The Rest day

Mark 2 verse 23 to 3 verse 6, Genesis Chapter 2 verse 1

It is man’s rest day, what exactly does it mean? There are important issues for everyone. It is a ‘holiday’, tomorrow (May 7th) is a bank holiday given by the state. God has given us a weekly rest for our good.

God rested on the seventh day – verse 2.

Why seven? It is everywhere, the number of completeness. It is not a natural number such as ten (the number of digits) or 12 ( a lunar number). 7 shows God’s completed creative activity.

God founded the seven-day week verse 2.

There is a rhythm of work and rest built into creation. For all of us whether we like it or not. There is a 30 day month – the lunar orbit. 365 day year – round the sun,. The day is base on the spinning of the earth. 24 hour day comes from the Egyptians. Where did the 7 day week come from? It is not from any natural cycle. The only way we can account for the week is that it was established at creation by God. God etched it on our minds. Why not 15? It is still universally practised in the whole world – well before the flood. In Genesis 8 verse 10 God waited 7 more days to send out the dove.

God’s rest was a rest for us to copy.

A weekly day of rest is a creation ordinance like marriage. A day of rest is part of God’s blueprint for human life. God was not fatigued or weary. He set us an example, as a pattern for us to follow. It is a sacred rest that we can dedicate to God. God invites us to imitate him. It is for everyone. It is a creation regulation. It was made for man not just Jews. We ignore it at our peril. In Toffler’s Future Shock we are warned about changes coming so fast that we can not keep up – technological changes causes us stress, there is information overload, we have too much to think about and too much to learn. It is difficult to switch off. In the supermarket we have so much to choose from – too much, 8 or 9 choices of butter for example. In years past men had a hard life – it caused physical exhaustion and physical drain. Today we have a mental drain. Even though we have many opportunities for leisure we are still stressed out. God’s solution is the Sabbath day rest. In Switzerland it is a legal day of rest enforced by the police. It is seen as a piece of Heaven on Earth. The British influence in the EU caused the failure to make it an EU wide day of rest.

God’s rest made the 7th day a holy day – verse 3.

Holiness is separation from sin and closeness to God. It is a special day to be used in a different way from the other six. There is a pattern of work and rest and worship. We can see in Cain and Abel in Genesis 4 verse 3 – the curse of time indicates the Sabbath rest, God wants us to stop work and worship him. To remember who we are and who God is. To worship him in the one day God blesses as special so we can understand him who created us. We can only understand God by obeying him and God telling us all about himself. It is not just a holiday but also so we can apply our minds to the creator of the World. We are made to know and love God. We are spiritual beings and we need to care for our souls.
It is a Sabbath to the Lord our God – it is for us to meet together to worship God in between cycles of 6 days of work. It is easy to be so busy that we do not have time for spiritual refreshment and renewal. We are to be spiritually fed and refreshed, taught and instructed. We must take time to be holy. We show God that we love him and put him first and want to know his joy and blessing.

God’s rest was a day he blessed.

To worship God is to honour him – he alone is worthy of it. We are blessed in obedience to God’s commands. It is for man. It is good for family life when we are not forced to work (it benefits low income workers). God blesses it and pour out blessings on it. Our emotional, spiritual and physical well being are blessed by it. Rest is vital for physical and mental well being. Rest is for our benefit. We have to sleep at night, without it we are jaded and useless.
What about our spiritual well being? God knows it is hard for us to obey him. When we do, he will bless us – we are obeying his commands. We show him honour and respect when we do it. It costs something when we take time for the Lord every week – see Isaiah 58 verse 13, God promises blessing if we obey him in this. If we correctly prioritise our time we shall find joy, God will bless us and enrich our hearts. Christ rose on Sunday and poured out his Spirit on the World on a Sunday, we know refreshment and blessing, conversions come on Sunday, we feel encouragement and blessing on the Lord’s day as we gather for worship.

God’s rest foreshadowed spiritual rest – Hebrews 4 verse 3

God, having completed his work of creation, rests, as if to say, ‘This is the destiny of those who are my people; to rest as I rest, to rest in me.’ Psalm 95 verse 11. Sin is the basic cause of restlessness, and why we have no peace. By finding Christ who can give what we need, we then have peace with God and rest of conscience.

God’s rest foreshadowed eternal rest – Hebrews 4 verses 1 to 11

The Sabbath is a foretaste of God’s kingdom on earth. In closing let’s recall what saints do in heaven. They do the will of the Father and are occupied in service and worship for all eternity. Our citizenship is in heaven so we should live now as we would if we were in heaven.
Let this day then be a day spent reflecting on who God is as our Creator and Saviour. Rejoicing in the finished work of Christ and resting in all that He is.