Following on from my last intro post for this post series on 'Rest best', I'm going to tackle my reflections on what 'creation' has to do with work and rest. This lands us way back in the Garden of Eden at the very beginning of the bible, at the very beginning of the world. This is where God - the creator, revealed to Adam - the created being who resembled the whole of humanity, what his work is.
In this story of creation God speaks different parts of the world into existence, one day at a time over seven days. On the sixth day there's a climax and completion of Gods creating acts: God creates man. In Genesis 1:28-30 on the sixth day after creating man, God instructs them to: be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it; to rule every creature that crawls on the earth. They are given their 'work' and everything they need to fulfil this 'work', but there is still one day of 'the seven days of creation' left. On the seventh day, God rests from His creating work. Genesis 2:3 reads 'God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from His work of creation'. As creation ‘worked’ in obedience to God, He rested from it and in it. He rested from it as his creating acts were finished, and rested in it as it revealed his glory.
"Hold on - what do you mean by that glory bit?" you may ask. Well, I think of God's glory as the very 'Godness' of God or the substance of God. God perfectly expresses that through His words, and when there is perfect obedience to His words we see something of Him in it... as in this uncorrupted scene at day 7 of the creation narrative. He spoke and it was so. The idea of God's glory being expressed by perfect obedience to His word reminds me of something - if you're not catching my drift stick a metaphorical sticky note right HERE & i'll fill you in later (hint: Phillipians 2:8, & 2 Corinthians 4:6). God resting IN His creation in this way also means His creation rested IN Him - resting in knowledge of its creators character.
But it's not all unicorns & rainbows forever. As you may know this story continues and just sentences later is followed by the tragic climactic conflict that most of the bible is bent on resolving : sin. Lets pick this up next post...
"Hold on - what do you mean by that glory bit?" you may ask. Well, I think of God's glory as the very 'Godness' of God or the substance of God. God perfectly expresses that through His words, and when there is perfect obedience to His words we see something of Him in it... as in this uncorrupted scene at day 7 of the creation narrative. He spoke and it was so. The idea of God's glory being expressed by perfect obedience to His word reminds me of something - if you're not catching my drift stick a metaphorical sticky note right HERE & i'll fill you in later (hint: Phillipians 2:8, & 2 Corinthians 4:6). God resting IN His creation in this way also means His creation rested IN Him - resting in knowledge of its creators character.
But it's not all unicorns & rainbows forever. As you may know this story continues and just sentences later is followed by the tragic climactic conflict that most of the bible is bent on resolving : sin. Lets pick this up next post...