Did you know that when God created the first day, He made the evening first? In the evening we rest. So for man, rest comes first… rest before work. God intended for everything in our lives to be initiated out of rest.
“God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.” (Genesis 1:5)1
God created everything by simply speaking the word, and then He rested. Does God get tired? No. He didn’t rest because He was tired. He rested because His work was finished.
“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.” (Genesis 2:2-3)
God made Adam and Eve on the sixth day, the last day of creation. He made man last because man was the object of His affection and the recipient of all He had made. God put Adam and Eve in the beautiful Garden of Eden to enjoy it forever.
“Eden” means pleasure,2 and their job was to tend the garden of pleasure.3 I’ve tried to imagine what tending a garden would be like with no weeds and no pests. Everything was in perfect balance in nature so there was no toil and no labor. I guess they just plucked the fruit and enjoyed it. Rest, enjoyment, and fellowship with God was their life!
Jesus came to give us the rest that God always intended for mankind.
“So there is a full complete rest still waiting for the people of God. Christ has already entered there. He is resting from his work, just as God did after the creation.” (Hebrews 4:9-10, Living Bible)4
(from pages 329-330 of Unveiling Jesus)
Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!
Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.
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1All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
2H5731 (Eden), Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, website: http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H5731&t=KJV, accessed 6-11-14
3Genesis 2:15
4The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
