“…He had rested from all his work which God created and made.” (Genesis 2:3).
I have been considering the story of creation in all of its parts.
Most importantly, the story recounted in Genesis 1:1-31, 2:1-3, is not a LITERAL story, but a figurative one. What this means is that the story does not show that God LITERALLY created the world in six or seven days, instead, it shows us the pattern of creation. And this is because creation was a conscious thing, not an accident.
We were made in the :image and likeness of God and that means that God had a plan when He put us altogether…
The first three days of the story relate the creation. The universe was chaos in the beginning, “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” (Genesis 1:2). And by the end of the story the emptiness was filled, and “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31).
And so, the first thing that God created was time, which is reflected by His light, which He brings into the world for us, “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3). And then He created space by separating the waters. In the Old Testament, people believed that the waters were separated by the firmament, and this is how God created space, “And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.” (Genesis 1:6-7).
Then, after creating time and space and the dry land, God embellished His creations through the birds of the air, creatures of the sae and those of the land. Plants came as well, and finally, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:27-28).
And because human beings were created in the image and likeness of God, God – who is untiring and eternal and not in need of rest Himself, rested… “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” (Genesis 2:2-3). And that rest was created for me – it was created for you too. That is why God sanctified it. Without that day of rest we would not be able to rest in God. For God returned to the Divine after creation and in doing so, He allowed us to return to Himself in the divine too…
And when I think about that today, I am struck with awe at the majesty of a creator that rested – JUST for me…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.