Before all else, there was God. Nothing and no one else. Just God. God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit were the only one there. There was sweet union and wonderful communication. Then God created time and the rest of creation. This tells us there is a clear distinction between God and creation because God is eternal, has no beginning, and is self-existent. All else had a beginning and is dependent on the Creator for existence. God is distinct from His creation.
In the beginning, when this universe was formed, God spoke it into existence. The fact He spoke it into existence showed not only His power to create but also His authority over all He created.
In the beginning, God spoke time, space and matter into existence. His focus, His design was to create a world for mankind to live, a place where God and man could walk, talk, laugh and live together.
God focused His attention on planet earth, defining the rotation of the earth as a day, a 24 hour period and placed mankind on this earth, giving him the joy and privilege of working the soil and exercising stewardship over the earth.
God’s crowning act of creation was mankind, man and woman. When He had created man and woman, He said, “this is VERY good.”
Genesis 1:27-31
Genesis 1:27 says mankind was created in the image of God. Among other things, the main point is that man was created so he could connect with, fellowship with, commune with God. However, this connection, this fellowship or communion with God was broken when mankind sinned or rebelled against God’s authority. Now, the only way to get back into a right relationship with the Creator is to accept the gift and sacrifice of God’s Son, to believe and accept the truth of Jesus Christ as the willing sacrifice for mankind’s sin and rebellion.
Genesis 1:28
Mankind’s responsibility was to be fruitful and increase in number, to rule over the fish, birds and animals, and to eat vegetables.
Genesis 1:31
Mankind is the crown of creation. We are God’s focus, the reason for creation. In a previous discussion we talked about God creating male and female, giving a distinction between the two. The uniqueness and unity of male and female will be studied inGenesis 2:4-25. First we will study the rest of the creation week as found in Genesis 2:1-3.
Genesis 2:1-3
What does it mean to be holy or to make something holy?
Holiness is a way to describe something or someone who has been set aside for a particular purpose. God is holy because He is distinct or set apart from all of creation. To be holy means to have a specific purpose and to fulfill or accomplish that purpose. As an example, a screwdriver has a distinct purpose different from a wrench. A screwdriver is set apart for a particular purpose as well as a wrench. They are “set apart” in the sense they are used to either unscrew something or fit a particular application. A Phillips screwdriver is even more specific in its purpose for it is used to screw or unscrew something with a Phillips head. To be “holy” not only means to be set aside for a particular purpose, but to be set aside and accomplish God’s purpose. God is holy because He is distinct from all creation and He is holy because He is righteous and good in all that He does. If we align ourselves with the purpose of God, if we do that which is right and good in His sight, we are being holy. Therefore, holiness is something we can attain, it is something we can practice in our daily lives. When we are instructed “to be holy for God is holy,” this is something we can do because God has given us the ability, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to exercise His character of love, forgiveness, joy, patience, peace, goodness and to be able to do His will in our lives.
Genesis 2:2-3 The sabbath
How many days a week does God work? It says that He rested from His creative work on the 7th day, but Jesus says in John 5:17, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” What were Jesus and the Father working toward? The intent of God, through His Son Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit was the work of salvation.
On this day of “creation”, when God rested, He paused from His acts of creation. He did not end the day with “so there was evening and there was morning”. God has an ETERNAL rest in mind. Hebrews 4:9-10 says, “So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.”
The point of God’s rest was to show that works are not the means to “rest”, but identify with His work, His plan, His process, is to identify with His rest. God rested from His work and we are able to rest from our “work” because we identify with, associate with His work and rest. This is the true Sabbath rest. I believe God has this in mind even during creation. Even though all was good and proper, all was perfect, He knew man would fall and be in need of redemption. So God “paused” at the end of His creative work, paused until Jesus cried from the cross “It is finished.” What was finished was the redemptive work of God as well as eternal rest. This was a work that could not be accomplished or completed by man, but was a work completed by God.
Purpose of the Sabbath
Hebrews 4:11-13 says, “Let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through the same example of disobedience. For the word of God . . . examines our deepest intent, thoughts and motives.” It is not what we “do” but what we “believe”, it is who we “rest” in. It is not enough to simply hear God’s Word, but it is important to act on it, believe it. To believe means to embrace it as true and therefore respond to what it says, to mix it with faith and trust. If you really hear the Word of God, you will receive the benefits of what it says because you act on what you hear.
Hebrews was written to those who were considering a return to the system of rules and regulations, “works”. But there were no works God would consider sufficient, because all had been accomplished in Jesus Christ. The work of God was done, complete in the person and work of Jesus. It is through our rest, our sabbath in Christ that we are able to truly rest.
This idea was also found with the children of Israel in the wilderness. God provided mana 6 days a week, but on the Sabbath, mana ceased to fall as seen in Exodus 16:29. What is the reason God would stop the mana from appearing on the Sabbath? Jesus referred to Himself as the bread from heaven, the mana sent by God. In essence Jesus was saying that the work of God, seen on the 6 days of the week, was sent to provide for the needs of the people, but the Sabbath was the day of rest, of completion, of fulfillment found in the person and work of Christ.
Exodus 31:15, 35:2,3 tells us that the sabbath was so sacred that if anyone defied God’s instruction to observe the Sabbath, they should be stoned. This was carried out as found in Numbers 15:32.
Exodus 23:12 tells us that the Sabbath was meant as a time to refresh ourselves.
Leviticus 16:31, 23:32 tells us that the sabbath was to be a “solemn rest for you, that you may humble your souls.”
Isaiah 1:13 tells us that it wasn’t the day of the Sabbath that God was concerned about but heart attitude and obedience, doing what is right and good in His sight.
Jesus mentions that the priests break the Sabbath because of all the work they do to offer twice as many sacrifices as on a regular day. Matthew 12:5
Jesus heals on the Sabbath as seen in John 5:9-18 and John 9.
In Mark 2:27 Jesus said to the people , “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” The weight of the Sabbath should not demean, burden, weigh man down. But man is to use the Sabbath for its intended purpose, which was to rest, refresh, reflect.
Having considered the real purpose behind the Sabbath, let us accept the true gift of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, able to deliver us from the penalty and power of sin in our lives. And let us take time during the week to pause, rest, and reflect on God’s goodness and Almighty character. Let us consider how we can serve Him and each other in the days ahead.
