1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.REFLECTIONSWritten by Vincent ChanThe word ‘Sabbath’ comes from the Hebrew word ‘stop’, as in, to stop doing what you were doing. Our passage today tells us that after God finished creating the world, he stopped his work of creating. He rested and blessed what he had created – not because he was tired, but because he had finished his work of creating. Now it was time for his creation to enjoy life under God.Later on, in Israel’s history, God commanded the Israelites to stop and rest from their normal work every Saturday. These verses from Genesis shaped much of their thinking towards their weekly ‘Sabbath rest’.For Christians, a lot of ink has been spilled on the question of whether or not we are commanded to keep a ‘Sunday Sabbath’ or not. A short devotion is not the place to wrestle with that. But how should we think about this passage, where God rested on the seventh day?Well, it helps to look at the things that Israel were told they should ‘remember’ on their weekly Sabbath. In Exodus, they were told to remember that God created everything in six days and then rested (Exodus 20:11). In Deuteronomy, they were told to remember how God saved them from slavery in Egypt and brought them out (Deuteronomy 5:15).So whatever you think about a ‘Christian Sabbath’, we should gather with our brothers and sisters to remember similar things. God created us to enjoy the blessing of rest with him. But because of sin, we live ‘outside the garden’, in a world which is no longer experiencing God’s rest. So like Israel, we needed rescuing from slavery to sin. We gather to remember the saving works of God through Christ – is there anything more important than that?And ultimately, the seventh day of creation points us towards the real and eternal rest which we will enjoy in heaven – something which Hebrews chapters 3 and 4 show us. Eternal rest is not where I eternally do nothing, but where creation is eternally in order under God, enjoying his full, unlimited blessing. There are no more tears, sorrow and grief in the new creation, for these things are part of the old creation. So we should always look forward to when God will bring us to the true rest of the new creation, where everything will forever be ‘holy’ and good.QUESTIONHave you ever made something big or difficult and then been able to enjoy it afterwards? How do you think God felt after he finished creating the world?ABOUT THE AUTHORVincent is an Assistant Minister with our Fairfield congregations.