The Blessing of Rest

Genesis 2:1-3

In early 2021, Italian artist Salvatore Garau sold for more than $18,000 a sculpture entitled “lo Sono” (meaning “I am) to an unidentified buyer. This buyer received, along with a certificate of authenticity, clear instructions to display this sculpture in a 5-by-5-foot square, and also in a private space free unaffected by climate control or artificial lighting.

Why was this certificate and these instructions important? Because the artist declared this to be an “air and spirit” sculpture, one which “has energy that is condensed and transformed into particles, that is, into us.” As such, it exists in “the most varied forms” due to the varied imaginations of its viewers.

Though we recognize the foolishness of such declarations (and purchases), the vacuum of work seems equally foolish to our culture and inner, self-driven, self-reliant tendencies. In our age, we esteem productivity highly, as though it were a tangible, personal god to be worshiped without ceasing. And while work is a significant quality and responsibility of our existence as human beings created in God’s image, the very God who himself created all things, work does not exist alone but finds its ultimate meaning and value in contrast and culmination of the rest which should follow it.

Just as the night precedes daylight and a deep sigh follows outbursts of laughter, so sabbath must follow periods of work and exertion. This basic principle of life and existence in God’s created world is announced to us most clearly in none other than the very original week of God’s creation of the world.

As we move from the first to second chapter of Genesis, we move from the sixth to seventh day of the week of God’s creating work. In doing so, we discover something fascinating – that on this seventh day, God created nothing. Is this day of “nothing” some sort of cosmic letdown and vacuum, or is it actually not nothing at all but something very important?

In Genesis 2:1-3, we see that God gave special attention to this seventh day of “nothing” to teach us important perspective we need to live life well, as he intended for us to live.

The 7th day stands out as distinct from the first 6 days of creation.

When we read about this seventh day of God’s week of creation, we see multiple ways that this day differs from the six which precede it.

The day does not begin with the statement “then God said.” Why? Because God didn’t create anything or speak anything into existence on this day.

This day does not end with “and the evening and the morning,” which indicates that what this day describes was intended to continue indefinitely.

This is the only day of the seven that God blessed and consecrated as special from the others.

Also, the number “seventh” repeats three times, unlike the others which number the day only once. The number of this seventh day is mentioned five times, actually, if we include the pronoun “it” which refers to seventh, also.

Finally, this day – unlike the others – has no corresponding, numerical pair, but stands alone at the end of the sequence, making it unique in this way, too.

For these reasons, the seventh day of creation stands out as unique from the other six and it presents some special, vital truth for us understand as we follow God and seek to fulfil his purpose for us in our lives in this world he has made.

The 7th day marked the completion of God’s creating work.

From the way Moses described this seventh day, we see clearly that he intended to portray the completion and finality of God’s creating work. In v.1 we read that everything “was finished,” which means to “come to an end” or “to stop.” This word repeats in v.2 as “God ended his work.”

What was the work that God stopped doing? What work had he finished? Moses makes this clear as well. According to v.2, God finished his “work,” a word which refers to craftsmanship (repeated in v.3). Also, in v.2, this was the work he “had done,” a word also repeated in v.2, then also in v.3 as “made.” Then in v.3, Moses uses the word “created” to describe this work which God had completed, a word which refers to God’s creation of the world from nothing, speaking the material world into existence.

This is the work God accomplished in six days but then stopped or ceased doing on the seventh day. From that day till now, God has not created anything new. His work of creating and speaking things into existence was complete. By saying that God stopped working (stopped creating things), we should not conclude that God merely stopped creating as we often quit something before the project is actually finished. Instead, this means that God not only stopped creating things, but he had completely finished creating things. He literally “finished the job,” and there was nothing more to make.

So, does this mean that God has ceased all kinds or manner of work entirely? No. It simply means that God ceased creating new things out of nothing. Christ himself, though, taught plainly that God continues to work, just not at the work of creating.

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” (John 4:34)

Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” (John 5:17)

So, what is God doing today? He continues to work, sustaining, guiding, controlling, governing, and especially redeeming, rescuing, and restoring the world and people he has made from the curse of sin and death.

The 7th day called for rest, enjoyment & celebration.

A key word in this passage is the word “rest,” which appears in both v.2 and v.3. This is the word from which we get the word ‘sabbath.’ What does this word mean?

We may be familiar with how Scripture associates this word with the seventh day of God’s creative week. We may also be familiar with how many centuries later God would require the nation of Israel to set aside the seventh day of the week (Saturday) as a mark of their special covenant and relationship with him. We know God included the law of sabbath observance in the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments (Exo 20:8-11), which Moses described further in Exo 31:12-17:

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’”

The Sabbath as a law began with the Law of Moses and was a special command for the nation of Israel. It was to remind them of their special, covenant relationship with the God of Creation, patterning their weekly life rhythms after his original pattern of creation.

It was also to teach them to trust God for their provision just as they had been told to do first for the manna in the wilderness, gathering twice as much on the sixth day so they would have enough for the seventh, in which God would not send any bread from the sky (Exo 16:4-5). In fact, God took this command so seriously that the penalty for anyone who refused to observe the Sabbath was capital punishment – death (Exo 35:2).

So, what does the word “sabbath” mean? It is translated as “rest” in Gen 2:1-3, which is why we commonly call it a day of rest. But the word actually means something closer to “cease” or “finish” than it does to “rest” as we speak today. Other possible words for this word include “to rest completely” or “to desist.” As Allen Ross points out:

“It is not a word that refers to remedying exhaustion after a tiring week of work. Rather, it describes the enjoyment of accomplishment, the celebration of completion.”

Knowing this helps us make more sense of the Sabbath law given to Israel, because this law included more than observing (and ceasing work) on the seventh day of each week. It included ceasing from regular work every seventh year, then doing so for an additional year every 49th and 50th year as well (the Year of Jubilee). What’s more, Sabbath law included other annual Jewish holidays, may of which extended for multiple days, such as the Day of Atonement, the Festival of Trumpets, and the Feast of Booths.

So, we see that the Sabbath involved more than a weekly day of physical rest and recovery from an exhausting week of work. Though rest is certainly part of the concept, the concept also includes enjoyment of a job well-done and celebration of milestones and accomplishments. Think parties, recreation, and vacations as well as naptimes.

The 7th day called for reflection & worship.

Unlike the Old Testament nation of Israel, we are not required to observe sabbath laws today. Even Sunday is not a Christian version of the Sabbath. Such a connection or correlation is taught nowhere in Scripture. Sunday is a day Christians have set aside from the resurrection of Christ (on Sunday) onward as a weekly time of gathering for worship, fellowship, and service.

However, we are still called to gain important wisdom from what I will call the “sabbath principle,” which is rooted in God’s original creation of the world. About the sabbath, Christ said this (Mark 2:27):

“The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”

In other words, the Sabbath is not a rigid rule that hangs over us. It is, instead, a principle built into creation which serves, helps, and benefits us as human beings if we will be wise and pay attention to it. Paul makes this even more clear (Col 2:16-17)

“Let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.”

Paul explains that we are not required to observe Old Testament sabbath laws assigned to the nation of Israel. On one hand, he acknowledges that we can choose to do so if we desire. He also acknowledges that we do not have this obligation. As a result, we should not pass judgments on one another as to who is more or less spiritual, biblical, or obedient to God based upon our observance or not of the sabbath laws.

However, Paul also raises a deeper underlying purpose for sabbath laws. He explains how God designed them to be a shadow which traced back to something more real and significant – Jesus Christ. Whether by study and reflection or by actual observance, we can gain a clearer understanding of who Christ is and what he has accomplished for us as our Savior. Listen to how Christ describes trusting in him (Matt 11:28-30):

Come to Me, all you 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.”

Also notice how he described the finality of his salvation work for us in his final moment on the cross (John 19:30):

When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Just as God completed his work of creation on the seventh day, so he completed his work of redemption on the cross! So, God has always intended for his example of completing and celebrating his creative work to serve as a prototype, illustration, and example of his future and even more significant completion of redemptive work.

What does all this mean for us today? How can we let this teaching influence our lifestyle, worship, and relationship with God?

We should implement intentional, wise rhythms in life.

As my Old Testament and Hebrew professor, Timothy Berrey, said frequently, “When you work, really work; but when you take a break, really take a break.” Said another way, when we work, we should not dream about stopping; but when we take a break, we should not let our work continue to dominate our thoughts and feelings.

Such deliberate, intentional distinction between our times of work and our times of rest, enjoyment, and celebration should mirror God’s example in the original week of creation.

Another way of considering this principle is to say that as humans, we work to live but we do not live to work. Nonstop work is not a virtue but an exercise in futility and foolishness.

Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. (Eccl 2:24)

By pausing to rest, to cease from our work, to enjoy the results of our work, and to celebrate the blessings of life, we remind ourselves that life exists apart from work and is not work itself. When we work hard in a wholehearted and undistracted manner, we should feel no remorse or guilt for stepping away from our work at regular intervals to rest, celebrate, and enjoy the rewards of our labor. This is as God intended.

The lazy person cannot enjoy his rest or recreation for he has not worked, neither can the workaholic find true meaning and satisfaction in his labor for he has not paused to reflect and enjoy its outcomes.

Since we do not live in obligatory compliance to the Mosaic Law given to the nation of Israel, we are not obligated to observe a weekly seventh day rest cycle, nor are we obligated to observe other holidays and more extended sabbath periods of rest, enjoyment, completion, and celebration.

But we should not let this lack of legal obligation prevent us from living wisely. We should observe how even God himself rested on the seventh day of the very first week, not because he needed to rest but to provide us with a God-given example to do the same, for God knows we need it. We should be wise to establish daily and weekly habits of rest, celebration, and enjoyment to counterbalance our serious, determined labor and work.

One of the ways we do this “up north” is to go away to the lake during warm months. Though not everyone can, those who can should do so deliberately and purposefully, feeling no remorse. If you do not have this means of “taking a break,” how else can you do so? What activities enable you to rest, celebrate, and enjoy the fruits of your labor and to “cease” from your normal work and exertion to ensure that you do not work nonstop? It is this principle which motivates me to take a 2-wk. family vacation every year!

Our culture pressures us to work non-stop, but we should resist the pressure to do so on the basis of the divinely given sabbath principle. While our culture tempts us to view “doing nothing on purpose” as something like Salvatore Garau’s invisible statue, we know that “doing nothing on purpose” is indeed doing something of incredible value.

We should root these rhythms in the worship of God not self.

As we implement the principle of sabbath rest, enjoyment, and celebration into our daily, weekly, and other life rhythms, we should root these rhythms and choices in the worship of God not self. By saying this, I mean that we should be able to discern the difference – through a keen, humble, and responsible self-awareness – between indulging our own selfish nature and appetites and worshiping God. The former, indulging our own selfish nature and appetites, is ultimately ungratifying and can lead to dissatisfaction, disillusionment, depression, and even to entrapping addictions and time-wasting.

1 Tim 6:17 says, “God gives us all things richly to enjoy.” And Eccl 2:4 says, to eat, drink, and enjoy the good outcomes of your labor is literally “from the hand of God.” There is a great difference between seeking satisfaction in a good nap, road trip, ballgame, good movie, or weekend at the lake cabin and doing any of these things with the clear, constant awareness that they are a gift of God to you. When we learn to enjoy these things as gifts from God, we learn to find our satisfaction in God rather than the things themselves.

Consider how it was as a young child. You looked forward to birthdays and holidays, esp. the presents you would receive on those special days. You believed that those days and the presents that accompanied them would bring you great happiness and satisfaction. But did they? Though the answer is yes to a limited degree, it was never as satisfying and gratifying as you had hoped. At some point along the way, you learn to transition your hopes for satisfaction and enjoyment from the gifts and special days themselves to things more significant – spending time with the people closest to you and appreciating the love and thought underlying their gifts to you more than the gifts themselves.

For me, I have learned to enjoy a good baseball game on occasion. Earlier in my life, I refrained from spending money on tickets to entertainment such as a professional sports game for to me, such spending seems empty and wasteful. Then later, at some point along the way, I felt as though I was missing out and I decided to enjoy a baseball game or two. Though I purchased more affordable tickets, looking back, though I enjoyed the experience, I left the games feeling somewhat disappointed – win or lose.

Eventually, though, as I learned to understand how the sabbath principle applied to such things, I understood that I could and even should enjoy times away to such enjoyable venues as a professional baseball game, I should do so not to find enjoyment in itself, but to enjoy the experience as a gracious gift from God, one that would not bring any real or lasting satisfaction, but would bring the kind of satisfaction that comes from knowing that God had given me the opportunity for as long as the game lasted, but no more.

From another angle, we should learn to rest (even nap and sleep) at regular times and intervals, not because we are lazy, but since we have chosen to do so as a gift from God.

It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep. (Psa 127:2)

This in mind, we can see how by choosing to not work at regular intervals, we are reminding ourselves that no matter how hard we may work, it is God who provides for our needs. As a college student, I traveled the U.S. four summers in a row, playing the piano for a men’s musical quartet – traveling to 44 states together.

One summer, we spent the night in the home of the man who invented the Skycam overhead video system that captures overhead footage in profession sports games. He is a believer, inventor, and Christian philanthropist.

Another summer, we spent the night in the home of a man who owned a Subway franchise in Indiana. Though most Subways are open seven days a week and, according to him, often generate their greatest sales volume on Sundays, he voluntarily but purposefully closed his Subway site on Sundays. Would it surprise you to know that he earned the top sales award in Indiana despite being open only six days a week to the others’ seven?

We should maintain a mindset of perpetual spiritual rest due to Christ.

Finally, not only should we root all of our work and rest rhythms in a clear focus on trust in God, we should even more clearly and deliberately maintain a mindset of perpetual rest due to Christ. As I mentioned previously, Christ finished the work of redeeming us from the penalty of sin by his perfectly righteous life and the undeserved death which followed. When he died, he said, “It is finished” (John 19:30).

Have you come to Christ for complete and perfect peace within? Have you ceased working to earn God’s favor? To be sure, the Christian life should be one of frequent and often sacrificial service. But such activity for Christ should never be done out of a desire to earn or merit or achieve God’s favor. Instead, we should follow and serve Christ from a deep sense of inner peace, confidence, joy, and rest that comes from knowing that our relationship and acceptance with God is complete and sure.

As Rom 11:6 declares:

“If [salvation is] by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.”

As Eph 2:8-10 explains:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

As followers of Christ, we must do all that we do for him as a choice to celebrate, enjoy, and spread the work that Christ has already completely accomplished and guaranteed in us. Our work for Christ must be done from a heart, mind, and spirit that is at rest in Christ.

For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. (Heb 4:10)

Have you learned how to rest in the completed work of Christ as your Savior, doing all that you do for Christ from a state and mindset of rest, celebration, and enjoyment of the salvation he has provided? In doing so, we find that such rest is indeed not an empty “nothing” but the means to more substantive and satisfying understanding and enjoyment of the work which Christ completed for us at the cross.