“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”
God has completed his work of creation in six days, but he has not finished his work of revelation in this creation event. Indeed, he adds one more formal day to his creation, which begins a cycle of Gospel revelation for God’s people until Jesus should return to fulfill all things. The cycle is simple: six days of labor, one day of rest. God rests. But God’s resting on the seventh day is not humanity’s concept of resting (lounging, sleeping, and so on), because God neither slumbers nor sleeps (Psalm 121:4)!
God’s rest is the intentional absence of work.
Thus, with perfect intentionality, God reveals the answer to humanity’s current plight, that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Surprisingly, the answer to this most important problem is an absence of work on the human’s part, and a beautiful revealing of God’s work on behalf of his people, who are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:24). For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8, 9).
In order to be saved, humanity must intentionally stop working. God shows us this on the seventh day, when he intentionally stops working, and reminds us of this over and over in his Word to us.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
“And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.””
“And the LORD said to Moses, “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’””
The sign points to salvation, and it is God who does the work—that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you. On the seventh day, God’s intentional absence of work reveals his most intentional presence of work in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.