Called to Rest in Christ

NT Scripture

Matthew 11:28–30 NKJV

28 Come to Me, all you 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. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Introduction

When I say the word “rest” I would venture to guess that the majority of you don’t think about work. I know I certainly don’t! When I hear the word “rest” the first thing that comes to my mind is a trip to the beach, particularly a walk on the beach late at night when it’s nice and cool and you can hear the sea waves rolling up on the shore. Or, maybe you think about coming home from work and simply kicking off you shoes and sitting down in your easy chair for a while. Certainly, when we talk about the subject of “rest” the last thing we tend to think about is doing something. I’ll tell you something else we don’t usually think about, when it comes to “rest”, and that’s worship. Let me ask you, do you take the time to get the rest you need, not just physical rest, but also spiritual rest, and does that rest turn into fruitfulness that leads others to see Jesus in you? In our text today, Genesis 2:1-3, we’re going to take a look at the seventh day of the creation week. Out of all the days this one seems to be the oddest one for most people. Why, you might ask? Well, it’s because of the fact that on this day we’re told that God “rested”, and when we attempt to wrap our little minds completely around the concept of the all mighty creator of everything taking a rest, it just seems preposterous. In fact, any time I’ve talk about or taught on the first few chapters of Genesis, I will almost always be asked this question, “What does it mean when it says God ‘rested on the seventh day’?” Now, the answer I’m going to give you might not completely satisfy some of you, but it is my hope that in God’s rest on the seventh day you will see that you’ve been called to rest in Christ. So, if you’ve got a copy of God’s Word let’s read Genesis 2:1-3.

Genesis 2:1–3 NKJV

1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

Prayer

God’s Contentment

Genesis 1:31–2:1 NKJV

31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. 1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.

The first thing I would like to point out to you is that, in reality, chapter one should not end with verse 31. The actual ending to the first chapter of Genesis is probably better viewed as being at the end of Gen. 2:1, with verses 2 and 3 acting as a kind of bridge, if you will, explaining and setting apart the seventh day. This then, leads into the rest of chapter two where Moses gives us a close up of the creation of mankind. Some of you, who are astute readers or history buffs, will likely know that in the original text there were no chapter and verse division, those came a long time later. Here’s a little history for you! In the thirteenth century, Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury, placed the modern chapter divisions in the Bible as we have them today. In most places Langton did a very good job, but at times it seems he failed miserably. As the story has it, he worked on placing the chapter divisions in Scripture as he was traveling on horseback. That said, maybe we shouldn’t be so hard on him after all! The very first Bible to use these chapter divisions was the Tyndale Bible of 1382. The OT verse divisions were added in by a Jewish rabbi in 1448, and the NT versification was added in 1555 by Robert Estienne, otherwise known as Stephanus.[1]

With all of that said, however, if we take Gen. 1:31-2:1 together what we get is a picture of God in his contentment. When you read these two verses in conjunction with what Moses wrote back in Gen. 1:1-2 you get the culmination of all that God has done in the prior six days. This is what’s known as an inclusio. An inclusio is when the first and last portion of a block of text contain related material, with the middle portion of the text filling in the details that are related to both the beginning and ends respectively. In other words, when you take all of this information together, what you find here is completeness. This should actually jump out at us because the number in Hebrew for completeness is, you guessed it, seven. By the time God reached the seventh day his work of creation was finished, it was complete, and he had declared that it was very good.

[1] https://www.gotquestions.org/divided-Bible-chapters-verses.html

(Appeal) Can you imagine living in a world that was as close to perfect as possible? Well, that’s what you had in the very beginning until sin entered the picture, but God would provide the remedy in his own time with the sacrifice of his son on the cross. Now, listen, if you’re here today and you’ve placed your faith in Christ, you’re ultimately headed to a situation on the new earth that is greater by far than what even Adam and Eve experienced in the garden. On the other hand, if when Jesus returns, you’re not found to have placed your faith in him, you will spend eternity in separation from God in a situation that is so scary it defies description. The choice is yours, so choose today, and choose wisely!

The Seventh Day is Set Apart

The next time you have the chance, take a few minutes and read the creation account in Genesis one. What you’ll notice is that the seventh day is missing some features common to some of the other days of creation, but it also contains other things that set it apart as very special. On days one, two, four, and five you’ll find the following at minimum, an announcement of what God is going to do, a command and purpose statement, a report, then you’ll read of an action along with a purpose of the action. Next, there is an evaluation, and finally a temporal framework is given (evening and morning …); add to this on days one and two the observation that what God creates receives a name, and on day five a blessing where God tells the sea creatures and birds to multiply. Days three and six have much more information, but this should be expected, especially as we look back on God’s creative activity because we know that on day three, he created the habitat where the pinnacle of his creation, mankind who was created on day six, would live. Now, what all of that means is that when you arrive at the seventh day, you quickly notice that there is no other day corresponding to it. In day seven here’s what you have, a completion statement, divine rest, a blessing of the seventh day, the consecration of the seventh day, and finally, here the big difference, theirs is no temporal marker or framework given. There is no statement that says, “evening and morning, day seven”. So, what does this tells about the seventh day? Well, the first thing it should make us do is begin to ask some questions. Questions are a good thing because they lead us to search God’s Word for answers! Second, and most importantly it lets is know that the seventh day is somehow set apart as special, and any good Bible student should know that when something like this happens, there’s more going on than meets the eye, and that’s going to lead us into the question of what is means, or better, what is points to when the text says God rested.

God Rests

Genesis 2:2–3 NKJV

2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

Like I said earlier, this question always comes up when you talk about or teach on Genesis one, “What does it mean when it says that God rested, and why did he do so?” First, let’s look at verse two, it says, “And on the seventh day God ended [completed, finished] His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.” When the text says that “God rested” it doesn’t imply idleness or laziness, but that God looked back upon the completion of what he had doe, that being creation. In other words, I suppose you might put it like this, once God had finished creation at the end of the sixth day, he ceased from that which he had done in order to reflect upon the end of a complete and remarkable whole. When you read Gen. 2:2 I think you need to conscientiously connect the words “ended [completed]” כָּלָה (ka-lah) and “rested” שָׁבַת (sha-vat) in order to make since of what being said here. The point is that nothing more was needed, nor could anything be added to what God had done to make it any better. That said, however, God knew and we all know that we don’t live in a static world, but in a world that constantly renews itself, and even from the beginning with Adam and Eve in the garden God endowed his creation with the ability to wake up and start fresh each and every morning. Adam and Eve lived in a world that was finished in one since, but not finished in another. The reason we know this is because God rested from his creation activity and then told them to be fruitful and multiply and this command presupposed the fact of having children and harnessing all of the potential contained in God’s creation. However, when you read the rest of the story you know what happens, Adam and Eve sin and everything gets flushed down the toilet, or does it? The rest that’s mentioned in this text, this type of rest from creation was a rest that was lost in the fall, but it’s also a rest that’s going to be restored at the consummation. You see, when you read the text of all six days of creation, the blessing of all the other days culminates on day seven which gives the seventh day the openness to be full of life, happiness, and also the fullness of human existence. You might say that from the beginning God’s intent was for the seventh day to be like a perpetual spring when new life and discovery begins to break through, and that might well be why the seventh day is the very first thing in Scripture to be considered holy. After all, does not Gen. 2:3 say that “God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it…”? So, what does it mean when it says God rested? I think here God is pointing us to what he wants us to both do and see. The “do” aspect points us to the fact that while it’s certainly important to work and support those who depend on you, it’s also equally important to take the time to focus on the wonderful things God has blessed you with. As to the “see” aspect, I would argue that God wants us to “see” who it is who has given us these blessing, that being him in his loving kindness and grace. Friends, that’s why the Sabbath which comes from the word שָׁבַת (sha-vat), was so important to Israel, and why it was the pivotal fourth command in the Decalogue [Ten Commandments]. When the children of Israel arrived at Mt. Sinai after the exodus God reiterated the importance and necessity of their observing the seventh day, and it was, in fact, so important that he chiseled it in stone!

(Appeal) Let me pause right there and ask you, how important is a day of rest and refreshment to you. Is it important enough to you that you take the time to focus on the good gifts God has given you? More importantly, is it important enough to you for you take the time out of your “busy” schedule to give God the attention he deserves?

Jesus and the Seventh Day

I would like to conclude by taking just a few minutes to point you to the one who fulfills the seventh day, the one in whom you can truly find rest, that being Jesus. If you read the Bible for any length of time, you can’t help but notice that the authors of the NT reference the OT a lot. This obviously points to the fact that your Bible is inspired, but it also tells us a great deal about what the authors of the NT, who were inspired by the Spirit by the way, thought about what had been written in the OT. What I’m trying to say is this, when we interpret Scripture, we’ve got to allow the Bible to dictate what it means itself. The church doesn’t dictate what it means, not does any theological system for that matter. When it comes to the NT two particular passages come to mind when you read Gen. 2:1-3. First is John 5:17. After Jesus had healed a lame man at the Pool of Bethesda the Jewish leaders got irate with him because he was healing on the sabbath. In fact, John tells us that because of this they really stepped up their game in opposing Jesus! When he was asked about it, why he had healed on the sabbath, Jesus said, “My Father has been working until now, and I am working.” Now, what I find interesting about this whole situation is two things. (1) First, Genesis 2:1-3 tells us that God rested, but here Jesus says that the Father has been working. This should make it blatantly obvious that there’s something going on in Genesis 2:1-3, something more than God taking a breather! (2) Second, I find it interesting that Jesus healed this man on the sabbath, knowing there would be a backlash from the Jewish leadership. When the leaders asked Jesus about his healing this man, he said that he and the Father were both working! The point? There’s more going on here than a simple conversation! But what? (1) By saying that he and the Father were both working Jesus was equating himself with God! In other words, he’s saying, “Hey guys, that’s me!” (2) By performing the healing on the sabbath Jesus giving them a physical demonstration of what he would later say, “… the Son of Man is Lord of even the Sabbath” (Mt. 12:8). Check out the logic that Jesus uses in his answer to the Jewish leaders. If you stop and think about it, God is “always” working, hence Jesus’ statement, “My Father has been working…” Now, if God has always been working, then by making this accusation against Jesus, they are, by default, accusing God if the same thing! [By the way, this points to the fact that Jesus is God in the flesh!] The second NT Scripture that comes to mind, and probably the most important, when you read Gen. 2:1-3 is Hebrew 4:1-11, let me read it to you,

Hebrews 4:1–11 NKJV

1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: “So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; 5 and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.” 6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. 11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

Did you catch how the passage points you to the fact that there remains time for people to enter God’s “rest”? More importantly, did you catch the fact that “Joshua” in the OT couldn’t give this “rest” in Heb. 4:8? If you spend much time studying this passage from Hebrews four what you’ll see is that verses 9 and 10 give you the answer to how you can get this rest. How? Church, the OT name “Joshua” is the Hebrew equivalent for the name “Jesus”! You ask the question, “What does it mean when it says the God rested?” Friend, the rest that Moses speaks or in Gen. 2:1-3 is pointing you to the rest of salvation that’s only found in Jesus Christ, and the opportunity to enter this rest will continue until the day he returns, and then it will end! So, I ask you today, do you want rest? If you do come to Christ because the rest that he offers will one day find its consummation in the new heaven and new earth!

Invitation

Prayer