“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. . . . And He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made” (Genesis 2:1).

It is arresting to note the word “finished” (Hebrew, kalah) used here to proclaim the completion of God’s work of creation is the same word later used to speak of the completion of the tabernacle, “Moses finished the work” (Exodus 40:33) and Solomon’s temple, “Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD . . .” (II Chronicles 7:11). As the furnishings and ceremonies of these two structures are Old Testament types of Christ’s redemptive work, it is consistent that on the cross Christ would express the same sense of finality and accomplishment, proclaiming, “It is finished” (John 20:30).

After finishing His work of creating “the heavens and the earth,” God returns to His former disposition—He “rested.” God rests not because He is weary, but because His work is complete. Soon that rest was broken by man’s sin, necessitating a far more strenuous work than creation—that of redemption. Having finished atoning for man’s sin, He now works to bring all men into a perfect rest, ceasing from all their labor and resting in His finished work. “For He that is entered into His rest, He also hath ceased from His own works, as God did from His” (Hebrews 4:10). This verse is based upon the law that rest is not enjoyed until work is done and parallels Christ’s rest from work in redemption with God’s rest from His work in creation.

Remember, among the tabernacle furnishings there was no chair present, for the priest’s work was never done; “. . . But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:11,12; cf. 1:3). Thus, Christ could proclaim His work on our behalf “finished.” RRR