Christ took upon Him the sin of the world. He felt as if He were a sinner. It was our own sins that caused this to happen to Him. It was sin which caused Christ's suffering and death.

The only way which God could demonstrate that the wages of sin is death was to allow His Son to go through this torture. The agony which Christ suffered is the same agony which the wicked will experience. It was not that God was torturing His Son, but sin was.

If God had allowed Satan and his hosts to die, it would not have been clear to those watching that their death was the inevitable result of sin. That is, it would have appeared that God was executing them, which is exactly what Satan was accusing God of. Christ's death showed that Satan's accusations against God were false. After Christ's death it became safe for God to allow Satan and those who side with him to die withouth an "evil seed of doubt" to arise.

The Spirit of Prophesy tells us that believing in Christ involves more than people usually think. It involves three things:

1) Appreciating the cost of our salvation.
2) Recognizing that we individually are guilty of Christ's death.
3) Having an intelligent understanding that by faith in Christ we may overcome sin.

The cross provides all the evidence we need. It demonstrates that God is righteous, and innocent of all Satan's accusations. It clarifies the issues of the Great Controversy, and accomplishes the victory, showing that the principles of God's government are indeed love and truth. It makes clear the beauty of God's character, and that attractive lovliness leads us to follow Him, not out of fear, nor hope of reward, but out of admiration, appreciation and gratitude.

I think the EGW quotes that Rosangela provided says it all.

One quote clearly states that Christ suffered "the penalty of man's transgressions of the Father's law."

Note what the penalty was in the other quote, also provided by Rosangela, "The displeasure of the Father for sin and its penalty which was death,...."

In other words, the penalty for sin is suffering and death; not suffering alone, but suffering and death as stated by EGW in Rosangela's post, "Salvation has been purchased for them by the suffering and death of the Son of God."

The words, "It is finished" covers His suffering and His death. Of course, He couldn't say "It is finished" after He died, thus the reason for saying it upon His death as clearly stated in John 19:30 which says, "When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost."

When Jesus said, "It is finished" to what was He referring? That is, what was finished?

Just you and me?