Jesus

by Leonard Sweet

  Just as God’s first creation passed away under the flood of Noah’s day, so, too, our old selves passed away when we came into Christ.31 The burial of the old earth through the Flood is a picture of how our old sinful nature (which belonged to the old creation) has been buried through water baptism. Do you recall how the dove set foot on the earth only after the Flood waters had receded and the new world was manifested? So, too, the Holy Spirit will abide only in the new creature in Christ.32 Similarly, the dove that rested on Jesus at His baptism was a signpost that God was heralding a new world with Christ, echoing Genesis.

  Day Two: His Death

  On day two, God created the firmament (the heavens) to separate the waters. Consequently, there is water above (presumably fresh water) and water below (the sea, containing salt water). The emphasis here is on the division of things above from things below.

  All throughout the Bible, we have the principle of separation. God divided the clean from the unclean, the earthly from the heavenly, the carnal from the spiritual.33 The cross is God’s instrument of separation and division. The death of Jesus divided the pure from the impure, the spiritual from the unspiritual, the earthly from the heavenly. Therefore, the second day illustrates the principle of separation, which reached its climax in the death of Christ.

  Paul told us repeatedly that when Jesus Christ died, we also died with Him.34 He not only nailed our sins there, but He also put us to death. Through our co-death with Christ, we have been separated from the things of this fallen world system.35 The authors of the Second Testament describe the world system as those things that are “beneath” or “of this world”—and the things of God as those things that are “above.”36

  Separation from the world and the flesh is a first principle in the Christian walk, and it is only through an application of the cross that we are set apart. This is the meaning of baptism. Through it, we are separated from this fallen world system.37 Baptism is immersion into and union with the death of Christ.38 For through the cross of Jesus we are crucified to the world system and the world system is crucified to us:

  And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. . . .

  But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.39

  The Word of God, bringing the power of the cross into our lives, also brings division. God’s Word separates soul from spirit, the natural from the spiritual, the earthly from the heavenly.40

  When we recognize our co-crucifixion with Christ and reckon it to be true, we begin the journey of embracing the way of suffering, denying ourselves and losing so that He can gain. By this the heavenly is separated from the earthly, the spiritual from the unspiritual, the Spirit from the flesh.41 The second day of creation reminds us of these realities.

  Day Three: His Resurrection

  On day three, God gathered the waters together and allowed the dry land to appear. The dry land then began to bear fruit. This was the first sign of life. And it appeared on the third day. Three is the number of resurrection. The Second Testament repeatedly tells us that Jesus was raised on the third day.42 The resurrection on the third day was also fore-shadowed by the prophet Hosea.43

  Following the great divide of the cross, we see our resurrection with Christ typified by the third day of creation. The waters below—which became the sea—remind us of death. Recall the parting of the Red Sea under Moses and the Egyptians who perished in it.44 Paul taught us that this was a picture of baptism through death.45 Throughout Scripture, the sea is often associated with death.46 Water baptism itself is a picture of death.47 At the final consummation of the ages, there will be no more sea and no more death.48

  On day three of creation, the waters of death that once buried the dry ground were parted. The dry ground appeared, and it produced life. This was the first appearance of life in God’s good creation. Trees and herbs came forth and began bearing “seed” and “fruit.”49 Jesus referred to Himself as plant life that emerges out of death and produces “many seeds”: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”50 Here the Lord was speaking about what would happen on the third day, after He was put to death.

  Jesus also spoke of Himself as the “true vine” and bid His disciples to “feed on” Him.51 Solomon described plant life “from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall.”52 Both cedar and hyssop are mentioned throughout the Bible. When we think of the hyssop, we think of Christ’s meekness and lowliness. When we think of the great cedar tree, we think of the regal majesty and power of Christ. In like manner, wheat is analogous to death, while barley is analogous to resurrection.53 Our co-resurrection with Christ enables us to bear fruit unto God.

  Paul’s words in Romans 7 contain echoes of the third day: “So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.”54

  The fertile land, which appeared on the third day, reminds us of the fullness of Christ. Imagery of the good and plentiful land of Canaan as a picture of the unsearchable riches of Christ abounds in the books of Ephesians and Colossians.55 The people of God lived off the land. They drew all their resources from the land. They shared the fruit of the land with one another. Thus the wheat, the barley, the figs, the olives, the fruit of the vine “that makes glad the heart of man,”56 all represent different aspects of Christ.

  Resurrection out of death. Multiplication. Seed. Fruit. Fullness. All these thoughts are captured in day three of creation. Not only have we been crucified with Christ, but we have also been raised with Him.57 This is the meaning of the third day for every believer.

  Day Four: His Ascension

  Ascension follows resurrection. On day four, our focus shifts from the earthly to the heavenly. It moves from the ground to the skies. God created the sun, the moon, and the stars and put them in the heavens. These are all light-bearers, for they embody light. They also mark times, signs, and seasons.

  When we consider the sun, we cannot help but think of Jesus. He is the embodiment of God’s light. He is the source of all light, and He stands high above the earth in His ascended state. He is light contained in a body.58 In the words of Malachi, Jesus is “the Sun of Righteousness . . . with healing in His wings.”59 Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, prophesied that Christ would be “the rising sun” that “will come to us from heaven.”60 Both John and Peter called Jesus the “bright Morning Star.”61

  In the natural realm, all life on planet Earth depends on the sun. In the spiritual realm, all life depends on Christ. Recall the Lord’s own words: “Without Me you can do nothing.”62 Indeed, Jesus is the reality of the sun.

  When we behold the moon, we are reminded of the church. Like the sun, the moon is also an embodied light. But it is not a light source. Rather, the moon reflects the light of the sun. The darkness of the world cannot see the real light. But it can behold the body of Christ, the church, which reflects the light.

  As the moon, the church reflects the light of Christ and is a faithful witness to His light in a dark world.63 Scripture tells us that we as individual Christians are like stars, distant suns that expel darkness by their light.64

  In the divine thought, the church is seated in heavenly places with Christ.65 In that position, the church stands victorious over satan.66 Yet the beauty of the gospel is that Christ has become one with His church in resurrection and ascension. For this reason, the church will share in the glory of the Son of God and “shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”67 Speaking of the beloved maiden’s beauty, Solomon asked the question, “Who is this that appears like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as the stars in procession?”68 Christ and His beloved share
the glory depicted by the sun.69 The sun and moon are temporary shadows that point to a divine reality, which is fulfilled in God Himself.70

  In Genesis 1:14, we are told that the sun and the moon are to divide the day from the night. This reminds us of Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 5:5: “You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.” Thus he asked the Corinthians, “What fellowship can light have with darkness?”71 In the New Jerusalem, there will be no more night.72

  The sun and moon were also created “to mark seasons and days and years.”73 In Colossians, Paul wrote that the yearly festivals, the monthly new moons, and the weekly Sabbaths are all shadows of Christ: “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.”74

  So the fourth day reminds us of our ascension with Christ and all it entails.

  Day Five: His Indwelling Life

  While the risen Christ is ascended at the right hand of God the Father in the heavenly realm, Jesus lives in and through His followers by the Spirit. The fifth day reminds us what it means to live by the indwelling life of Christ.

  On day five, God created a life that is higher than the unconscious plant life of the third day. He created conscious life in the waters (the fish) and in the heavens (the birds). Notice that the added light of day four (the sun, moon, and stars) came before these higher life forms. Herein lies an important spiritual principle: with more light comes higher life.

  Although we are ascended with Christ in heavenly places in the spirit, our experience as believers is here on this earth. Spiritually speaking, our spirits are now in Canaan (the heavenlies), our flesh is in Egypt (the world system), and our experience is in the wilderness (the realm of God’s testing).

  The fifth day teaches us that Christ’s life can live in death. Salt water represents death. Few life forms can live in it.75 The fish lives in the death waters of the sea. The life that we receive in regeneration is a life that has passed through death and overcomes it. It is a life that enables us to swim in the death waters of trial, tribulation, suffering, and persecution. It is a life that conquers the evil things that emerge from the salty seas.76

  The salted death waters cannot penetrate the fish. (When you eat fish, you detect no salt.) Jesus Christ cannot be touched by death. The same is true for His followers.77 It is no accident that the early Christians used the sign of the fish (Greek, ichthus) to represent Jesus and His followers. Tertullian, in his essay on baptism, said that the Christian, like his Lord, is “born in water.”78 So it is with the Christian’s experience on earth.

  But that’s not all.

  After we taste of Christ’s life in the waters of death, He lifts us up to soar as the birds of the heavens. The birds know no hindrance. They are not limited to earthly things. They are heavenly creatures. While they can land on the earth and mingle with it, their citizenship is in the heavens.79 Like the One who created them, they are in the world, but not of it.80 Like the eagle, they soar above the things of the earth with grace, power, and majesty.81

  Jesus referred to Himself as a bird.82 The dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit.83 But ever since Christ was resurrected, He has come to us in the Spirit. This is the reason Paul used the Spirit and Jesus synonymously.84 When predicting His resurrection, Jesus used Himself and the Spirit interchangeably as well.85 This is because Christ is now in the Spirit, and we experience Him as such.

  Like the bird, Jesus is called the “Man . . . from heaven,” or the heavenly man.86 As the heavenly man, the resurrected life of Christ is not bound to this earth. Because it comes from a different realm, it is unchained to this world and cannot be overcome by it.87 Yet it has contact with the world and is for the world. God’s ultimate desire is to bring heaven and earth together. This is the meaning of the garden of Eden—the joining together of heaven and earth. And it is what we find at the end of the story in Revelation 21 and 22. In Jesus Christ, heaven and earth are joined together. So Jesus is the reality of both fish and bird.

  Romans 8:11 (NIV) sums up the meaning of the fifth day, saying, “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.”

  Day Six: His Rule

  On day six, God created the land animals. This includes the cattle of the field. The land animals depict yet another aspect of Christ. Jesus is the real Lamb.88 He is also the real Lion.89 He is the embodiment of the bullock, the ram, the red heifer, and all the other animals that were used for Israel’s sacrifices.90 Jesus is the real sacrifice.91

  The creation of the land animals was followed by the apex of His creation—humanity.

  Following regeneration (day one), the work of the cross (day two), our resurrection with Christ (day three), our ascension with Christ in the heavenlies (day four), and the Holy Spirit’s work of forming Christ within us in our daily experience (day five), there is only one thing that remains. Paul described it in 1 Corinthians 13:10–12: “But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. . . . For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.”

  At the end of the Christian walk, culminating in the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, we will be perfected. “We know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”92 When Jesus returns, He will bring everything under His control and “will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body.”93 In that day, we will bear the image of Christ in its glorious fullness.94

  In Romans 5:14, Paul wrote, “Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come.”95 In 1 Corinthians 15:45 and 47, Paul called Jesus “the last Adam” and “the second Man [Adam].” Jesus is God’s perfect and full thought for humanity. He is the human prototype.96 On this score, the great theologian Karl Barth rightly said, “As the man Jesus is himself the revealing Word of God, he is the source of our knowledge of the nature of man as created by God.”97

  According to Genesis 1, Adam was created in God’s image. Jesus Christ is the perfect image of God. To see Him is to see God.98 It is by looking at Jesus that we discover who God is. He is the human face of God. In Jesus, true humanity begins anew and reaches its zenith.

  Just as Adam was given authority to rule the earth and exercise dominion over it, so Christ, the Second Adam, bore God’s image in the earth and exercised His authority. In this way, Adam was a king and a priest on this earth. He was a king to exercise authority and dominion, and a priest to bear God’s image and serve the garden.

  Note that Adam’s dominion was over “every living thing that moves on the earth.”99 We see the fulfillment of this in Jesus’ ministry when He cast out demons and healed those who were oppressed by the devil.100 Recall the Lord’s words to His disciples: “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”101

  Jesus is the Second Adam—the real King and the real Priest of the earth. He is Lord of both heaven and earth. Like the first man, Jesus embodies God’s image and God’s rule. And He will visibly rule the entire earth at His second coming and judge the living and the dead.102 At that time, the saints of God will share His glory and will reign with Him.103 Through Him the world becomes submitted to God.

  Jesus is also “the last Adam.”104 As the last Adam, Christ has finished the old creation. He has put to death all negative things and has brought forth the new creation in which He is Head. As the last Adam, Christ has become a life-giving spirit, imparting the life of the new creation to all who trust in Him.

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  Part of the difficulty is that Jesus was and is much, much more than p
eople imagine. Not just people in general, but practicing Christians, the churches themselves.

  —N. T. WRIGHT107

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  Today He reigns.105 And we reign with Him.106 But at the end of the age, the full inbreaking of His reign will cover the entire earth. This was God’s intention from the beginning. Right now, we live in the presence of the future, tasting of the powers of the age to come.108 The already-but-not-yet lordship of Jesus is upon us. We have bowed the knee today. But tomorrow, every knee shall bow.109 And if we suffer with Him today, we shall reign with Him tomorrow.110

  Day Seven: His Rest

  On the seventh day God rested from His labors. After Christ reigns supreme, there will be a new heaven and a new earth. And the age of eternal rest shall begin.111 Following the seventh day (the Sabbath) there is no more mention of evening or morning. This is because the seventh day speaks of the perfect day of eternity that is to come when God will be fully satisfied and find His rest.

  Gold will be poured into gold, and light into light, and the bride of Christ will become the wife of God.112 (A bride is a married virgin.) The marriage of Adam and Eve that was foreshadowed in Genesis will be consummated between the Second Adam, Christ, and the second Eve, the church. She will enjoy eternal rest in the bosom of her Lord. Jesus Christ will sum up all things into Himself, the kingdom will be given to the Father, and God will become “all in all.”113

  Jesus Christ is the rest of God. He is, as N. T. Wright has put it, “the fulfillment of the sabbath.”114 By taking Christ as our rest, we cease from our labors just as God did from His.115 Christianity, therefore, begins not with a do, but with a done—“It is finished!”116 We enter into God’s rest, and we labor from there.