After he had finished creation, God rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2). Does that strike you as a little strange? Does this mean that God was tired? Did creation take a lot of out him, and so now he needed to step back for a day for some R&R, to catch his breath?
What does it mean that God rested? In Genesis 2:2, the word for rest (shābat) means to cease or to stop. It doesn’t imply that God was exhausted and needed a break. It means he stopped his work of creation. His work was done.
The word for rest in this verse also has connotations of completion and enjoyment. Bible scholar Allen Ross writes that this word for rest, “is not a word that refers to remedying exhaustion after a tiring week of work. Rather, it describes the enjoyment of accomplishment, the celebration of completion.”[1]
Thus, Genesis 2:2 does not imply that God was tired, and so he took a break. No, it teaches us that since God had completed his work of creation, he stopped and enjoyed what he had made.
God was still working in some sense on Day 7. Jesus himself once said that his Father is always working (John 5:17). God continued to hold the world together and sustain it on Day 7. But he ceased and rested from the work of Creation. The rest of Scripture makes clear that God continues to work through his Providence. He did not create the world and now leaves it to its own devices. He continues to sustain the world, but there was no more for him to create on Day 7. That work was now done, and so God rests.
Our Perfect and Faithful Creator
Creation was finished, and it was very good, filled with God’s goodness and blessing. God didn’t forget anything or leave anything out. There were not any ways he wanted to improve on creation. He wasn’t thinking on Day 7: “I wish I would have done it that way and not this way. I wish I would have created fish to fly and birds to swim underwater.”
No, creation was completed, good, and blessed. He had left nothing out. Everything was beautiful and bountiful. God had finished the creation of all things, and he shows it by resting on the seventh day.
God’s rest on the seventh day should lead us to behold our God and know that he completes what he begins and leaves nothing out. It should lead us to worship and trust him. God is our perfect Creator, who completes what he begins. He is perfect in his wisdom, and perfect in his work. Our hearts should see that and rejoice and worship. This is our God! He is the all-wise Architect of this world.[2] His construction of this universe was perfect and whole, complete and beautiful.
God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day to teach us about himself and lead us to worship him. If God had just created the world in an instant, we would not see his faithful and wise character as clearly. Yet, God created this world in six days and completed this work so that we might know and trust his faithful character.
We can trust that what God begins he brings to completion. He is not a God of open loops or unfinished tasks. He is not forgetful or absent-minded. He is never late or shoddy in his work. God never fails to keep his word and finish what he starts. Genesis 1–2 shows us the wise, perfect, and faithful character of our God, and it should encourage us and increase our faith.
Our New Creation Hope
God’s seventh day rest should encourage us as we live in a restless world. Our God completes what he begins, which includes the good work of redemption he has started in Jesus. God has promised a new creation, and he will make good on that promise.
This world seems so broken, so full of evil, violence, and hate. We live in a world of unrest. Recent events may lead us to give way to rage or hopelessness. We look out at this world and wonder: this is the world we live in? Where a 23-year-old is randomly stabbed and killed? Where a 31-year-old is shot in the neck for speaking his convictions, leaving behind a wife and two kids?
What do we do with these things? One thing we do is we look at our God. We can know that he has not given up on his work of new creation. Evil will not win the day. God is not finished yet. Jesus will come again. All things will be made new. God will do what he promised to do.
God is faithful, you can trust him. Jesus will come again. God will finish what he started. He will complete the new creation he started in Jesus.
God’s Work in You
He will also finish the good work he has begun in you. Through faith in Jesus, we are God’s handiwork, a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). But we are still works in progress. We are still in the process of sanctification. We have not arrived, and what we will be is not yet here or complete (1 John 3:2).
Yet, we can trust that God will finish the work he has started in us. Paul encouraged the Philippians: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ,” (Philippians 1:6).
There may be times in your life where you feel discouraged because you don’t feel like you are growing as much as you think you should be. Maybe you feel like you should be further along in the Christian life than you are. You still battle sins you were fighting five or ten years ago. You still struggle to pray and read the Bible regularly. You just don’t feel very holy. Of course, we must use the means God has given us to grow. The Christian life is not a passive one.
Yet, at the same time, God’s seventh day rest should encourage you today and lead you to a deeper trust in God. By his grace, he is working in you. In the ordinary days of this life, he is conforming you to the image of his Son. He will not leave you partially sanctified on the day of Christ Jesus. He will continue his new creation work in you through his Spirit. One day, on the day of Christ Jesus, he will complete the work he started.
God is not done with you. Don’t lose heart and don’t give up. Worship and trust our Creator who is always faithful. He always does what is good. He will continue to work in you by his Spirit until the day we fully enter his rest, when we are completed new creations in Jesus.
[1] Allen Ross, Creation and Blessing, 113–14.
[2]John Calvin, in his comments on Genesis 2:1–3, describes God as “the Architect, the bountiful Father of a family, who has omitted nothing essential to the perfection of his edifice.” John Calvin, Commentaries, trans. John King, Accordance electronic edition.
This post was adapted from the sermon below:
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