Working in Rest

On page one of your Bible, we are introduced to the God who created everything and rules the Universe. Right on page one, we see Him working, working to create order from chaos. With the breath of His voice, He tames the formless chaotic waters and makes way for new life.

On day one,

He creates light and calls it good. And there was evening and morning, a new day.

On day two,

He separates the waters into the seas below and the atmosphere above and calls it good. And there was evening and morning, a new day.

On day three,

God creates land and plants to fill it and He calls it good. And there was evening and morning, a new day…

So the pattern continues, and on day six God creates humankind in His own image—to multiply and fill the earth and to rule over creation with Him. He then called humankind very good. And there was evening and morning, the sixth day.

On day seven, God finishes His work and rests.

The Hebrew word is shabbat (or Sabbath). And God called it good. He made it holy because He rested from his work. Full stop…

There’s no evening and morning. The pattern is done. There is no end to day seven. God designed His creation to live in perpetual Sabbath, an endless rest in His presence.

The next section of the story in Genesis introduces us to how this Creator God intends for this new creation to carry forward in that rest. God and humans will work together to produce a harvest. God will bring rain, and humans will cultivate the ground. Then God plants an orchard garden and He rests or settles (Hebrew: nuakh) the new humans in that garden with Him. Here they will dwell (nuakh) together, both Creator and created, in this beautiful rhythm of rest.

That rest doesn’t last very long. The first humans disobey God, and are cast out from the garden. Now their work will be hard and their relationship with their Creator is strained.

Violence and chaos become the human condition as evil takes hold of our hearts.

But God doesn’t abandon His creation. Instead, He promises to restore the rest that comes when God and humans dwell together, working in harmony to rule creation. He calls out a family and promises to restore rightful order to creation through them. Through Abraham’s family, all nations will be blessed.

After freeing Israel from Egypt,

God sets up a reminder rhythm of the rest in the garden (the Sabbath day) to recall the way He designed things to be. It will be a sign of His promise to restore all creation to His rest. They will rest, their servants will rest, gentile foreigners among them will rest. He has them build the tabernacle and then the temple where His presence can dwell with His people. It’s there to remind His people what it was like to nuakh in His presence, but only a select few can enter it.

Fast forward to the Gospel of Matthew:

it’s been a very long time since God gave the command to remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy. Laws upon laws upon laws had been written to ensure that people weren’t close to breaking God’s law. Instead of a reminder of God’s rest, the Sabbath had become a burden for many. Instead of being a blessing to others, the religious leaders kept the Sabbath for piety and self-righteousness.

To these weary souls, Jesus offered this invitation:

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light” (Matthew 11:28).

Jesus the very Word of God from the beginning, who was with God in creation, and who is in very nature God, has become flesh and dwelt among us.

And He invites us to rest.

It’s no coincidence that right after this invitation, Matthew tells us of the scuffles that Jesus and His disciples got into with religious leaders about observing the Sabbath. Matthew is helping us to see that that future seventh day rest is here. Jesus is restoring the seventh day rest. In Him all the law is fulfilled, and we can stop (Shabbat) working for righteousness. All those hungry and thirsty for it will be filled. Jesus is God’s presence, in the flesh, settled in to dwell (nuakh) with all humans, not just a select few.

God has once again looked down on chaos and disorder, and sends His Word, in the flesh, to make way for new life in Him.

He goes down into the chaotic waters of death and the grave, and comes out the other side victorious. He is restoring creation to its original design. We’re living in a new Eden, in the rest and abundance of God’s presence. Soon, He’ll complete that work at the end of the age by ushering in a new heaven and a new Earth, completely restored in Christ, where God and humans rule together.

When Jesus invites us to rest, He invites us to put on His yoke. Yokes are used for work. Jesus invites us to once again partner with God to carry out His creative work, to cultivate the spiritual ground yoked to Him, and to carry His blessing to the ends of the earth. We are participating in the re-creation and we create little Edens in our own life. This takes place when we align our work with God’s and rest in Him for our righteousness, for our provision, and for our hope.

So, should we Sabbath?

I certainly hope we will. I hope that you and I will set up rhythms in our lives that will trace the shadow of the Sabbath to its substance in Jesus. May we look back at that rest in Eden and follow it through to the rest we have now in Jesus, and the future rest that comes when Jesus makes all things new.

We come to Jesus tired, worn out, burnt out on religion, and He offers us rest.

This is not about one day rest that fades out with the sun, but an eternal rest that is only found in Christ. We look back at His empty tomb knowing our sins have been taken away and we stand righteous because of what He did. We look forward to our future redemption when we are made completely new and all creation is restored. That is true rest! Stopping our work, yoking with Christ, and dwelling with Him.

To quote Saint Augustine:

“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

There is not rest without dwelling (nuakh) in Christ, and there is not dwelling without stopping (shabbat) our own striving for self-righteousness. Without Him, our rest is restless and our work is desperate.

“The world and the devil would have us work even while we rest. But Jesus would have us rest even while we work” (Scott Hubbard).

The Sabbath commands echoed the beauty and perfection of creation on the first pages of the Bible. In the Garden of Eden the first humans rested and they dwelt in the presence of the Almighty God and worked with Him to rule over creation. The Sabbath also pointed to the new reality that Jesus has ushered into our humanity, His Kingdom has now come here on earth, and will culminate in new creation. At the end of the age we will once again rule over creation with Him. By placing our hope in Jesus, we take part now in the first waves of the new, greater seventh day, rest and rest in our work yoked together with Him.

Let’s find ways to remind ourselves to stop and dwell, to acknowledge God’s ever-present help, and to remind us to let Him be the ruler of our hearts.

Maybe try setting aside one day a week to stop the distractions and focus on Christ. Begin each day seeking God’s presence and help in your work, or set up simple reminders to keep your hope in Jesus only. Whatever we do, may we enter that rest.