Holy Rest

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Holy Rest
by PJ Salas

ʺThus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them. Then on the seventh day, God ended His work He created; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work. Moreover, God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because He rested from all His work He created.ʺ Genesis2:1-3.

Creation Week

The Lord God Almighty created planet earth and its atmospheres in six days. The Bible is specific about how long God took to create our world.

Day One

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. …and God said, let there be light, and there was light. …and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. Thus, the evening and the morning were the first day.” Genesis1:1-5.

Day Two

“…God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament… God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.” Genesis1:6-8.

Day Three

“God said, let the waters under the heavens be gathered together…and let the dry land appear…and God called the dry land Earth, and the gathered waters He called Sea. …And God said, let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and fruit trees yielding fruit…whose seed is in itself… And the evening and the morning were the third day.” Genesis1:9-13.

Day Four

"…God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. …And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.” Genesis1:14-19.

Day Five

“…God created great sea creatures, every living thing that moves in the waters…and every winged bird according to its kind… Thus, the evening and the morning were the fifth day.“ Genesis1:20-23.

Day Six

“God said, let the earth bring forth the living creature…cattle and the creeping things and beasts… Then God created man in His own image…He created male and female... And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” Genesis1:24-31.

Day Seven

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished... And on the seventh day, God ended His work He created; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work. God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because He rested from all His work He created.” Genesis2:1-3.

God Blessed the seventh day and made it holy.

Six Literal Days

The Lord God, Creator of the universe, formed planet earth in six literal twenty-four hour days. Then He rested on the seventh day making it a holy day unto Himself for all people, and for all time (Isaiah66:22,23;Hebrews4:6-11).

Established At Creation

It is significant and noteworthy that, after creating our world, God rested on the seventh day from His work, instituting His holy seventh day Sabbath rest at creation.

God ordained that people should keep His holy Sabbath eternally, now and forever (Is66:22,23;He4:6-11), a holy rest He established at creation. Moreover, God Himself rested on the seventh day, and was refreshed by His holy day of rest, that He established. (Ex31:17).

Seventh Day Sabbath Worship

The fourth of the Ten Commandments mandates that we are to keep the Sabbath holy, and rest from work on the seventh day.

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy."

"Six days you will labor and do all your work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God, you will do no work, you, nor your children, nor your employees, nor your animals, nor the visitor within your gates."

"For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day. Thus, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.” Exodus20:8-11.

God's Sabbath Our Blessing

The holy Sabbath rest from secular work and activity is an excellent blessing from the Lord. It is an opportunity to leave the cares of this world behind and put our minds on spiritual things as we worship God and enter His holy rest.

Furthermore, resting from work and worshiping God on His holy seventh day Sabbath is more than an opportunity, it is a privilege and an honor. And, it is a direct command from God who wrote the Ten Commandments in stone with His own finger (Exodus31:18;Deuteronomy9:10).

God’s Sabbath Not A Burden

Sometimes we view God’s commands as burdensome and arbitrary, but they are not. It is a deception of satan, who wants to take us away from our Creator. The Bible teaches that the love of God is to keep His commandments, and that His commandments are not burdensome (1John5:3).

Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments." John14:15. Christ also said, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, this is the one who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." John14:21.

Jesus tells us that, “if you keep My commandments, you abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love." John15:10. Therefore, if we love God, we keep His commandments, which He instituted out of love for us.

We need the Lord’s commandments, they are a blessing to us, they are the standard by which we are to live our life through Jesus Christ. It is how we express love to God, and to each other. (Matthew22:36-40;Romans13:9).

Faith In Jesus

By faith, we keep all ten of God’s commandments, which includes His holy Sabbath rest. By worshiping Him and ceasing from secular activity, through Jesus, we keep holy God's day of rest.

“What a blessedness, what a joy divine, leaning on the Everlasting Arms.” Oh how special it is to spend every Sabbath with our dear Savior, who is Lord of the Sabbath; to be with Him on His holy day resting from work, and worshiping Him in the beauty of His holiness. (Mt12:8;Mk2:28;Lk6:5;1Chr16:29;Ps29:2;96:9).

“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Creator." Psalms95:6“…fear God and give Him glory; for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Revelation14:7.