God Rested-- So Should We

Genesis 2:2-3

from JoeUser Forums

By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing, so on the seventh day He rested from all his work.  And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done.

 

Too many of us hold to the myth that fatigue is next to godliness.  We act as though we believe that God wants us to work until we drop and that only when we drop can we take a break and recover.  After our restoration we're back to the insane performance once again.

Here's a newsflash.  God Himself rested.  Genesis 2:2 tells us that after creating the entire world and cosmos, God rested.  If God willingly rested, why do we think we shouldn't?

Give yourself permission to rest through play.  Start today.  Let the laundry go.  Forget about washing the car.  Make pancakes with funny faces from chocolate chips.  Trade off kid duty for a few hours with your spouse and use the time for you alone.  Make a fort of pillows, rent a family film and eat popcorn atop your nest.

After He finished all the work He was doing, God rested. And so should we.

religion
1,323 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
Hello, Poetmom. Rest, I can handle that. I thought I'd add a couple of thoughts of my own, here. You may or may not like them. I am thankful for our days of rest. If you read Genesis in context of the rest of the bible, this idea of the Genesis rest gets pretty interesting. By the time of Christ, the Jews had figured it out that God really didn't need rest as a man does. The Old Testament says that God is not as a man and does not slumber or sleep. Christ comes along and then says, concerning the 7th day, that God works and so does He. The question becomes, in what manner did God rest in the Genesis account.. The answer that is derived by Jews and Christians together is that God only ceased creating, not ceased working because he upholds all the universes and all things the power of His works and therefore, was still working but not creating.

The day of Rest which God had given the Jews in Exodus 16 became more than just a day off to rest, it became a sign of the covenant relationship between God and the Jews where they are His own special children and He, their Father. The Rest of the 7th day become a sign of Jew's fellowship with God. The rest of the 7th day was rather temporal in nature because come the first day of the week, it was back to work. While in the rest in Genesis, there was no back to work after the 7th day for God. When Christ cames in the New Testament , He offers the Jews who were heavy ladened with the burdens of the Law of Moses and the oppression of the Roman Government an opportunity to enter a Rest that is permanent, like that of the Genesis account by believing in Christ. The Jews clearly understood the significance of Christ words, "come unto to me all ye that are heavy laden with burdens, and I will give you rest. Mt. 11:28. The opportunity to enter that Rest still remains for us for those who will believe. It is a true rest that is and will be never ending like that of God's from the Genesis account.

We can all give thanks for the weekly rest that was passed down from the commandment and temporal rest given to the Jews and the weekly Rest which was offered to the Gentiles on the 1st day of the week by Christian Church. But , if you really want true rest, you can do as Christ said, "Mt.11:28 "come to ME, all you that labor and I will give you Rest.
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top

But , if you really want true rest, you can do as Christ said, "Mt.11:28 "come to ME, all you that labor and I will give you Rest.
an opportunity to enter a Rest that is permanent, like that of the Genesis account by believing in Christ.


Wow, I have never viewed either of these scriptural references this way. Thank you, Sabbatismus, for giving me something to meditate on during my day and days of rest.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
We can all give thanks for the weekly rest that was passed down from the commandment and temporal rest given to the Jews and the weekly Rest which was offered to the Gentiles on the 1st day of the week by Christian Church. But , if you really want true rest, you can do as Christ said, "Mt.11:28 "come to ME, all you that labor and I will give you Rest.


Do you think there are many that continue to try to please God in their religious rites and never really come to the place that they just spiritually rest in the FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST?

Oh, how sweet the sound... such salvation can be found.... JESUS CHRIST!

Merry Christmas to all that read this thread....
God Bless
preacherman
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
Preacherman, in balance, the scripture shows that religious rites can be pleasing to God when they are conducted as a proper expression of one's faith in God. One may truly rest in the peace with God that Christ has gained through His sacrifice for us. There is always the danger that one can rely on his religious rites as a means of appearing righteous but not be inwardly so, but that does not remove anything from the one who humbly and properly uses the religious rites to do the will of God and found to be pleasing to God because of his faith and good works that Christ does through him, by his grace. I hope that makes some sense.

Have a Great Christmas and New Year.
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top

I agree, but I think I may rest a little too much.  It's all about balance.  Never make a religious statement without stating it's opposite. 

Work, does indeed, bring the soul peace.

Trinitie