Genesis 2:1-3: So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished His work of creation, so He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when He rested from all his work of creation.

In the sixth day of creation, God made man, and when He had finished His work, He entered into the seventh day. God now began to rest from all His labors. Even so, at some point during this time, the Lord took the man and his wife and put them in the garden. As we know, the garden was filled with every source of nourishment that they would need. However, today, I want to bring your attention to what God was doing when He began fellowship with His creation. He was in His rest, and it was time for Him to enjoy both man, whom He had created, and the work of His hands.

Adam was created with the “REST of GOD” on his life because he had the presence of God as well. They were in perfect harmony, and it pleased the Lord. Anything and everything that man needed, God saw to it that it was provided. In other words, God made life very easy for mankind. Up to this point, mankind had no sorrow, and no hard-labor; woman didn’t know what pain was, nor did she know what it meant to have her husband rule over her. However, all of this changed the moment they sinned against God’s command and ate of the tree of knowledge.

There are many people around the world that profess to have faith in Christ. However, they are not aligning themselves with His commandments. Just like Adam and Eve, when we choose to disobey God’s Word and will for our lives, we will grieve the Holy Spirit, and He will lift His presence from our lives. (Explanation in next verse) Likewise, the moment the first couple partook of sin, the presence and the consciousness of God lifted from them; for the first time, they knew what sin was like. They also knew what life would be like apart from the presence of God.

Here is something that Satan and religion don’t want you to know; however, God does, and He’s greater than all else. You can confess faith in Christ and tell people you’re born again, but if you sin against God’s Word, His presence won’t dwell with sin. You won’t lose God’s love or the saving power of the Holy Spirit, but you will lose His power to live victoriously because you have chosen to live in rebellion. It also means that you will have trouble, hardship, and be weighted down with heavy and grievous burdens. Sin produces death, and death produces failure, calamity, bondage, and heartbreak. However, the presence of the Lord produces life, joy, strength, hope, and freedom—just to mention a few.

When God brought Israel out of Egypt, His presence went before them (Exodus 33). His presence manifested as the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. He provided all that was needed in order to sustain their lives while He tested their obedience. Nevertheless, continually, the people of God chose to sin and dishonor Him, even though His presence was with them. There came a time when they pursued other gods and began to put the creation before the Creator. Consequently, His presence lifted, and every one of them, age twenty and older, perished in the wilderness. God didn’t allow them to enter into His rest that He had promised to those who would love Him more than this world.

Today, the promise of a rest from God for His people is still available. Even so, we must choose to live by faith and denounce unbelief or rebellion. When we begin to seek the Lord and His righteousness first, He will begin to release His presence upon our lives. We will know the moment this occurs because life will immediately become easier. Instead of everything breaking down and people always failing you, you will begin to experience success and favor. When God promises us His rest, we need to snap to attention and heed what He is saying to us. If we do, it will go well for us, and we will also possess the authority that God has promised to us in the New Testament. I want to leave you with a Scripture that reveals why God’s presence lifted off Israel in the wilderness. Have a blessed and restful day.

Hebrews 3:7-14: That is why the Holy Spirit says, “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness. There your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for forty years. So I was angry with them, and I said, ‘Their hearts always turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.’ So in my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’” Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters.  Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.

—submitted by Pastor Asa Dockery, US