It's amazing to think of how Jesus, who was perfect, was so willing to suffer for our sakes. He not only suffered to be an example for us, but took on all the sins and sufferings of the entire world.
The following is a reading plan that I developed for some newer disciples / followers of Jesus to help them get a good picture of what is going on in Scripture from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. Our English Bibles do not follow a clear chronological order (particularly in the Old Testament), so many people who read the Bible straight through aren't able to, say, summarize the Biblical narrative as a whole. This is a bit of a problem as I believe that a developing healthy understanding of the Bible's story (and my/your place in it) is an essential component of discipleship.
Just as any other ritual or act of observance under the old law, I believe the act of observing the Sabbath on a particular day was replaced with the only true rest we can ever be assured of, Jesus Christ Himself.