To Sabbath or Not to Sabbath: Fact#3

This week we consider the third fact about putting together a correct understanding of the meaning of Sabbath.

Here, once again, is the text before us, Genesis 2:1-3 from the English Standard Version:

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

FACT #3: The area of focus today is the specific action from which God rested was creation. The text says, “So God…rested from all his work that he had done in creation” (v. 3b). There is no further record of any creative activity. God created man then He rested. Nothing has been made by God since. Man is the last physical effort of God in the creation story. It can therefore be concluded that the Sabbath (rest) in which God entered continues to this day. God is continuously active in a multitude of ways but He is not physically creating today.

Jesus is accused by the Pharisees of breaking the Sabbath when he healed invalid man in John chapter five. Jesus replies by saying in verse seventeen, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” Christ’s argument was that it was proper for him to do an act of mercy on the Sabbath day because he was simply emulating his Father who was continuously active in mercy and love on his Sabbath day, his protracted rest. God stopped creating but he was still busy in a thousand different ways.

Hence, the third part of the Sabbath puzzle is this: the true Sabbath means that God’s creative activity has ended.

Just an added thought to mull over. Numerous evolutionists acknowledge that man is the end of the evolutionary ladder, and that nothing further has evolved since the advent of man. We cannot agree with them as to how man came into being, but it is curious that they agree at this point that there is no further indication of evolutionary development beyond man.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 80-20 Rule

In 1906, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country, observing that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth. The Pareto Principle, or 80/20 rule, states that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.   Although this rule was first applied in Italy when Pareto was looking at the dispersal of wealth, it has since become a rule of thumb for many businesses.   It has been said that 20% of your workforce does 80% of the work, or 80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients.   I think this law comes into play in our lives as well.   Life is 20% what happens to you and 80% what you make of it. There are tons of stories about people who come out of difficult situations — gang life, in and out of jail, drug addiction, broken families, abuse – yet still seem to rise to the top.   And of course, there are many stories of those who have been given...
Read more

Control Yourself

When it comes to our life, we have nothing to say about our birth and little say about our death, but in between these two events most of the decisions are ours to be made. Are you letting life and circumstances control you, or are you controlling your own life and destiny with God’s help. Don't let life pass you by when you have the God-given ability to make things happen. I've heard it said: You can't control the length of your life, but you can control its use. You can't control your facial appearance, but you can control its expression. You can't control the weather, but you can control the moral atmosphere that surrounds you. You can't control the distance of your head above the ground, but you can control the height of the contents in your head. You can't control the other fellow's annoying faults, but you can see to it that you do not develop similar faults. Why worry about things you cannot cont...
Read more

Bounce Back

As a 7th grader in junior high school, I was devastated when I was cut from the starting 8th grade football team and sent to the second team.   I felt disappointed, embarrassed and dejected.   Latter that week, I spoke with my grandfather who passed on these words of wisdom, “It’s not how far you fall, but how high you bounce back that matters.”   I took those words to heart. The Bible says in Proverbs 25:11, “Timely advice is lovely, like golden apples in a silver basket.” I valued his wise words and committed to doing my best for this second string team, instead of pouting and complaining over my sense of failure. I committed to working hard, giving my all to bounce back. It served me well as I entered high school and played on two state championship teams. I learned that day that what happens to me in life doesn’t count as much as how I react to those things.   I had a choice the day I was cut from the team—I could wallow in misery and quit the team, or I ...
Read more