God’s Work and Our Rest

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.

Did you know that work and rest are not products of the Fall? They are not side effects of sin. They are God ordained, inspired, infused aspects of His created order.

From Genesis to Revelation the themes of work and rest are all over Scripture.

In the account of creation in Genesis, God rests on the seventh day. But He didn’t rest in the same way that we do or for the same reasons that we do. He rests not because He is tired, weak, and exhausted. He rests because what He sees before Him is complete. It is sound and whole. It is good and perfect.

It is finished.

We rest to regain the strength to live another day in this broken and unraveling world. We rest because there is work to be done on the other side of that rest.

God rests when there is no more work to be done.

In the Genesis account, this day of rest is made (declared) holy, set apart, by God to rest. We see a continuation of this idea in the Mosaic Law.

Exodus 31:14–17

You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”

As we can read here, God takes the Sabbath seriously. There are a few instances in the Mosaic law where capital punishment is carried out. Most of them deal with severely harming other people. Other commands of dietary and ceremonial cleanliness will drive people outside of the camp. But in most cases this was for a period of 7 days. In some cases they were removed physically from the people permanently.

But this command to observe the Sabbath comes with a punishment of physical death and spiritual one as well. The body and the soul.

It seems that God takes very seriously work being done when the command to rest is given.

We fast forward several thousand years to the time of Jesus. By this time there was so much fear about breaking the commandment of the Sabbath that the rabbis had developed the “hedge or fence around the law”. They didn’t want to get close to breaking the Sabbath. So no doubt Jesus, being seen as a rabbi, was asked about this very topic a lot. No encounter more impactful than this account in Matthew.

Matthew 12:1–8

[1] At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. [2] But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” [3] He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: [4] how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? [5] Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? [6] I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. [7] And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. [8] For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

Mark 2:27

And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

Jesus declares Himself to be the sole authority of the Sabbath, the Lord. He teaches that the Sabbath is for us. Essentially, we need to rest in God. God doesn’t need us to rest in Him.

How can Jesus be the Lord of the Sabbath? What does that mean?

Fast forward just a couple of years to Jesus’s crucifixion.

What day did God complete His work in creation? Day 6.

Which would have been what day of the week? Friday.

John 19:28–31

[28] After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” [29] A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. [30] When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

[31] Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.

What is today? Good Friday. We remember Good Friday because this is the day that Jesus died.

The day when Jesus declared “It is finished.”

On the same day that God completes His work in creation, Jesus completes His work on the cross.

What happened to Jesus’s body?

So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. — John 19:42

His body is laid to rest and it is at rest ON THE SABBATH.

On the same day that God rests in the creation narrative, Jesus rests in the crucifixion narrative.

Remember how God rests. Not like us. He rests when the work is done. When it is good, sound and complete.

This Sabbath covenant that is forever, as declared in Exodus, is revealed to us in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. Jesus is our Sabbath.

It is His work completed on the 6th day, that once and for all invites us into an eternal Sabbath rest in Him.

Right before the Lord of the Sabbath story, Jesus calls us into that rest in Matthew 11.

Matthew 11:28–30

[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. [30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

When we profane the Sabbath now, is when we work where God/Jesus commands our rest. When we surrender our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls to the Gospel — we find rest because we gain Christ.

The Lord of the Sabbath is our Sabbath.

Hebrews 4:9–10

[9] So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, [10] for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

But our story and Sabbath doesn’t stop there. Remember God declares the Sabbath to be a covenant forever. You see our rest in God is deeper and fuller than we can possibly imagine. Right now we rest in Christ for our justification but there is still an element of work and weariness in our lives because of our broken sinful world and flesh.

But there will come a day where we rest as God rests.

Revelation 21:3–6

[3] 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. [4] 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.”

[5] And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” [6] And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.

Are you tired, weary, exhausted? Are you tired of trying to clean yourself up, make yourself right, become presentable to God?

Rest in the Person and Work of Christ. Do not allow your soul to be cut off. To profane the true Sabbath, Jesus Christ is to attempt to work where He has completed. To work when He has commanded rest.

Rest in His completed work today.

Are you tired of your broken down body and sinful flesh?

Are you tired of the general brokenness, incompleteness, and undone nature of this world?

Rest in Him today, knowing that we will rest like Him and with Him for eternity.