Last Words

What would you like your last words to be? Funny question—have you ever thought about it before? Throughout history, people have uttered all kinds of last words—strange ones, deep ones, and hopeful ones.

Over the past few weeks, we have studied the holiness of God and contrasted it with the sinfulness of mankind. These are two very important elements in an effective Gospel presentation, because they lay the foundation for a proper understanding of salvation.

In Gospel conversations, explaining the fiery, pure holiness of God is a necessary first step, but it fails to drive home the message unless you also personalize the point by contrasting human nature with God’s holy nature. As we discussed, Christians must do this by using the Law of God as a mirror to the heart, while warning lost souls of the danger of God’s just wrath.

To sum up this point, consider the words of the Reverend Thomas Prince, who relates why so many people became convicted of their sin under the preaching of evangelists during the Great Awakening of early 18th century America:

It was not merely, nor so much, his [Gilbert Tennent’s] laying open the terrors of the law and wrath of God, or damnation of hell; (for this they could pretty well bear, as long as they hoped these belonged not to them, or they could easily avoid them;) as his laying open their many vain and secret shifts and refuges, counterfeit resemblances of grace, delusive, and damning hopes, their utter impotence, and impending danger of destruction; whereby they found all their hopes and refuges of lies to fail them, and themselves exposed to eternal ruin, unable to help themselves, and in a lost condition” (qtd. in Tracy 2135).

Prince rightly points out that effective preaching not only helps people to see God’s holiness and just wrath but also “lays open” hearts so that their secret sins are exposed, with the result that people see that they are utterly hopeless before a holy God. A person so exposed, who recognizes his own personal guilt, is ready to receive the good news of Jesus.

If you are a believer, you know already that the solution is Christ. His sacrifice removes our guilt and sin’s penalty by placing them on the sinless Lamb of God, who was punished for the sins of the world. While you may have known Christ for a long time, the wonder and relief you should feel at such good news should not fade; in fact, it should burn even more strongly as you come to know more about the depth of your sin and the significance of Christ’s death on your behalf.

In the next few weeks, we will take a close look at the theological implications of the death of Christ, but before we do that, I want to take you to the dark hill of Calvary, where the Savior hangs in agony on the Cross, covered by your guilt, under God’s wrath, ready to breathe His last and say His final words. Before the theological words of salvation can blow your mind, the words of the dying Savior must break your heart.

The different Gospel accounts reveal several statements that Jesus made during his last hours. All of them are significant:

• Matthew 27:46 (cf. Mk. 15:34): “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” God forsook His only Son because His holy eyes could not behold your sin on Christ.

  
  

• Luke 23:46: “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit!” Jesus gave up His own life. He was submissive to His Father to the end.

  
  

• John 19:30: “It is finished.” Strange last words! They mean that the redemptive plan of God, begun in Genesis with the promise of God to crush Satan’s head (Genesis 3:15), was now being fulfilled in a glorious consummation. Animal sacrifices could never take away sin (Hebrews 10:4), but Jesus’ work is finished once for all, and He sits now on the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 9:26-28). How wonderful that God did not leave us in our sin! He sent His Son to finish the work, rise from the dead, and bring with Him all who call upon Him.

Is the Gospel real to you? Has Christ saved and transformed you? Will your last words be ones of regret, or triumph? Before you can effectively share the Gospel with others, it must be real in your own heart. Truly meditate today on the mercy of God offered through Christ, and thank God for what He did on Calvary, when He said, “It is finished!”

“[W]e can preach the Gospel of Christ no further than we have experienced the power of it in our hearts” – George Whitefield (qtd. in Tracy 1056).

Works Cited

Tracy, Joseph. The Great Awakening: A History of the Revival of Religion in the time of Edwards and Whitefield. E-book, Tappen and Dennet, 2018.

Photo by Jenny Venturo