"It is Finished" and "It is Done"

Dr. Couch, what is the difference in Christ's words "It is finished" and "It is done"? ANSWER:  Glad you asked. "It is finished" was said by the Lord as He gave up His own spirit on the cross. The Greek is "teleo" and is found in John 19:30. It is a Perfect Passive Indicative. Translated: "It was begun in the past and brought up to that moment on the cross, and is now completed, finished!" Christ's sacrifice was completed and His sacrifice for the lost is finalized. Nicoll has a slightly different twist on this and writes:    "The cry 'It is finished' was not the gasp of a worn-out life, but the deliberate utterance of a clear consciousness that His work was finished, and all God's purpose accomplished, that all had now been done that could be done to make God known to men, and to identify Him with men."    Some see a loose connection with Matthew 5:17-19 and 24:35. Christ said that He came not to abolish the Law but to "fulfill" it (Matt. 5:17), and heaven and earth would not pass away until "all is accomplished" (v. 18). This verse 18 fits directly with Revelation 21:6.    With the establishment of the new heaven and the new earth in Revelation 21:6, we see Christ saying "It is done." This is at the very end of history as we know it, and, the beginning of eternity. All of history is completed and we go into the eternal state. "It is done" is a Perfect Active Indicative of "ginomai." What is common with John 19:30 is the Perfect Tense in Greek. The Perfect starts the action in the past and comes up to the present. Christ is saying that a Plan was put forward and is now completed as eternity begins! "It was begun in the past and has come up to completion with the beginning of the new heaven and the new earth!" "Ginomai" carries the idea of "It has come about, taken place, finally arrived, has been attained." There is more finality with this word in that all of history has been wrapped up and finalized. With the Perfect Tense in both "teleo" and with "ginomai" we see a process that has finally been completed. The task is over. God has finalized His Plan around His Son!    A little lesson in Greek: "With the Perfect Tense, action is viewed as a finished product. ... It implies a process as having reached its consummation and existing in a finished state. ... It is best to assume that there is a reason for the Perfect Tense wherever it occurs." – Dana & Mantey    In Revelation 21, all is completed, and eternity has started!    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch (Mar., 10)