October 2, 2022

Genesis 2:1-3: A Biblical Model for Rest

Preacher: Josh Tancordo Series: Genesis: In the Beginning Topic: Default Scripture: Genesis 2:1–3

Genesis 2:1-3: A Biblical Model for Rest

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of Genesis, and today we’ll be spending a second week looking at Genesis 2:1-3. It says,

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.

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Let’s pray: Father, we understand from Hebrews 4 that your Word is living and active. So may it be living and active in our lives today. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. 

If there’s one thing that the vast majority of our society has in common, it’s that we’re all busy—and most of us would say really busy. One author named Wayne Muller describes the situation in this way: “As the founder of a public charity, I visit the large offices of wealthy donors, the crowded rooms of social service agencies, and the small houses of the poorest families. Remarkably, within this mosaic there is a universal refrain: I am so busy. It does not seem to matter if the people I speak with are doctors or daycare workers, shopkeepers or social workers, parents or teachers, nurses or lawyers, students or therapists, community activists or cooks….Their work in the world rarely feels light, pleasant, or healing. Instead, as it all piles endlessly upon itself, the whole experience of being alive begins to melt into one enormous obligation. It becomes the standard greeting everywhere: I am so busy.” 

Is that not an accurate description of so many of us as modern-day Americans? I mean, you’d think that with all of the technology we’ve developed over the past few centuries and the time-saving devices we have in our homes that we’d be less busy than people have ever been at any time in history. But it seems to be the opposite, doesn’t it? So often, it feels like we’re drowning in responsibilities and activities and obligations and work and other forms of busyness. 

Yet, the Bible shows us a better way to live. And that better way begins with the foundational teaching of Genesis 2:1-3. In these verses, God marks off the seventh day as a day that’s very special. As we see in the previous chapter, he had just spent the previous six days creating the universe, and we then read this about the seventh day in Genesis 2, verses 2-3: 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. So the “seventh day” is mentioned three times in the span of these two verses. That should clue us in that it’s important. It’s a special day. And the thing that makes it so special is not only that God rested on that day but also that he “blessed” it and “made it holy,” the text says.

This is actually the first time the word “holy” is used in the Bible, and it refers to something that’s set apart. The root meaning of the original Hebrew word translated “holy” refers to cutting something—as in, cutting it off or separating it into its own unique category. And that’s what we’re told God does with the seventh day. He cuts it off from the other six days and sets it apart as a day that’s unique. 

Not only that, we also read that he blesses the seventh day. One thing that’s interesting to notice is that this is now the third time so far in Genesis that we’re told God’s blessed something. In Genesis 1:22 he blessed animals, and in Genesis 1:28 he blessed humans. And in both instances, his blessing was related to promoting their fruitfulness. Right after his blessing on animals in Genesis 1:22, he tells them to “be fruitful and multiply,” and right after his blessing on humans in Genesis 1:28, he tells them as well to “be fruitful and multiply.” So, as we read about this third blessing in the Bible that God pronounces in Genesis 2:3, we have good reason to believe that this blessing also is related to fruitfulness. Just as God’s blessing made animals and humans physically fruitful, his blessing makes the seventh day spiritually fruitful. As one commentator writes, “God’s blessing bestows on this special, holy, solemn day a power which makes it fruitful for human existence. The blessing gives the day, which is a day of rest, the power to stimulate, animate, enrich and give fullness to life. The seventh day is one of perpetual spiritual spring—a day of multiplication and fruitfulness.”

So, then, that naturally leads us to the question, what’s the significance of this day for us? That’s what I’d like to spend the rest of our time this morning exploring. Is God laying down some sort of universal law here that he expects us to obey? Like, are we required to approach the seventh day in a certain manner—and, if so, what would that look like? Or, on the other end of the spectrum, is this passage merely telling us about what God did without any implications about what we should do? What’s the significance of this day for us? 

Well, in order to answer that question, there are several other passages in the Bible we need to examine, the first of which is Exodus 20:8-11. In this passage, God’s in the middle of giving the Ten Commandments to the nation of Israel. And he tells them, in what’s known as the Fourth Commandment, to 8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 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. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Does that last verse sound familiar to anyone? Maybe just a little bit? God’s referencing our main passage back in Genesis 2 as his reason for commanding the Israelites to observe a weekly Sabbath day—that is, a weekly day of rest. Interesting. Now, it’s important for us to remember that this is a command God gave to the nation of Israel as his chosen people back in Old Testament times. He’s not issuing a command for people who are outside of the nation of Israel. That doesn’t mean there aren’t certain timeless and universally applicable principles that we can extract from this command, but it does mean that we need to be very careful not to assume that God’s requirements for us today are exactly the same as his requirements for ancient Israel. 

And we actually find a significant indicator that there might be some uniqueness to this Sabbath command later on in the book of Exodus. In Exodus 31:12-13, we read, 12 And the Lord said to Moses, 13 “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations….” God then continues speaking a couple verses later and says in verses 16-17, 16 Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. 17 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.’” So, God states two times that the Sabbath is a sign between him and his people Israel. We find no indication that God expected Gentile—or non-Israelite—nations to observe the Sabbath. Instead, he seems to go out of his way in Exodus 31 to indicate the uniqueness of the Sabbath as something that’s between him and his people Israel. 

So, that’s the Old Testament, but what about the New Testament? Well, it’s very significant that the New Testament nowhere commands Christians to observe the Sabbath. In Acts 15, when the leaders of the church of Jerusalem are laying down required practices for the Gentile churches to observe, they don’t mention anything about the Sabbath. Not only that, but, in all of the Apostle Paul’s letters to Gentile churches, isn’t it interesting that he doesn’t give any indication that they need to observe the Sabbath? I mean, think about all the sins that Paul addresses in his letters to these churches. He confronts a lot of sins, right? Yet, never once does he scold any of these Gentile churches for not observing the Sabbath.  

In fact—and this is where things get pretty decisive—we find several verses in Paul’s letters that explicitly teach that Christians aren’t in any way bound to observe a specific day of the week as a Sabbath day. In Romans 14:1, 5, Paul writes, 1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions…. 5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. What kind of “day” is Paul talking about? I think it’s fairly clear he’s talking about the Sabbath day or at least that what he’s talking about includes the Sabbath day. I don’t see how the Sabbath could be exempt from Paul’s teaching there. He basically says, “If you want to observe the Sabbath, go for it. But you certainly don’t have to. You’re not obligated to observe the Sabbath as a New Testament believer.”

Then another passage that speaks to this issue very clearly is Colossians 2:16-17. Paul says, 16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. So here he mentions the Sabbath by name and says that we’re not supposed to let other people judge us based on whether or not we observe the Sabbath. He then states that the Sabbath is “a shadow of the things to come.” Think about that metaphor. A shadow doesn’t have any reality in and of itself. It doesn’t consist of anything. Rather, it’s simply the absence of light—or a lesser amount of light—in a certain area. So a shadow’s only significant because of what it points to—the object that’s blocking the light and creating the shadow. Similarly, Paul says, the Sabbath is just “a shadow of the things to come”—and we’ll talk more about what exactly those “things to come” are in a little while. 

So, where does all of this leave us? Well, especially in light of these strikingly clear New Testament passages in Romans and Colossians about the freedom Christians enjoy in this area, it’s pretty difficult to interpret our main passage back in 

Genesis 2 as a timeless command to observe a weekly Sabbath day. And, actually, as we look at these verses in Genesis more closely, notice that we don’t find any statement that directly addresses people or says anything explicit about our responsibility. We simply read that God rested on the seventh day and blessed that day and made it holy. The text doesn’t mandate any specific behavior on our part. 

So here’s what I believe we can conclude about this passage: God models a pattern of work and rest that brings blessing to his people. That’s what I believe is the main idea of Genesis 2:1-3. God models a pattern of work and rest that brings blessing to his people. And, as you can see from the way that statement’s worded, God’s not instituting a law or laying down any sort of absolute requirement. He’s simply showing us a general pattern, consisting of six days of work and one day of rest, that brings blessing to our lives. And, even though this isn’t given as an absolute requirement, it’s still a pattern that we’d do well to follow. 

Brothers and sisters, rest is a gift of God. Instead of living a life that’s busy and barren, a life of running ourselves ragged as we rush from this activity over here to that engagement over there continually, God invites us to build a pattern of habitual rest into our lives. So consider following the pattern of blessing instituted in Genesis 2 and devoting one day each week to rest. And let that day be a reminder for you that life is more than work. You know, a couple of weeks ago, we talked pretty extensively about the value of work. But that’s not all there is to life. I’ve heard it said that we were created to be human beings rather than simply “human doings”—and devoting one day each week to rest reminds us of that. 

Also, let me go a step beyond that and encourage you to select Sunday as your day of rest if at all possible. And the reason I say that is because that’s the day the church of the New Testament set aside as what they called “the Lord’s Day.” That specific phrase, “the Lord’s Day,” comes from Revelation 1:10 and refers to a designation that was common, if not universal, among the early Christians. The expression itself seems to point to the fact that it was a day uniquely set apart to the Lord. Of course, we’re supposed to be devoted to the Lord every day, but the very existence of the expression “Lord’s Day” in the New Testament implies that there was something special about this day. It was a day set aside for Christians to focus their attention on the Lord even more than usual. 

We also know from Acts 20:7 that the Lord’s Day was on Sunday, not on Saturday, and that it was the day when the early Christians gathered for worship. Now, unlike the Sabbath, resting on the Lord’s Day isn’t an absolute requirement or a law. This isn’t some sort of “Christian Sabbath” or “Sabbath 2.0.” However, hear me when I say that there’s still strong biblical precedent and immense spiritual benefit in setting aside the Lord’s Day for rest and spiritual refreshment. If you’re taking notes, that’d be a good summary statement to write down. There’s strong biblical precedent and immense spiritual benefit in setting aside the Lord’s Day for rest and spiritual refreshment. 

Also, notice that I’m using the phrase “spiritual refreshment.” Where did that come from? Well, as we study the concept of rest in the Bible, it seems that rest and spiritual refreshment are like two sides of the same coin. Look back with me to a verse we looked at before, Exodus 31:17. God’s speaking to Moses about the Sabbath and states, “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.” Did you catch that? In Genesis 2, it just said that God rested. But here, in a passage that’s just as much inspired Scripture, it says that God both “rested and was refreshed.” The two go together. 

By the way, just to clarify, this doesn’t mean that God was really tired after working hard for six days and needed a day to get rested up and replenish his energy. No, God’s infinite and all-powerful and doesn’t have those kinds of limitations. Instead, scholars tell us that the word “rest” in this context simply refers to ceasing his creative work, and the word “refreshed” refers to experiencing satisfaction and delight. So, unlike us finite creatures, God doesn’t need rest and refreshment to recover from his work. However, his example is still instructive for us and shows us that rest and refreshment go together. 

And that’s also what we see both with the Israelites in their mandatory observance of the Sabbath in the Old Testament as well as with Christians in their voluntary observance of the Lord’s Day in the New Testament. In both the Old and New Testaments, resting wasn’t just about taking a break from certain activities but about replacing those ordinary activities with special activities that bring spiritual refreshment. 

So as you think about how to observe the Lord’s Day in your own life, understand that it’s not just a day to do whatever we want to do that technically isn’t work. Rather, it’s a day to engage in activities that bring refreshment to our souls. So…binge watching Netflix probably doesn’t qualify. Scrolling through Instagram or TikTok for hours on end probably doesn’t qualify. Even though these things aren’t technically work, I can’t really see them bringing you spiritual—or even emotional or mental—refreshment. And to be honest, the same goes for all forms of entertainment. Entertainment is something that occupies us, not something that refreshes us. It’s kind of like the fillers you might find in a fast-food hamburger. It’s there, and you can consume it, but it’s not really doing anything for you and can actually be harmful at times. So sitting on the couch all day watching Netflix or scrolling through your social media feed isn’t what I mean when I talk about spiritual refreshment. 

I’m talking about activities like—first and foremost—gathering with other believers for worship, as we’re doing now. That should be the greatest priority of our Lord’s Day and, I’d even say, the greatest priority of our entire week. Also, engaging in Bible study and prayer on your own and reading other things that feed your soul and spending face-to-face time with your family or friends or perhaps taking a nap or engaging in a hobby that has a refreshing effect on you. These are the kinds of activities that seem to most naturally fit with what the Bible tells us about the Lord’s Day. 

Now, as you may be thinking already, what I’m suggesting does indeed require a high level of intentionality. A restful and refreshing Lord’s Day doesn’t just happen. It requires planning. You’ll have to take care of certain practical responsibilities on Saturday rather than Sunday. Also, it requires prioritizing what you’re going to be involved with. You may not be able to squeeze in all of the activities and clubs and projects you’d otherwise be able to squeeze into your weekend. And finally, a restful and refreshing Lord’s Day requires faith. You have to believe that God’s going to take care of you and your career even if you don’t a spend a few extra hours working on that project or immediately answer those emails that keep showing up in your inbox. Of course, there are always extenuating circumstances, but in general, you just have to trust God with all of those things if you’re going to have a restful and refreshing Lord’s Day. Have faith that God can provide for your needs with you only working six days a week. He does it for Chik-fil-a, and he can do it for you as well. 

And understand that by giving us the Lord’s Day, God is really giving us an amazing gift. He understands our tendency to get ourselves in a place where we’re drowning in busyness, and so he gives us the gift of one day each week, known as the Lord’s Day, which he encourages us to use for rest and spiritual refreshment. Kevin DeYoung describes it as “an island of get-to in an ocean of have-to.” That’s what the Lord’s Day gives us space to enjoy—“an island of get-to in an ocean of have-to.” 

And, of course, I understand that some people do have to work on the Lord’s Day. I’m actually one of those people—in addition to police officers and doctors and nurses and people like that. So if you’re one of those people, that’s okay. Thank you for what you do to serve our society in that way. Personally, I’m so thankful that when my wife Becky went into labor on Sunday a few years ago, there was a doctor at that hospital to deliver our baby. Praise God for that—because I don’t know how to deliver a baby. I mean, I use YouTube to figure out how to do a lot of things, but I did not want to use it to figure out how to deliver a baby, alright? So praise God for people who serve our society by working on Sundays. But if that’s you, my advice is to just do what you can to establish a regular pattern in your life of setting aside time at some point during the week for rest and spiritual refreshment. Personally, I try to do that on Saturdays. So, think about how you can follow the general pattern God instituted in Genesis 2 of six days of work and one day of rest. 

Yet, there’s an even deeper aspect of the rest God has for us that we need to be aware of. The ultimate way in which we rest isn’t merely by devoting one day each week to restful activities but by resting in Christ. Remember Colossians 2:17? The Sabbath was a shadow, but Christ is the substance. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Sabbath—and not only of the Sabbath but of every kind of rest that’s modeled in the Bible, including what we see in our main passage in Genesis 2. 

And Jesus gives us an amazing invitation in Matthew 11:28-30. He says, 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.” So, do you want rest? “Come to me,” Jesus says. In the original context, he was referring to the legalistic tendencies of Jewish religion in the first century, where people tried to earn God’s favor and merit a right standing with God through their adherence to the Old Testament Law. 

However, his invitation here is a standing invitation for anyone, with any kind of burden on their shoulders. As we see here, he directs this invitation to “all who labor and are heavy laden.” So, are you weary of trying to prove your worth through your career advancement? “Come to me,” Jesus says, “and I will give you rest.” Are you weary of trying to fabricate an identity for yourself that’s based on what other people think of you? “Come to me,” Jesus says, “and I will give you rest.” Are you weary of trying to earn God’s love and acceptance through your own performance or through various religious observances? “Come to me,” Jesus says, “and I will give you rest.” Friends, the ultimate answer to our weariness isn’t merely incorporating a new practical habit into our weekly routine. It’s Jesus. Jesus himself is the ultimate answer to our weariness. 

You see, beneath all of the other forms of weariness in our lives, there’s what we might call a “weariness of the soul”—a form of weariness that isn’t caused by a busy schedule but rather by our sin and the way our sin has separated us from God. Since God is the source of all true life and vitality, to be separated from God is to be cut off from life and vitality, resulting in a weariness of the soul. So, it doesn’t matter how many vacations we go on, how many new things we buy for ourselves, how popular we become on social media, or how successful we become in our career. Apart from God, we’ll always be spiritually restless and empty. 

But Jesus offers us rest in a way that’s more comprehensive than we can even imagine. Even though our sins have alienated us from God and, in reality, made us deserving of God’s judgment, Jesus came to this earth and suffered that judgment in our place on the cross. God’s judgment should have come down on you and me, but, in his mercy, Jesus acted as our substitute and suffered that judgment on our behalf, thereby satisfying God’s justice and bridging the gap between us and God. So, because of what Jesus has done in his death on the cross and his subsequent resurrection from the dead, you and I can be reconciled to God and enjoy a close relationship with God not only in this life but throughout all eternity. 

And let me emphasize that this reconciled relationship with God comes not through our moralistic efforts but through Jesus alone. It’s not about what we do but about what Jesus has already done. We become right with God not by striving and working but rather by trusting and resting in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. That’s the ultimate rest that the Bible holds out to us—resting in Jesus with the confidence that we don’t have to be good enough for God because Jesus was already good enough for God in our place. 

And even for those who are already Christians and have already put their trust in Jesus in this way, let me ask you something: are you experiencing this rest on a daily basis? Or have you slipped into a performance-based mentality, thinking that God’s love for you is somehow dependent on how well you perform or how good of a Christian you manage to be on that particular day? That’s not the gospel. The gospel is that, as a Christian, you’re already dearly loved and entirely accepted by God through Jesus. And until you learn to rest in Jesus in that way, you’ll never be able to truly be at rest. 

I once heard it said that, “Without Christ, we will work even while we are resting. And with Christ, we will rest even while we are working.” Isn’t that good? “Without Christ, we will work even while we are resting. And with Christ, we will rest even while we are working.” You see, until we learn to rest in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, even the nicest getaways and the most enjoyable hobbies won’t allow us true rest. Instead, they’ll function more like a drug, providing temporary distraction but no true remedy. Only in Christ do we find true rest. As we were reminded just a few weeks ago by this famous quote from Augustine, “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You.”  

other sermons in this series

Oct 22

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Genesis 50:15-26: God Meant It for Good

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Oct 15

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Genesis 48:1-50:14: Jacob’s Blessings

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Oct 8

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Genesis 47:1-31: Prosperity in Egypt

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