The Story of Work - Part 3
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God the Creator - Creating the heavens and the earth
The earth - was “tohu vavohu” wild and waste
The Creator worked - brought “tov” (good) order, and beauty, and benefit (forming and filling)
The Creator formed man and filled him with his breath
Man was created in God’s image - God put man in the garden to work it and keep it; to reproduce themselves to make culture, be reflections of their Creator
The Creator commanded the human not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; which came with this choice for moral maturity
The serpent (embodiment of evil) convinced the humans to eat of the tree - they would be able to determine right and wrong
The humans joined the rebellion - sin fractures God’s design for work
The Creator expelled the humans from the garden - cursing the ground
The curse meant there would be (thorns and thistles) resistance to the work of the humans
The story begins with a good and generous Creator that worked to bring about beauty and order for the benefit of His most prized Creation, human. He offered human a relationship, one where they would work together to bring about more beauty, and order, and benefit to others. He also offered humans an opportunity for moral maturity by planting a tree inside of this garden and instructing them not to eat of this tree. But the humans were convinced by a serpent, the embodiment of evil, to join him in a rebellion against the Creator. A rebellion where the humans could declare what was right and what was wrong.
The Creator also made a promise - the Offspring of the woman would defeat the source of evil
The Cross of Christ is the ultimate WORK
The Cross of Christ and His resurrection brings a fresh vision for work - Christians as first fruits of the New Creation work as Rulers and Priests (Ambassadors) within God’s Kingdom (where Christ is King) while we continue to do our work amongst the rebellion of the serpent and the resistance from the curse
How can I bring order, how can I bring beauty, how can I bring benefit?
How can I bring order, how can I bring beauty, how can I bring benefit?
The Work of the New Creation is a spiritual one - what task you do is not nearly as important as how you go about that task.
We are all priests and rulers - not with robes and scepters, but by prayer, holiness, and serving
God’s design for work and relationships was fractured by the choice humans made to join this rebellion, but God in His generosity and mercy, promised that He would bring about an offspring of the woman to crush the head of the serpent; a Redeemer that would bring about restoration and reconciliation.
- groaning (fires in North Bay, earthquakes in Mexico, hurricanes in Puerto Rico and the lower east coast, flooding in Texas)
He is the first worker in the history of the world
We can’t punt the ball on being the ambassador at our workplace
This turn in the story did not negate God’s design, however. The humans would now have to bring about beauty, and order, and benefit to others with great resistance. Resistance because of the sinfulness in their hearts, and the sinfulness in the hearts of their neighbors and co-laborers.
He defined His work by that which brought order, beauty, and benefit to others
The serpent’s rebellion still has attraction - we’re tempted to make an idol of our work, or become idle in our work
The work under the Work
The work under the Work
He Created humans to be His images in the world
This became much more difficult and painful than at first one would imagine. There were very few signs of hope that work would be reflective of the Creator’s work and the Creator’s instructions. And after several thousand years the Redeemer finally came to earth and began doing the Work that the Creator said He would do.
And His finished work on the cross with His resurrection from the grave inaugurated a new era where those who have been rescued by the work of Christ have a renewed vision of everything including, God’s design for work. Our vocation to be God’s priests and rulers is the same, but we are all priests and rulers living with the understanding that while we are citizens in God’s Kingdom (where Christ is King) we still live in a world where the majority of humans are still in rebellion against God’s rule.
Bringing order, beauty, and benefit to others
And before we move on in the series, I should be very clear that this series is designed to confront the way we think about work. You might not hate your job, in fact you might “love” your job. What I mean by confront is this:
But He offered humans an opportunity for moral maturity
Humans beings
If we hate our job, perhaps it’s because we don’t have a biblical vision for work - that work can be fulfilling regardless of what you’re doing if we’re waking up each morning and praying that God’s Spirit fills us up with grace to bring order out of chaos, beauty out of the wasteland, and benefit for others.
On the other hand, if we “love” our work, I want to poke you for a second. Are we in love with our work because the pay is good, the benefits are even better, I never have to bring work home, I can keep my life in balance, my coworkers are all nice, but they let me keep to myself. WAIT. So what is it that we really love? Can we sit back and feel good about the fact that we aren’t in the 70% of America that hates their job?
What does being priests and rulers actually mean?
What does being priests and rulers actually mean?
Are we talking about joining in on the camp of dominionism? No. When I say priests and rulers, we should not think robes and scepters. When I say priests and rulers we should think of people who were given authority and responsibility to bring beauty and order and benefit to others.
To understand what it would mean to be priests and rulers (The call given to human in , , , and here) we simply need to keep reading where we left off in the letter that Peter, one of Jesus’s closest followers, wrote:
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
ESVBeloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
Vocationally, we all have the same calling. We’re rulers and priests where we are (stay at home mom, and salesman, and nurse) so what do we do?
We work to bring order and beauty and benefit to others. We pray for God’s Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. As priests and rulers we pursue holiness and justice where we are. IT’s within that context that we can start walking along the path of the other instructions we see in the NT, like:
ESVWhatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
ESVLet the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
How you spend the majority of your waking hours (your work) is not a mystery. Do what is in front of you. Don’t overthink the WHAT, but the HOW.
How you spend the majority of your waking hours (your work) is not a mystery. Do what is in front of you. Don’t overthink the WHAT, but the HOW.
And by the power of the Holy Spirit, through prayer, and holiness, you will show the world around you the GLORY of God — You will show the nature and character of God. That is what work looks like on this side of the cross and this side of eternity.
But what happens when (and we will) we experience sin in our hearts and in our coworkers hearts and resistance on our projects? We remind each other of the hope of the return of the King.
And lastly, for those who are here today and you are just hearing some of this about submitting to God’s rule and reign and sin and the Redemption of Christ, I invite you today while people come in a few minutes for communion to talk with me.
Now, there are at least two pieces of this story that we haven’t gotten to yet.
We talked about the resistance to our work that comes from outside of us, but what about the resistance that comes from within us?
I’m talking about the resistance that comes from our heart that either causes us to be idle at our work or make an idol of our work? This is what Tim Keller calls the “Work under the work.”
We only briefly glossed over the part where we learn that God rested from His work.
We only briefly glossed over the part where we learn that God rested from His work.
We aren’t generally exhausted by our work, but the work beneath the work is what is exhausting. It’s the work that we do to get a sense of self through the vehicle of productivity and success.
We only briefly glossed over the part where we learn that God rested from His work.
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.
Gen 2:
We really are not grasping a healthy work-life balance unless we really understand what God is (by example) teaching His Creation. Did God need to rest? He doesn’t tell us here, but we learn from other sections of Scripture that God is Spirit, God is not flesh like we are, He is limitless, so no, He did not NEED rest the way that we need rest. Yet, He rested.
As with everything even though we are a redeemed people, but living in a broken planet, we have a propensity to make an idol of our work, or become at idle at our work.
It is not a secret that society pushes us to find our identity in what we do, rather than who we are. And we know this is true because it’s how our society becomes introduced to each other.
I remember when I was living in Redwood City there was a girl who was in our student ministry who had recently graduated from college and was hired by a Bay Area aerospace company. When she was introduced to others in the group we would always add to the intro, “This is Veronica, she’s a Rocket Scientist.”
Some of us distance ourselves from our work title because it’s not impressive sounding. But others of us are very comfortable with our title as our identity label, “Yeah, I’m a senior manager...”
Think of the way we define success. Job titles, salaries, compensation packages, promotions, awards… So how does this align with the biblical definition of success? Could you define success from a biblical perspective? We can find the answer in the parable of the three workers in ’m not going to tell you the answer, but I will say that it had nothing to do with putting in extra hours for a bonus or a promotion.
In every OT story where you see a person that rose up the ladder (think of Moses, and Nehemiah, and Joseph, and Daniel) it was never because they were working for it. God put them in those positions so that they could bring about order and beauty and benefit to others.
And yet within the same societal structure there is a growing generation of 30 year old’s who are content to work a swing shift at a retail department, not so they can go to school, or as a side-hustle. That’s it. They just want to work enough hours to pay the bills and buy the newest video games. No ambition, and no real desire to expend of themselves to bring order, beauty, and benefit to others.
Even before the fall, God designed rest, so we had better believe that we need to understand why we should rest, and how to actually rest now that we live in the age between the already and the not yet.
Here is how gracious our Creator is, knowing this very
We’re going to learn what it means to really rest. But first, let me ask, by raise of hands, how many of you get a day off? A day where you do not do any activity of any sort for your employer or your job, to earn a paycheck? Now how many of you take that day off, you don’t think, talk, or act for your employer, your paycheck?
I recognize that there are always exceptions. Some of us are in intense seasons of work and we’re out of balance. I also realize that it’s tough for parents (especially moms) to take an actual day off because you have small children. But even then I want to strongly encourage you to apply what we’re going to discuss today to your life. Your soul depends on it.
The Unhealthy Rhythms of the Average Work-Life Balance
The Unhealthy Rhythms of the Average Work-Life Balance
Before we talk about what healthy rhythms of work-life balance looks like, we need to discuss the elephant in the room. The two paradigms that we can fall prey to are:
Weekend Warriors and Workaholics
Weekend Warriors and Workaholics
Workaholics
Workaholics
Weekend warriors are those who work long hours, some times late into the evening, checking email, working on special projects, text messaging, phones calls, reading reports, or whatever and they’ve convinced themselves that resting or taking a break is for the weak. You’ve got to hustle until Friday and then we party.
And you end up going from one unhealthy extreme to another unhealthy extreme because the time off work that consumes your weekend is a trip to one destination to another, one youth sporting event to another, one shopping trip to another, people treat the weekend like Black Friday and New Year’s Eve had a baby.
Workaholics on the other hand while they will also work non-stop from the office, in the car, at the house, late at night, early in the morning, but instead of doing it so they can have an epic weekend of adventure, they believe that they will get their rest during their three week vacation in the Bahamas where they can work while paying $600 a night.
The reality is that even if we don’t fit into one of these two paradigms, if our go-to phrases when someone asks us “Hey, how’s it going?” and we say something like, “Man, I’m so tired.” Or “Work is so busy.” Or “Things are so crazy right now” we need to pause and at least ask, “Am I at least attempting to cultivate a healthy and biblical work-life balance?”
It’s possible that we bounce between these two extremes and if that’s the case, we may be suffering from the sin of slothfulness. Not laziness in the traditional sense, but acedia - this means that we’re driven and motivated not by the greater purpose of being priests and rulers wherever we find ourselves employed, but instead we’re driven by the motive of “what’s in it for me?” And this deep and dark motive will often show up in all sorts of perfectly normal ways.
Can we agree that any variation of these two working paradigms is not what God had in mind when He “blessed the seventh day and made it holy...”?
So what can we learn from this passage? Just like God designed work, God designed rest.
God Designed the Day of Rest
God Designed the Day of Rest
It’s puzzling to me that one of our first push-backs to a sermon on the Sabbath is that “Keeping the Sabbath is a law, and we’re not under the law, so it really doesn’t apply.”
The All-Sufficient God Rested from Labor
The All-Sufficient God Rested from Labor
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.
“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.” (, ESV)
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.
“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.” (, ESV)
We observe several significant things here:
The LORD rested from all his work
The LORD rested from all his work
The LORD enjoyed all his work
The LORD enjoyed all his work
The LORD blessed a day for rest
The LORD blessed a day for rest
The LORD set a day apart for rest
The LORD set a day apart for rest
Resting is not just a ceasing of our labor, it’s an inner satisfaction of our labor that leads to an enjoyment of God’s work.
So what is resting?
b. There will always be more work to do.
Resting is not just a ceasing of our labor, it’s an inner satisfaction of our labor that leads to an enjoyment of God’s work.
There will always be more work to do. But when what we learn from our LORD is that it’s OKAY and right and good to put down the tools and say, “I have done this with all my might unto you LORD.” Then step back and give thanks to Him for your ability to work. Give thanks to him for the job you have. And enjoy your work.
c. But when what we learn from our LORD is that it’s OKAY and right and good to put down the tools and say, “I have done this with all my might unto you LORD.”
But when what we learn from our LORD is that it’s OKAY and right and good to put down the tools and say, “I have done this with all my might unto you LORD.”
d. Then step back and give thanks to Him for your ability to work.
Then step back and give thanks to Him for your ability to work.
e. Give thanks to him for the job you have.
Give thanks to him for the job you have.
f. And enjoy your work.
And enjoy your work.
g. This is easier for certain trades like artisans, architects, and designers, not so easy for analysts and others who won’t see the fruit of their labor until much later.
This is easier for certain trades like artisans, architects, and designers, those who work with their hands not so easy for analysts and others who won’t see the fruit of their labor until much later.
h. Either way, God initiated our labor to cease when he ceased from His own work to enjoy it.
Either way, God initiated our labor to cease when he ceased from His own work to enjoy it.
“Work is a blessing. God has so arranged the world that work is necessary, and He gives us hands and strength to do it. The enjoyment of leisure would be nothing if we had only leisure. It is the joy of work well done that enables us to enjoy rest, just as it is the experiences of hunger and thirst that make food and drink such pleasures.” ― Elisabeth Elliot, Discipline: The Glad Surrender
“Work is a blessing. God has so arranged the world that work is necessary, and He gives us hands and strength to do it. The enjoyment of leisure would be nothing if we had only leisure. It is the joy of work well done that enables us to enjoy rest, just as it is the experiences of hunger and thirst that make food and drink such pleasures.” ― Elisabeth Elliot, Discipline: The Glad Surrender
2. Rest is A Command, Not A Suggestion
Rest is A Command, Not A Suggestion
Rest is A Command, Not A Suggestion
“Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.” (, ESV)
Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.
“Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.” (, ESV)
a. Interestingly enough God commanded that all work cease to be done by everyone and everything here.
Interestingly enough God commanded that all work cease to be done by everyone and everything here. God is saying, “I want to show you, I am self sufficient and can manage the entire cosmos with out your help.” The fact that our bodies need to turn in to useless sacks of dust every night should be enough for us to recognize that we’re not as important as we think we are. We sleep 1/3 of our entire lives. Dead people for 33% of our existence.
b. God is saying, “I want to show you, I am self sufficient and can manage the entire cosmos with out your help.”
God is saying, “I want to show you, I am self sufficient and can manage the entire cosmos with out your help.”
c. The fact that our bodies need to turn in to useless sacks of dust every night should be enough for us to recognize that we’re not as important as we think we are.
The fact that our bodies need to turn in to useless sacks of dust every night should be enough for us to recognize that we’re not as important as we think we are.
We can be thankful that the Reformers recognized the unholy distinction between the sacred and secular. All of life is out of a heart of worship.
d. We sleep 1/3 of our entire lives. Dead men for 33% of our existence.
We sleep 1/3 of our entire lives. Dead men for 33% of our existence.
The spiritual rest, which God particularly intends in this Commandment, is this: that we not only cease from our labor and trade, but much more, that we let God alone work in us and that we do nothing of our own with all our powers.
The spiritual rest, which God particularly intends in this Commandment, is this: that we not only cease from our labor and trade, but much more, that we let God alone work in us and that we do nothing of our own with all our powers.
—Martin Luther
—Martin Luther
3. Rest is A Declaration of Freedom
Rest is A Declaration of Freedom
Rest is A Declaration of Freedom
(ESV) — 12 “ ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. … 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”
(ESV) — 12 “ ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. … 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”
“ ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
a. When we don’t rest regularly (Sabbath was weekly here) and we overwork, we’re putting the bonds of slavery back on our hands and feet.
When we don’t rest regularly (Sabbath was weekly here) and we overwork, we’re putting the bonds of slavery back on our hands and feet. If you cannot rest from your work (not just your employment), you are a slave and you’re wrecking your soul.
b. If you cannot rest from your work (not just your employment), you are a slave and you’re wrecking your soul.
If you cannot rest from your work (not just your employment), you are a slave and you’re wrecking your soul.
c. Our response is usually that we HAVE to in order to live the lifestyle we want to live:
Our response is usually that we HAVE to in order to live the lifestyle we want to live:
(ESV) — 6 Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.
Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.
(ESV) — 6 Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.
(ESV) — 1 Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife.
Better is a dry morsel with quiet
than a house full of feasting with strife.
(ESV) — 1 Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife.
d. God (your Creator) designed you to NEED rest and sleep and quiet in order to be happy and productive people.
God (your Creator) designed you to NEED rest and sleep and quiet in order to be happy and productive people.
e. Pastor Jason, you just don’t understand the pressure we’re under to produce. I’m required to go above and beyond what was originally expected. And for some of you that’s true and worth thoughtful consideration.
Pastor Jason, you just don’t understand the pressure we’re under to produce. I’m required to go above and beyond what was originally expected. And for some of you that’s true and worth thoughtful consideration.
f. Perhaps what you don’t understand is that NOT resting is also producing fruit:
Perhaps what you don’t understand is that NOT resting is also producing fruit:
i. Health is staggering
Health is staggering
ii. Focus is waning
Focus is waning - Supreme court judge - I can do all my work in 11 months, but not 12
iii. Relationships are fragmented
Relationships are fragmented -
iv. Heart is hardening
Heart is hardening
What profit is it if you gain the whole world… and lose your own soul?
What profit is it if you gain the whole world… and lose your own soul?
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
4. Rest is A Gift for the Wise Worker
Rest is A Gift for the Wise Worker
Rest is A Gift for the Wise Worker
Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.
Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.
Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.
a. There is a sweetness that comes with a tired body.
There is a sweetness that comes with a tired body. Fatigue and weakness are gifts of God.
b. Fatigue and weakness are gifts of God.
Fatigue and weakness are gifts of God.
c. A personal invitation to be reminded that you are not the all-powerful, all-sufficient, ever-present God of the universe, but there is ONE who is more powerful, totally sufficient, and everywhere Ruling and Reigning the cosmos without breaking a sweat.
A personal invitation to be reminded that you are not the all-powerful, all-sufficient, ever-present God of the universe, but there is ONE who is more powerful, totally sufficient, and everywhere Ruling and Reigning the cosmos without breaking a sweat.
Practical steps for rest
Practical steps for rest
Practical steps for rest
1. Allow time for inactivity every week.
Allow time for inactivity every week.
Allow time for inactivity every week.
a. Vacations will not work.
Vacations will not work.
b. Too much pressure. Too much money.
Too much pressure. Too much money.
c. Turn off the cell phone.
Turn off the cell phone.
d. Turn the TV off.
Turn the TV off.
2. Allow time for avocational activity often.
Allow time for avocational activity often.
Allow time for avocational activity often.
a. Avocational means it is work for someone but not you on a regular basis.
Avocational means it is work for someone but not you on a regular basis. Golfing is someone’s job, but not mine. I enjoy it because it’s enjoying God’s work and not my vocation.
b. Golfing is someone’s job, but not mine. I enjoy it because it’s enjoying God’s work and not my vocation.
Golfing is someone’s job, but not mine. I enjoy it because it’s enjoying God’s work and not my vocation.
c. Devotional rest. Worship, pray, journal, read the Scriptures.
Devotional rest. Worship, pray, journal, read the Scriptures.
d. Recreational rest. Recreations that refresh not exhaust.
Recreational rest. Recreations that refresh not exhaust.
e. Aesthetic rest. Art, music, theater, those things that you find beautiful.
Aesthetic rest. Art, music, theater, those things that you find beautiful.
3. Say Yes Less Often
Say Yes Less Often
Say Yes Less Often
a. Learn how to foresee busy seasons of life
Learn how to foresee busy seasons of life. You are not God and you cannot serve or help everyone. Know your unique calling and make sure it aligns with God’s word and not just your emotions. Your kids cannot manage the schedule they’re on. You cannot manage that schedule.
b. You are not God and you cannot serve or help everyone
You are not God and you cannot serve or help everyone
c. Know your unique calling and make sure it aligns with God’s word and not just your emotions.
Know your unique calling and make sure it aligns with God’s word and not just your emotions.
d. Your kids cannot manage the schedule they’re on.
Your kids cannot manage the schedule they’re on.
e. You cannot manage that schedule.
You cannot manage that schedule.
4. Schedule Your Rest
Schedule Your Rest
Schedule Your Rest
a. What’s planned get’s accomplished.
What’s planned get’s accomplished. Not planning ends up weighing down others. Give your spouse a break. Plan it or you will be forced to rest.
b. Not planning ends up weighing down others.
Not planning ends up weighing down others.
c. Give your spouse a break.
Give your spouse a break.
d. Plan it or you will be forced to rest.
Plan it or you will be forced to rest.
theology of Rest continued…
theology of Rest continued…
5. Rest is A Deep Contentment in the Soul
Rest is A Deep Contentment in the Soul
Rest is A Deep Contentment in the Soul
(ESV) — 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
(ESV) — 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
a. This is the key to the understanding your work and rest.
This is the key to the understanding your work and rest. Once you rest from seeing your work as being the agent of your acceptance in God’s sight and realize that you can’t live up to that, THEN we see Christ.
b. Once you rest from seeing your work as being the agent of your acceptance in God’s sight and realize that you can’t live up to that, THEN we see Christ.
Once you rest from seeing your work as being the agent of your acceptance in God’s sight and realize that you can’t live up to that, THEN we see Christ.
c. Christ is our Sabbath rest. When we place our trust in the work of Christ, we can experience a deep contentment in the soul because we know that IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL.
Christ is our Sabbath rest. When we place our trust in the work of Christ, we can experience a deep contentment in the soul because we know that IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL.
d. If it is well with my soul, our work will not cease, but we will have a deep contentment while we’re working.
If it is well with my soul, our work will not cease, but we will have a deep contentment while we’re working.
e. If you’re a parent, you will be able to say, overloading my children with activities is no longer needed because I’m not relying on them providing significance for me, for Christ is my significance.
If you’re a parent, you will be able to say, overloading my children with activities is no longer needed because I’m not relying on them providing significance for me, for Christ is my significance.
f. If you’re a spouse, you will be able to say, raising the expectations on my spouse and setting that bar higher isn’t necessary because I’m not relying on him/her to be my fulfillment, for Christ is my fulfillment.
If you’re a spouse, you will be able to say, raising the expectations on my spouse and setting that bar higher isn’t necessary because I’m not relying on him/her to be my fulfillment, for Christ is my fulfillment.
g. You can rest at work and from work for Christ has done the work.
You can rest at work and from work for Christ has done the work.
(ESV) — 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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.
(ESV) — 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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.
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.
Nothing gives rest but the sincere search for truth. -Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
Nothing gives rest but the sincere search for truth. -Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
6. Jesus Is the Ultimate Example of A Rested Man
Jesus Is the Ultimate Example of A Rested Man
(ESV) — 31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
(ESV) — 31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
a. Jesus rested from working to think and plan.
Jesus rested from working to think and plan.
b. Jesus rested from working to pray.
Jesus rested from working to pray.
c. Jesus rested from working to sleep.
Jesus rested from working to sleep.
d. Jesus rested from working to be empowered by the Spirit.
Jesus rested from working to be empowered by the Spirit.
e. Jesus rested from working to be in community.
Jesus rested from working to be in community.
f. Jesus rested from working to worship.
Jesus rested from working to worship.