The First Sabbath.
In the book of Genesis, we learn that after God created man on the sixth day, He rested on the seventh. This seventh day, known as the Sabbath, was the last day of God's week but the first day of man's week. God finished His work and rested, while man began with rest before moving on to work. This pattern shows that man's forward progress in life starts with resting in and enjoying God and what He has accomplished.
Interestingly, the Bible doesn't tell us much about what God did on that first Sabbath, but it does tell us about what man did. Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, enjoying the fruits of God's labor from the previous six days. God instructed them to enjoy everything in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Then, as God was resting, the serpent entered the garden and tempted Adam and Eve, and they fell into sin.
The only thing we know about what God was doing was that he was resting from all this work. He was observing His Sabbath. When the day of rest ended, God returned in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8) to confront Adam and Eve about what had happened. He then got to work restoring order, making clothes for them from animal skins, and issuing consequences for their sin and a hope of redemption. Despite what happened while He was resting, God continued to mandate the Sabbath.
From this, we learn that we shouldn't abandon what is right even when things go wrong. God didn't overreact to Adam and Eve's sin; instead, He maintained what was good and continued to emphasize the importance of the Sabbath.
Therefore, we, too, should keep observing the Sabbath. Taking a Sabbath helps us be more like God, encourages us to trust Him, and realigns our focus on what He has accomplished for us. It helps us find rest in Him. When we rest, we embrace the goodness God gives us, and when we help others find rest, we share that goodness with them.
Today, God continues His work through the Church, offering us times and seasons of rest. This allows us to enjoy what He has done and is doing for us and through us. The Church benefits from the completed redemptive work of Christ by taking the Sabbath and is also called to give this rest to those weary from sin and separation from God.
Peace be with you!
- Pastor Bruce
