Relocating To Elfland

God “rested” on the seventh day, we are told (Gen 2:2–3), and “was refreshed” in the works of His hands (Ex 31:17). What makes this so remarkable is that we know God did not “rest” out of a deficit in His energies (the Almighty never wearies) but rather out of the surpluses of His joy; He set an entire day aside to punctuate His joyful pronouncement, “It is very good” (Gen 1:31). This suggests that in God’s very nature as God there is an “impulse” to savor things: not simply to do and fashion but also to delight in what has been done and fashioned. From this impulse the divine resting proceeded, not from any sort of fatigue after six days of labor.

What might this mean for those created in God’s image? We tend to think of the Sabbath as a much needed “break” after our draining labors in a sin-stricken world. It is this, but it is much, much more. The Sabbath as God conceived it takes its orientation not from exhaustion but from joy, not from the emptiness of the curse but from the excesses of divine blessing. We don’t need the Sabbath simply because we are fallen; we need it because we are made in the likeness of God. We need it for the same reason He “needs” it (so to speak): because it is in our nature, created and redeemed, to celebrate His goodness, to refresh ourselves in His beauty. Stretching to the horizon in every direction, we see by faith the works of the Lord – creation, redemption, resurrection, fruits of the Spirit. We stand at His side and pleasure ourselves in His doing and fashioning; and we glimpse in the glass of His promises still greater things to come. This is what the Sabbath is for. It was made for us, in conformity with our nature, because it conforms to the nature of God.