God’s Good Design for Rest

If you have a Bible, and I hope you or somebody does you can look on with, let me invite you to open with me to Genesis 2. So we’re in this series we’re calling “God’s Good Design,” where we’re looking at the first two chapters of the Bible and seeing God’s good design for creation, for humanity, for sexuality today, and next week for rest; and then work after that and then marriage. But today it’s rest.

And I want to start with a call to intercession and then with a confession. So first the call to intercession. We’re about to see a biblical pattern of six days of work and one day of rest. And it’s not lost on me that we’re talking about this when many of you who work in our government, including some I’ve been talking with this morning, are walking through uncertain, challenging days, including some of you who are without work or without compensation for work.

So I want to call us in our lives and our families and our church groups and our church family to intercede, to pray for restoration of work in our government; and for workers affected by this across our city and in our church family. And to pray that God will help us as his church to be salt and light, to care for and support one another in this world amidst uncertainty and challenges when it comes to work specifically. So that’s the call to intercession for work.

And at the same time, I need to make a confession about rest, because I’m about to preach on this topic and I need to be vulnerable with you—not just as one of your pastors, but as your brother in Christ—and confess that I do not have a healthy, God-honoring rhythm of rest in my life. And I can’t walk through this today without saying that before you.

And I’m so thankful that I was given this text and this topic today because I clearly need it, and there are major changes I’m going to make in my life as a result of the Word we’re about to see. And I won’t go into more detail there, because this is not just about me; but I share this in part because I’m guessing I’m not alone. I’m guessing there may be others of you who struggle with rest in your life in different ways for different reasons. And if that’s the case, I just want to challenge you today to lean in and listen to what God is saying in his Word, and to make whatever changes are needed in your life in light of God’s Word. For those of you who have healthy rhythms of rest in your life, we genuinely want to learn from you. So please share with me and others how God has helped you thrive with rest in a world that—let’s just put it out there—wants to rob us at every turn of the rest God has designed for us, and “designed” is the right word.

Think about it: We sleep for about a third of our lives. About one third of your life is spent like you’re dead. Why is that? And God didn’t have to create us like this. We’ve already seen, we just prayed, we’re made in God’s image. God doesn’t sleep. So why do we have to sleep? He could have made us to never sleep. Think of all that we could do. We could have two jobs, or three or four, and never feel tired. We could have secular jobs and ministry jobs. Think of all that we can accomplish. Why do we have to sleep? And I love how John Piper puts this. He says,

“Sleep is a daily reminder from God that we are not God. Once a day God sends us to bed like patients with a sickness. The sickness is a chronic tendency to think we are in control and that our work is indispensable to cure us of this disease. God turns us into helpless sacks of sand once a day. How humiliating to the self-made corporate executive that he has to give up all control and become as limp as a suckling infant every single day?

How humbling is that? And “humbling” is the right word, because our lack of sleep or lack of rest is oftentimes a picture of pride in our lives before God and before others. But what’s fascinating is that even God rests.

God’s Rest in Genesis 2:1–3

We’ve looked the last couple of weeks at Genesis 1 and how “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Now, Genesis 2:1 says, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the hosts of them.”

And then right after that, what do we read? This passage that might kind of feel familiar or normal to us, but it’s stunning when you think about it:

“ … on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and God 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.”

Do you see the repetition there? God finished this work—says that twice—this work that he had done; he rested from all this work that he had done. God blessed the seventh day. So three times we see “seventh day” there … made it holy because on it, God rested from all this work that he had done in creation—and that’s important. So God rested from his creating work. This doesn’t mean that God stopped working altogether. After all, God upholds the universe and every person in it by his power at every millisecond. So if God were to stop working completely, you and I would stop working immediately. Your heart is not beating and your lungs are not breathing. If God is not working, even if you hate God, or even the idea of God, the reality is that your breath comes from the very One you hate. 

But God stopped working in creation on the seventh day—so, number of completion; we’ll come back to that in a moment. And he blesses this day. He hasn’t done that with any other day in creation. He makes it holy, basically sets it apart; different from any other day, specifically as a day of rest. And that word “rest” means to cease from work. So God ceased from his creating work on this day. And it’s interesting, with every other day in creation, there’s a conclusion. It says, “ … and there was evening, there was morning”— the first day, the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth day … but not the seventh.

Instead, the seventh day in the original language, the Hebrew, actually ends. This whole passage ends with an infinitive verb, which seems to show there’s a sense in which God’s rest from creation work continues beyond this day. It’s almost like the Creator is inviting his creation to live in a state of perpetual rest with him, ongoing rest. Now, at the same time, notice we don’t have an explicit command here for man and woman to rest one day a week. We don’t see that command in the Bible until God’s covenant with his people through Moses in the Ten Commandments. 

So, fast forward with me to Exodus 20. You can turn there, it’ll be here on the screen. But Exodus 20:8, fourth commandment: “Remember the Sabbath day.” (So this word is directly related to the word for “rest” that we read in Genesis 2—to keep it holy. Same language from Genesis 2:3):

“Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 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. 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 he made it holy.” (Exodus 20:9–11)

So what we read in Genesis 2 is the foundation for this commandment in Exodus 20; to set aside one day out of seven, to cease from work and to rest, which revolutionized history. Think about this with me. So much in our calendar revolves around what God reveals through nature. Naturally, we have 24-hour days because of the earth’s rotation on its axis. We have months that are more or less determined by the lunar cycle. We measure a year according to the earth’s rotation around the sun. So scientific observation, as we’ve talked about, ordained by God, points to all these things. But why do we have seven days in a week? Why not eight or 12 or 20? Some might say today, six–seven, what’s the difference? (Sorry, I could not resist the opportunity to honor meaningless language in my children’s mouths. So why some of you are clapping and some of you’re don’t want to clap, you’re just mad.)

So why seven days? Genesis 2 is the answer: Because God designed human life to operate in a cycle of seven days. And he specifically told his people in the Old Testament that they were to rest from work on the last day of the week. So the Sabbath, which in the Jewish calendar would’ve been Saturday, or, more technically, Friday evening to Saturday evening.

Christians Disagree Over Applying the Sabbath Today

Now that leads to all kinds of questions and disagreements, even among Bible-believing Christians. So I’ll try to summarize it this way on the screen. Christians disagree on whether this old covenant command is binding for new covenant Christians because think about it. There are many commands given in the Old Testament—”testament” is another word for “covenant,” which is basically the way God relates to his people, including the laws that he gives to them.

So there are many commands in the Old Testament that God doesn’t give in the New Testament for followers of Jesus in the new covenant, like food laws or land laws or other laws that pertain to the people of Israel as a nation ruled by a government; [these are laws] that don’t apply in the same way—in part, because God’s people are no longer one nation ruled by a government. And the general rule is, if an Old Testament command is not restated or clearly reinforced in the New Testament, that it’s not binding for God’s people today. 

And this is where the Sabbath command is controversial, because this command to keep the Sabbath day is never prescribed in the entire New Testament by … but some Bible-believing Christians will say yes, but this command is grounded in God’s example in creation. And Jesus clearly kept the Sabbath in the New Testament, even if he didn’t keep all the traditions that religious leaders had piled onto it. So followers of Jesus should keep the Sabbath.

At the same time, other Bible-believing Christian,s in addition to pointing out the glaring absence of a Sabbath command in the New Testament, look at what the New Testament does say in a place like Colossians 2:16–17:

“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. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”

So a plain reading of this passage seems to say there’s disagreement between New Testament believers, particularly between Jewish and Gentile Christians, on questions of what to eat or what to drink, and the Sabbath; but you don’t need to pass judgment on each other when the Sabbath was just a shadow pointing to the substance, who is Christ. In other words, Jesus fulfilled the Sabbath and what it was pointing to, which is why we’re not commanded to keep the Sabbath in the same way. Romans 14:5 says something similar: “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.”

Paul seems to be saying here: It’s not necessary to esteem one day over the others, but some people might. What’s most important is that they’re doing what they’re convinced is right. Paul never says that with other commands in the New Testament. He never says, “Maybe abstain from sexual immorality, if you’re convinced you should.’ No, he says ‘abstain from sexual immorality,” period. But he never says, and the New Testament never says, “Abstain from work on the Sabbath day.” And the Bible is essentially showing us here that it’s okay for followers of Jesus to have disagreements about these sorts of things and still love and honor one another in the body of Christ.

Which, side note, it is a sign of health for Christians in the church to be able to disagree with one another on less important issues that may be less clear or direct in God’s Word and still love one another. And that’s really important for us in a day of divisive polarization, where there is constant temptation to raise every issue to the same high level of importance and then attack those who disagree with you about that issue. Don’t do it. Romans 14 is all about loving, honoring, bearing with each other through our disagreements, not canceling and criticizing each other. That is the way of the world. It is not the way of God’s people according to his Word.

The point today is: Different followers of Jesus in the church in the New Testament, and in McLean Bible Church today, may have different convictions about whether we should observe the Sabbath in the same way God said to do in the Old Testament. And even for those who say we should keep the Sabbath, there’s disagreement on which day of the week the Sabbath should be observed. Should it be Saturday, like it was throughout the Old Testament? Has it moved to Sunday, since that’s the day when Christians gather for worship? Or could it be any day, as long as you set aside one day? And then there’s disagreement on what is permissible to do on a Sabbath day? Can you work in any way? If so, in what way? Where do you draw the line? Or even recreation? What level of exercise or play is permissible?

Can I shoot straight with you? I think about days off, maybe a Saturday, [when] I’ve coached many of my kids’ sports teams on Saturdays, trying to corral kids on fields, and very few times has the thought crossed my mind: “This feels so restful, like, it’s just peace.” I trust you’re getting the point. There’s room for disagreement on this one among Bible-believing Christians, even in our church family, which doesn’t mean this is not important or we shouldn’t think about it. Paul said you need to be convinced what you believe is right before God and then live accordingly, which then leads to good, healthy discussions with brothers and sisters in Christ, even through disagreement, as we remember that none of us has it all figured out.

Why Did God Design Rest for Us?

And, at the same time … so here’s the good news: All that is most important in God’s Word is clear in God’s Word. So what can we agree on? 

And this is where I want to show you three clear reasons why God designed rest for us, [reasons] that have massive implications for making major changes in our lives, for living very different from this world that is working against our rest. So why did God design rest for us?

1. God Designs Rest as a Cause for Refreshment

Well, first reason, God designs rest as a cause for refreshment that we all need in our lives. So I want you to look with me at one of these other places in the Bible where God gives his people this Sabbath commandment. Look with me at Exodus 31:16–17:

“Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath [There it is—the command], observing the Sabbath throughout the generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign [Remember that? I’ll talk about that later, but it’s a sign] forever between me and the people of Israel, that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth. [So we’re starting to see the same language], and on the seventh day he rested [but listen to this] and was refreshed.”

What a word the Bible adds! We’ve seen how he rested, but God was refreshed. That’s fascinating—God being refreshed! And this word is actually pretty rare. It’s only used two other times in the Old Testament; one other time referring to how people are refreshed. This is “refreshed.” Exodus 23:12—how God designed for our refreshment on the Sabbath. And then in 2 Samuel 16:14, when King David was being cursed and threatened and pursued by his enemies, we read that “the king, and all the people who were with him, arrived weary at the Jordan. And there he refreshed himself.”

So get the picture: In a wearying world, God designs rest as a cause for refreshment for—think about this—both us and God together. This is amazing, that the Creator God invites his people to sit back, stop working, and simply experience refreshment with him. What a powerful picture in the Old Testament.

2. God Designs Rest as a Celebration of Freedom

And then watch this: God designs rest as a celebration of freedom. So it gets even better in Deuteronomy 5, when God is reminding his people of this command to keep the Sabbath. In the Old Testament, he tells them …

“Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you” (Deuteronomy 5:12). And then he goes on to say, watch this, “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, [in light of the fact that you were a slave in Egypt, therefore], the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”

Picture this: When God’s people were slaves in Egypt, they worked hard slavishly every single day, all day long, with no break for 400 years. And then God brings them out and he says, “From now on, one day a week you do nothing and you don’t make anybody else do anything because you are not a slave to work anymore.” That’s good! Rest is a declaration that you are not a slave to your work. Rest is a testimony to the world that your work is not your God. And this is why the Sabbath became this sign. 

I told you, notice that earlier—the sign of God’s covenant with Moses. Just as the rainbow was the sign of God’s covenant with Noah, the Sabbath was the sign, and that would set God’s people apart. When other nations would work every day, God’s people would work six days and rest on the seventh as a celebration of their freedom, which leads to one other picture of God’s design for rest.

3. God Designs Rest as a Cycle of Restoration

God designs rest as a cycle of restoration. And interestingly, this cycle of rest every seven days was part of a larger cycle of sevens in the Bible. So later in God’s law, we read that God also commanded rest for the land once every seven years. Look at Leviticus 25:1 …

“The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord.”

So this Sabbath, every seventh year, would provide restoration for the land. And then right after God talks about this, he says in Leviticus 25:8 …

“You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years [How many years is that? 49 years], so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. [So this is talking about something happening every 50th year] And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year [Seven times seven, and you got one] and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee [This is what became known as the “Year of Jubilee”] for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan. That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines. For it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you. [Same language we’ve seen talking about the Sabbath day.] You may eat the produce of the field.”

So after 49 years, seven times seven years, the fiftieth year becomes this year of jubilee. I wish we had time to dive into this more in depth, but it basically would restore everything. Everybody would get a fresh start. It’s like an ultimate year of rest and restoration. Everybody’s debts would be canceled. Any property that you’ve lost would be returned to you. You’d have this year of rest and jubilation where you’re restored to God and others, and the land, with massive implications for everybody’s life. And Isaiah talks about this year of Jubilee in Isaiah 61. He says,

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind of the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor …”

That’s a reference to the Year of Jubilee. Now I know what you’re thinking: “Alright, you’re losing me. What’s the point of all this? What does this have to do with my life?” And this has everything to do with your life, because with all this background in the Old Testament, all of it, very intentional, Jesus comes on the scene in the New Testament; and I want you to listen to how Luke introduces us to him after Jesus’s birth and his growing up; and his temptation in the wilderness. This is how Luke introduces us to the ministry of Jesus, the very first thing that Jesus does in Luke’s account. Watch this. Luke 4:16 …

“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’

“And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’”

Are you serious? Do you realize what just happened? Jesus just strolled into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. They “just so happened” to hand him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, where he unrolls it to Isaiah 61, the year of Jubilee being talked about—the ultimate year of rest and restoration. He sits down, and everybody’s eyes are looking at him. He says, “I am the fulfillment of what I just read.” How bold is that?

Jesus just announced—in this restless world full of sin and evil and injustice and oppression and poverty and captivity and blindness and disease and death—Jesus just said, “I have come to bring jubilee. I’ve to bring the favor of God, to cancel debts against God, to restore what is wrong, to bring freedom from slavery to sin and death in order that you might experience the favor of the Lord.” That’s how it all starts. And then it just goes on from there. Look at what Luke 4 says next:

“And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, and they’re astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God. But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent and come out of him!’ And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. And they were all amazed and said to one another, ‘What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!’”

Jesus is not just teaching on the Sabbath; he’s healing people on the Sabbath, and he keeps doing it specifically on the Sabbath. And the religious leaders are furious that he has the audacity to help and heal people on the Sabbath. And a couple chapters later, Jesus looks at them in the eye and, Luke 6:5—talking about himself as the Son of Man, Jesus said to them—”The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” 

Jesus says, “Fellas, I’ve got news for you: I made the Sabbath. I am Lord of it.” Are you seeing this? Jesus is Lord of rest. Jesus is the Author, the Giver, the Creator, the Source of rest. And this is why he came. So check this out. You keep going in Matthew’s account of Jesus’s life, right before Jesus says this same statement—that he’s the Lord of the Sabbath—in Matthew, he looks at a bunch of people who are working their hardest to follow religious rules in order to get to God, and Jesus says,

“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Jesus Came to Bring Rest for Our Weary Souls

Don’t miss what the whole Bible is teaching here. The reason Jesus came is to bring rest to our weary souls. Don’t miss what all of Scripture is telling us today, right now … that Jesus came to do what no day off, no vacation, no getaway, no unplug and watch whatever streaming service or social media, scrolling, or no sabbatical—what no one, no thing, nothing in this world, can do. Jesus came to bring rest for your soul in relationship with God himself. He came to bring the perpetual rest that your Creator designed for you, from the beginning of creation, with him. This is the gospel. It’s the greatest news in all the world. 

We are wired to work in order to achieve, to get this or that. And the religions of this world are built on this principle. Follow this eight-fold path in Buddhism; pay homage to any of these hundreds of millions of gods in Hinduism; keep these five pillars in Islam. Work, work, work to get to God. And Jesus comes on the scene and says, “No, I do the work. I have come to live with no sin, and I have come to die for your sin, to make the way for your soul to be restored to God. I do the work.”

Think about the Sabbath: Every seven days, every seven years; God is saying, “Put aside your work. You don’t depend on your work. You depend on me as part of a much bigger picture.” God is saying to you and me, “Stop depending on your work. Depend on me. Rest in me.” Which … so now keep going … look at the way the Bible describes Jesus’s death on the cross. John 19:30: “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, [What are his last three words in John?], ‘It is finished.’” It’s the same word that we saw used twice in Genesis 2—”finished.” “It is finished.” The Creator on the cross, finishing the work of redeeming his creation, to restore people to God, which means there’s no more work for you to do. It’s finished. You are free to rest in Jesus in the work he has done for you. Which is why the first thing we see right after Jesus’ death here is a reference to … what? … Sabbath—twice.

You can’t script this. Only God has scripted all of this together, and none of it is coincidence. Think about it: When did Jesus die? On a Friday, right? Friday night, beginning of the Jewish Sabbath, which means he was in the grave on the day of rest—Friday, Saturday. And then when did he rise from the dead? On the third day, Sunday, which just so happened to be what? It just so happened to be the first day of a very new week. Luke writes,

“But on the first day of this week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, ‘Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.’”

Yes, death has been conquered and a new day, an entirely new day in creation, has dawned! Write it down: The invitation is now wide open. Anyone from anywhere in this world can experience refreshment, freedom, and restoration with your Creator through rest in Christ. Not just one day a week; not just once every seven years or 49 years; but every day, every year. Be refreshed, be free, and live restored to relationship with God through rest in Jesus—perpetual rest in the One who gave his life for you.

If you have never trusted in Jesus to save you from your sin, to restore you to relationship with God, let today be the day. Don’t wait another day. Rest in the One who has done the work you could not do. He has lived a life you could not live, a life of no sin; he has died the death you deserve to die for sin; and he has conquered the enemy you could not conquer—death itself. He has done all this for you so you can rest in him. And when you do, and for all who have lived resting in him, you’re not called to move on from rest in him every day, all day long, in this weary world of sin and sorrow and suffering and evil and injustice and layoffs and shutdowns and conflict and division and fears and frustration and worry and anxiety and depression and disease and death. You can rest now with the Lord of rest living in you. Amen.

Practical Application

This is your life, Christian. For all who are in Christ, you’re in the One who gives rest for your weary soul. And there’s so much practical application that flows from this. I’ll just mention a couple here, which will set the stage for more next week.

Free From Slavery to Work

So Christian, for all who are in Christ, you are free from slavery to work. So cultivate rhythms of rest with God. And this is where I’ll share, I am not convinced that the Old Testament Sabbath command is binding on New Testament Christians today. I believe that the Sabbath was fulfilled completely in Christ, that we’re not commanded to honor the Sabbath day today in the same way they did in the Old Testament. And at the same time, I’m convinced that God baked a pattern of rest into the creation of the world. And we honor that Sabbath pattern and principle by cultivating wise rhythms of rest in our weeks and our years. In other words, we need to cease from work for concentrated time in order to experience the refreshment and freedom and restoration that rest with God brings. 

And that’s why, as I shared, I need to make major changes in my life, because I have not honored this priority on Sabbath that’s portrayed all over the Bible, starting with the very structure of creation—to my detriment. So we’re free Christians from slavery to work. So let’s cultivate rhythms of rest with God, and it’s not just rest from work.

Free from Slavery to Worry

Christian, you are free from slavery to worry. So receive the gift of rest from God. God makes clear in his Word that this is part of the rest he’s designed for us on a daily basis. Psalm 127:2 was in our Bible reading this last week: “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” In a world of worrisome, anxious toil, sleep is a gift for all those who trust in God’s love. Rest in his and love go to sleep. Put aside the work.

Yesterday, our Bible reading was in Psalm 131:2. Amidst all the worrisome things in this world that we don’t understand—Why is this happening?—God, the psalmist says, “But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.” Calm and quiet your soul. Rest in God like a weaned child who knows its mother is good and will provide for what you need.

Free from Slavery to the World

And so, Christian, all who in Christ, you are free from slavery to this world. So spread the good news of rest in God—not just in this world, but in another world to come. See, you got to see this. We saw how Jesus’s resurrection ushered in the dawn of a new day. Well, you keep reading and Jesus promises he’s going to send his Spirit to his followers, his very presence to his followers. And you’ll never guess when that happens. 

You ever notice this, Acts 2:1, when the day of Pentecost arrived, do you know what Pentecost means? It means 50th. It was celebrated on the 50th day after the Passover. So seven times, seven weeks, 49 days after that, plus one—much like the Year of Jubilee. And again, it’s the first day of the week when …

“ … suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Christian, you want to talk about rest! You have the Holy Spirit of God resting on you so that you can walk in his rest at every moment, and so that you can lead other people in this weary world—this week—in this city, and among all the nations, to find rest in God … not just in this world, but in the world to come.

And that is where our story ends. Jesus’s resurrection ushered in the dawn of an entirely new day. But, ladies and gentlemen, one day Jesus’s return will usher in the dawn of an entirely new creation. Check this out. Last book in the Bible, when John is describing heaven, Revelation 14:12 … we read, “Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.”

Hear that—a call to endure in this weary, restless world; to keep faith, to keep resting, keep trusting in Jesus when it’s hard. Watch what happens to those who endure with faith, with rest in Jesus. I heard a voice from heave,n saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. ‘Blessed indeed’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labors and their deeds.’”

Follow them. See it. Heaven is a place of rest, and you put that together with God’s original design for rest. Heaven is a place of everlasting refreshment with God himself, everlasting freedom from all sin, and everlasting restoration to God, to others, and to the world around us. Oh, Christian, all who are in Christ live and die with the sure hope of everlasting Sabbath!

Hold on today, and every single day, to the hope we have of the day when we will enter into divine, delightful, unending, unimaginable rest in a new heaven and a new earth that our Creator designed for us from the beginning of creation. Praise God for his Word, for his promises, and for the rest He invites us to live in every single day for all of eternity.

So in light of this Word from God, I want to give you a moment to just rest in God, just you and Him. If you know Jesus as Savior and Lord of your life as rest for your soul, I want to encourage you to just ask the question, “What needs to change in your life in order to rest according to God’s good design for your life?” Is there anything that needs to change in any way for you to experience more fully the refreshment and the freedom and the cycle of restoration that God has designed for your good? 

And, at the same time, for all who have not yet rested in Jesus, I want to give you a moment just to ask, “What’s keeping you from resting in God’s love for you in Jesus today?”

Observation: What does this passage say?

1. Read Genesis 2:1-3 aloud. What repeated phrases stand out?
   • How many times does “finished,” “done,” or “rested” appear?
   • What did God do on the seventh day that was different?
2. Verse 3 says God blessed and made holy the seventh day.
   • What do you think that means?
3. Why is there no “evening and morning” ending on the seventh day?
   • What might that suggest about the ongoing nature of God’s rest?

Interpretation: What does the passage mean?

1. Christians can disagree on the form…but rest matters
   • Read Exodus 20:8–11 and Colossians 2:16–17.
     • What does each passage teach about the Sabbath?
     • How do they differ in how the Sabbath applies today?
   • Why might God allow room for differing convictions about “Sabbath days” (Romans 14:5)?
     • How can believers disagree on practice but still honor and encourage one another?
2. God Designs Rest as a Cause for Refreshment
   • Read Exodus 31:16–17.
     • What does it mean that even God was “refreshed”?
     • How can rest refresh your relationship with God?
3. God Designs Rest as a Celebration of Freedom
   • Read Deuteronomy 5:12–15.
     • How does rest remind us that we are no longer slaves—to work, worry, or control?
4. God Designs Rest as a Cycle of Restoration
   • Read Leviticus 25:1–12.
     • What do the sabbatical years and Year of Jubilee reveal about God’s heart for renewal and fresh starts
5. Jesus Fulfills the Sabbath
   • Read Luke 4:16–21, Luke 6:5, and Matthew 11:28–29.
     • What kind of rest does Jesus offer that no schedule or day or vacation can?
     • How does knowing Jesus as “Lord of the Sabbath” reshape the way we live and worship?

Application: How can we apply this passage to our lives?

1. Free from Slavery to Work → Cultivate Rest
   • Where are you tempted to find your worth in productivity?
   • What simple rhythm of rest could you build into your week?
2. Free from Slavery to Worry → Receive God’s Gift
   • Read Psalm 127:2. What does trusting God look like when life feels anxious?
3. Free from Slavery to This World → Share Christ’s Rest
   • How can your peace in Jesus point others to Him this week?
4. Live with the Hope of Everlasting Sabbath
   • Read Revelation 14:12–13. How does the promise of eternal rest sustain you today?

SCRIPTURE READING – Genesis 2:1-3 (ESV)

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.

REFLECTION QUESTION

What tends to keep you from resting regularly — too much to do, fear of falling behind, something else?

SERMON RECAP

• God’s good design for creation includes a rhythm of work and rest. Even God Himself rested when His work was finished.
• Rest is not weakness; it’s a reminder that we are not God. Our need to cease work humbles us and underscores our dependence on Him.
• Followers of Jesus may disagree on how the Old Testament Sabbath applies today, but Scripture clearly shows that rest remains part of God’s design.
• In His Word, we see at least three major truths about rest:
  • God designs rest as a cause for refreshment.
  • God designs rest as a celebration of freedom.
  • God designs rest as a cycle of restoration.
• Jesus ultimately fulfills the purpose of the Sabbath—He is the Lord of the Sabbath. He is the Lord of Rest. Through His finished work, we find spiritual rest, renewal, and eternal hope.
• Because of Jesus:
  • We are free from slavery to work → cultivate rhythms of rest.
  • We are free from slavery to worry → receive rest as God’s gift.
  • We are free from slavery to this world → share the good news of rest in Christ
• Jesus’ imminent return will usher in the introduction of a new creation, where God’s people will experience ultimate and everlasting refreshment, freedom, and restoration in His presence.
• Live and die with the steadfast hope of everlasting Sabbath!