God's Pattern Of Rest

 

God's Pattern Of Rest

Moses recounted God's pattern of creation: the earth was formless and empty. Instead of an explosive expansion, as the Big Bang theory suggests, it was God's spoken word that brought everything into existence. God spoke life and power into the earth, and whatever He spoke became reality. In the beginning, all was blackness, darkness, and chaos until God introduced light, form, water, and humanity through His words, making the earth habitable.

After laying the foundation of creation and seeing the overall picture of His work, God declared it good and then rested. This "rest" doesn’t imply that God abandoned the earth or left it to manage itself. My thoughts are that, since creation, God's spoken word has continued to work in countless ways: restoring limbs, granting victories, and proclaiming prophecies through the mouths of prophets. In this sense, the spoken word—who is God—remains active and alive.

So, what does rest imply in this context?

Rest, in this case, implies a cessation of repetitive actions. Since the spoken word created the world, there has been no need to recreate it. When God saw that all He had made was good, He rested, signifying that rest comes when our work is complete and deemed good.

The troubles that plague the world today persist because the root causes of these issues have not been resolved or declared good. Until a creation is perfected and certified as good, rest cannot be achieved.

True rest came through Jesus when He died on the cross, descended to battle death, overcame it, and rose again. Until that moment, there was no true rest in the world.

Historically, Saul fought many battles but failed to complete his mission against the Amalekites, preventing him from finding rest. This unfinished conflict spilled over into David’s reign, continuing the cycle of battles. While the nature of these battles has changed over time—from physical swords to spiritual struggles, and even to the internal battles of fear that people face today—rest remained elusive until Jesus conquered death.

On Life

It took six days to create the world from nothing, and it wasn’t until the seventh day, after the world was completed and declared good, that rest was guaranteed.

The number of days it takes to build a life, relationship, or business may vary, but rest only comes after all aspects are well established and certified as good. These initial stages are often tough because building from nothing is no easy feat. However, once these foundations are solid and declared good, rest is assured.

Is rest the rent man pays to God for our stay on earth?

God is the ultimate builder and businessman. He entered a state of rest after creating everything, passing the responsibility of maintaining creation to humanity. Man's consistent work on the earth is a testament to God’s rest.

Similarly, once a businessman has built his business to the point where it is well-established and functioning efficiently, he can delegate the day-to-day operations to others. He no longer needs to be involved in every aspect of the business. Interestingly, this is the surest way to achieve massive success, as the business continues to operate, regardless of time or day.

Just as God’s work endures and men continually affirm His creation, so too does a businessman who follows this principle, affirmed by the work of his employees. 

This is true rest.