I was speaking to a group of people about what the Bible teaches regarding God's punishment of sin, and the various objections people raise.
I dealt with one I have mentioned before (here), which is that 70 years sinning could never merit eternal punishment. The response is that you don't determine the length of time a person should be punished based on the length of time it took to commit the crime. The punishment is based on the seriousness of the crime, and for that reason the punishment for our sins could be nothing other than eternal. We have sinned against an infinitely holy God. We have offended a God of infinite justice and goodness, and therefore the punishment must be infinite in nature, which means that for creatures like us, it lasts forever - we can never pay that infinite penalty.
This is why God had to send His Son to be the sacrifice for sins. Only an infinite, eternal Person could fully pay an infinite penalty and say "It is finished" (John 19 v 30).
That's one reason why the deity of Christ is a fundamental, non-negotiable, Christian doctrine. If Jesus Christ is not truly and eternally divine then we have no Saviour, and that's why He said, "If you do not believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins" (John 8 v 24). A Saviour who is not truly God is no Saviour at all - it's a bridge broken at the farther end.
Remember, if you refuse the salvation offered through Christ then you'll take the punishment for your own sins, and you will never ever be able to say, "It is finished."
