And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.1
And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.2
When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.3
God created the heavens and the earth in six days. Jesus accomplished the work of new creation in six hours. The Light of the World, who John tells us in the opening verses of his gospel, was with God in the beginning and created all things, completed the work of new creation as he hung in the darkness on Calvary’s cross.
Many have been taught that “It is finished” is a cry of victory, and that’s not wrong. But Jesus’s words are far more than that.
The creation story in the opening verses of Genesis begins with the Spirit of God hovering over the primordial darkness. God’s first words dispel that darkness, and the light shines. Jesus, on Calvary’s cross, is the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.4 With his final words, the darkness that covered the land from noon until 3 o’clock in the afternoon is dispelled.5
As we follow the gospel narratives describing the resurrection, two things stand out. First, Jesus’s first appearance to Mary is in the morning light, the dawning of a new day. Second, Mary mistakes Jesus for the gardener. The light of a new day dawning in a garden takes us back to Eden. To put it another way, the first man, Adam, became a living being, and the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.6
New creation is how we are meant to understand Jesus’s words from the cross. If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation.7 That new creation cannot be contained within walls or borders. It breaks down all barriers in our sinful world bringing together all tongues, tribes, nations, and people. There is nothing that can separate those in Christ, because there is only one thing that matters - God’s new creation. To follow Christ we must choose (constantly) to leave the old creation, broken by sin as it is, behind. And as we leave that old creation behind, we enter deeper into God’s Kingdom. A kingdom that is here right now, and will someday fill the whole earth as the waters cover the sea.8
Like Israel receiving the Covenant at Mount Sinai on the way to the Promised Land, we, as the new Israel, the Israel of God in Christ, have come to Mount Calvary, where we enter into a New Covenant. The new Exodus is here. Like Christian in “Pilgrim’s Progress,” there is still a wilderness to cross and trials and temptations to face, but the day is fast approaching when heaven will come down to earth, and a new garden city awaits God’s people.9
In Christ,
Dan
Listen here.
Genesis 2:2.
Revelation 21:6.
John 18:30.
John 1:5.
Luke 23:44.
1 Corinthians 15:45.
2 Corinthians 5:17.
Galatians 6:15-16, Habakkuk 2:14.
Revelation 21:10.