Genesis 2:1-3 - Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 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. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
God creates a pattern of rest for our flourishing. Rest so you can delight in what you have been given. Why did God rest? Did He need it? Was He tired? No, He never gets tired and He never stops. He finished and completed His work of creation. He stopped to look back and delight in His work. He blessed and made the 7th day holy because we need this day to stop and remember our blessings. Humans tend to forget their many blessings when they are wrapped up in their daily toils and cares.
God gives complete rest in Christ!
John 19:30 - When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Jesus finished the works of salvation and reconciliation with God for us on the cross.
Matthew 11:28-30 - Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Jesus gives us rest for our souls. He does the work for us so we can rest in Him. We don't earn it, we just receive it. Sabbath is a Person. We find rest not in doing something or not doing something. We rest in remembering and knowing Jesus.
Colossians 2:16-17 - Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
Sabbath is not meant to be a legalistic ritual to follow like the Pharisees.
Resting is trusting. Trusting in the power and grace of an all-knowing God and His forgiveness and salvation. The truth is GOD IS GOD and in charge, and we are NOT!
God promises a place where rest will never end. The Sabbath day does not have an ending like the other days that have a morning and an evening (beginning and ending). He doesn't say this about the 7th day in Genesis because our rest “day” is forever because it is God.
Revelation 21:1-4 - Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
We will have eternal rest in heaven with the Lord. Rest from mourning, death, pain, or tears.
Genesis 2:8-9 - And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Humans were made to work and cultivate God's garden. We were made to work! Work came before the curse. It is NOT a punishment. It gives us purpose. We are meant to cultivate and guard what God places under our care, serving in His presence, according to His word. If we don't cultivate and guard, bad things enter the garden. Like weeds and the snake that entered to tempt and bring destruction.
God rested. He rested before He put man to work. We work and rest like God did in creation. It is part of being image bearers of God.
“Idol hands are the devil's workshop.” - Old Proverb
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Proverbs 16:27 - A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.
Genesis 2:15-17 - The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
What is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? The forbidden fruit is the selfish pursuit of knowing everything God knows and being our own gods. When we know evil, we know death.
The Curse - Now our “work” is seen as “bad.” We hate it and speak of it as toil and burden. Work is no longer seen as God intended. If we toil aimlessly for our own pursuits of wealth and power and the temporary things of the world, our work loses its Godly purpose. We feel empty and purposeless and see increased unhappiness and dissatisfaction with our lives.
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