Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION

Americans are some of the most distracted and hurried people in all of the world.

We have awesome technologies that’ve given us opportunities and conveniences that are unlike any generation in Human History.

However these tools and technologies have left us with increasing levels of anxiety, depression and hopelessness.

The truth is, it doesn’t matter how many tools and conveniences you put in a person’s hand - at the end of the day - they’re still HUMAN.

As human beings, we bump up against certain limits.

That’s the frustrating thing about being mortal.

You’re mortal.

Sure some people may have a greater bandwidth than another person but we all have a limit and when we consistently push past that limit then we break.

Why Are We Breaking?

By “break” I mean “break.”

We have more “broken people” walking around today than ever before.

This generation has greater levels of safety than any that came before.

But we’re more tired, more anxious and more mentally/physically unwell.

Why is that?

There’s something about modern life that is not conducive to human flourishing.

Not very many people talk about this but all of the markers are going in the wrong direction.

We’re not doing well!

If something doesn’t change, the whole thing is going to break.

I heard somebody the other day use the illustration of a boat.

You know how boats get to going fast on the water and they start hitting the waves harder and harder.

Well if you don’t stop you eventually come down so hard you boat flips over and gets wrecked.

SPEED CAN BE AN ENEMY TO DEPTH.

And the speed of modern life robs it of any depth or significance.

Everybody goes 1,000 MPH never stopping, always busy.

While simultaneously our lives are drying up, becoming shallow and void of any real meaning.

We never stop to plumb the depths of God’s truth, goodness, beauty and love.

Is there any way to put this chaos into order?

Is there an answer to this question?

Thankfully we do have an answer to this question in the book of Genesis.

Read The Text

We’ve been working through the book of Genesis because in it are answers to life’s most foundational questions.

If you’ve got a question about a product, you look to the owner’s manual.

Got a question about creation, look to the first chapters of Genesis.

Today’s text gives shows us how God established a “rhythm” for creation by resting on the seventh day.

We’re going to pick it up in verse 31 in the first chapter of Genesis.

Genesis 1:31–2:3 (ESV)

31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.

And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 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.

3 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.

Usually when we cover a passage on Sunday morning we get to the main idea of the text and make application.

This morning, however, the main idea of the text is actually a central theme of the entire Bible.

So after we get a basic understanding of what God is saying here in Genesis, I want to show you how this concept works itself out in the rest of Scripture.

It’s important because we can’t make proper application of this passage until we situate in the larger framework of the Christian Gospel.

The Sabbath Gift

So let’s start by unpacking these verses in Genesis.

If you just read the passage at face value you see many things that stand out as unique.

There are at least three things unique to this seventh day that are not present in the other six days of creation.

This is the only day that is “made holy” or “set apart” by the Lord.

It’s also the only day that God “blesses.”

On day three (1:22) blesses animals, on day 6 (1:28) God blesses man but on day 7 (2:3) He blesses the DAY.

This is the only day wherein the number of the day is mentioned more than once.

It’s actually used THREE different times.

Check it out.

Gen 1:5 “...

And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.”

Gen 1:8 “...And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.”

Gen 1:13 “...And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.”

Gen 1:19 “And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.”

Gen 1:23 “And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.”

Gen 1:31 “...And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

Gen 2:2-3 “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.

3 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.”

This is the only day that doesn’t include the phrase “and there was evening and there was morning.”

From these three insights alone we can infer that THIS DAY - the seventh day of creation - is very special and “set apart” by the Lord.

It is UNLIKE the other.

Important Verbs

What does God do on this seventh day?

Nothing.

He “rested.”

It’s the Hebrew Word “shabat” (יִּשְׁבֹּת֙) that means to “cease” or “stop.”

This is also the Hebrew word from which we get the English word “Sabbath.”

If you grew up going to church or you’ve ever read the Bible then you know the idea of the Sabbath is a BIG DEAL in Judaism and even still today in the practice of many Christians (and cults/sects.)

There are a handful of important verbs in this text that will help us situate this seventh day of the creation week with the other six days.

The first is the verb “God completed” or “finished.”

(v 1-2)

The second is the verb “God blessed” (v 3)

The third is the verb “God declared it holy” (v 3)

The fourth is the verb “God rested.”

(vv 2-3)

Each of these verbs tell us something important about the Sabbath.

These meanings get extrapolated throughout the rest of Scripture as it develops the idea of Sabbath in Old and New Testaments.

The sabbath is a (1) destination, (2) a boundary, (3) a gift , (4) and a sign.

Destination (God completed…)

The verb “completed” or “finished” (Heb Kul.lu - יְכֻלּ֛וּ) shows us that the Sabbath is God’s ultimate destination for creation.

The whole purpose of God creating the heavens and earth and animals and man was for a purpose.

That purpose is revealed in the Sabbath.

On the seventh day mankind is seen glorifying God while enjoying His creation and abiding in His presence.

There’s no “evening or morning” on the seventh day because that state was supposed to “last forever.”

That was paradise.

That was the ultimate.

Our final destination.

A Gift (God blessed...)

The verb “blessed” (Heb Ba.rek - יְבָ֤רֶךְ) shows us that the Sabbath is a gift.

God is “giving” us something in the Sabbath that we need for human flourishing.

Just like he “blessed” the animals on the third day and they were able to “be fruitful and multiply” or mankind on the sixth day so they could “be fruitful and multiply” so through the Sabbath God gives “life and productivity..”

A Sign (God sanctified...)

The verb “declared holy” (Heb qad.des - יְקַדֵּ֖שׁ) shows us that the Sabbath is set apart or sanctified.

If “blessed” is a word of giving then “holy” is a word of taking.