Finished Work

William McDowell's “Finished Work” rests on what Christ completed at the cross. It begins with the statement, “Everything that I'll ever need was accomplished on Calvary.” The singer says sins are gone, shame no longer holds him, and tells his soul to “wake up and live in the promises,” with hope “built on every word He said.”

The chorus brings the main phrase: “The work is finished. Everything You've promised me is already done. Yes, we've already won, so I'm resting in the finished work.” The bridge then moves into present-tense faith. “Now I believe, and now I receive, by faith it is happening. I'm already healed, I'm already free, I'm walking in it, I'm living in it.” The repetitions of “already done, already healed, already free” are meant to be sung over and over until the congregation takes them as their own confession. The song treats rest as the result of trust in what is done, not a pause between efforts.

The cry that it is finished is John 19:30. Healing through his wounds is Isaiah 53:5, and entering his rest is Hebrews 4:9-10.