Christ's cry from the cross, "It is finished!" (John 19:30), is one Greek word, tetelestai, which comes from the root telos. It packs the greatest work ever done into a single word, and it means "paid in full," as it was used in secular business transactions of that day. That makes it especially fitting for understanding Christ's death as redemption: He bought our freedom by paying sin's price. It is not the gasp of a defeated or resigned man but a triumphant declaration that the turning point in history had been reached and the work He was sent to do had been accomplished. The word stresses perfection. Christ's sufferings were completed, and He now sits at the Father's right hand. His work on earth, built on perfect obedience to the Father, was done. The prophecies of His first coming concerning His gospel ministry were fulfilled, including Psalm 69:21, which He triggered by saying "I thirst." The same Greek word is used of prophetic fulfillment in Luke 18:31, Luke 22:37, and Acts 13:29. Above all, the word points to atonement and reconciliation. Because His one sacrifice is perfectly adequate, nothing we do adds to it. Yet we are obligated to finish the work God gives each of us, as Paul did.