationships because they can and should be resurrected. We engage with struggling schools to show how our God is a God of resurrection. We focus on our finances and financial freedom to demonstrate the resurrection. We engage with the city and help resurrect community, buildings, and relationships. We also live with hope in difficult and dying situations because we know that in the end it will be resurrected.

Resurrection becomes our DNA and our purpose. It is to restore, reconcile, and resurrect all things for Jesus’ name and that starts first with our own lives and then effects every other aspect of life!

“It is finished” so lets get to work!