...keeping the Sabbath holy...

“1 THUS THE HEAVENS and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done” Genesis 2:1-3.

Blessing Day 7 as a day God blessed and made holy because on it God rested begs the question: Is REST the MAIN GOAL OF CREATION?

The cosmos has a function not only with people in mind, but the cosmos is also intended to carry out a function related to God. On the seventh day are we discovering that God has been working to achieve a rest? This seventh day is not a theological appendix to the creation account, just to bring closure now that the main event of creating people has been reported.    Day 7 points to the purpose of creation and of the cosmos. God not only sets up the cosmos so that people will have a place, but God also sets up the cosmos to serve as His temple. The creation of people may be the climax of the six days of creation, but it is not the end of the story. It is Day 7 that is blessed and sanctified, which suggests the significance of what happens there.

Is the creation of the cosmos the story of God creating His Temple?

Isaiah 66:1 expresses these words: 

“Thus says the Lord: Heaven is my throne

and the earth is my footstool;

    what is the house that you would build for me,

     and what is my resting-place” Isa.66:1?

Isaiah clearly points out the temple/cosmos function in biblical theology as it identifies heaven as God’s throne and earth as his footstool, providing a resting place for Him. God likewise achieves rest on the seventh day of creation, and He takes up rest in His temple as spoken in Psalm 132:13-14:

“For the LORD has chosen Zion,

He has desired it for His dwelling:

‘This is my resting place for ever and ever;

here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it’” Exodus 31:13.

So, temples are for divine “rest,” and divine rest is found in sanctuaries or sacred space.

Observing the Sabbath is a way to recognize God’s control of the cosmos, and He rules the cosmos from His temple, which is a microcosmic model. Exodus 31:13 makes the Sabbath a sign of the covenant: “13 You yourself are to speak to the Israelites: ‘You shall keep my sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, given in order that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you” Exodus 31:13. As God reveals His nature through his chosen people, Israel, it is incumbent on them to continually give recognition to who he is.

So today in your prayer, ask the question: What should the Sabbath mean to us? Is the Sabbath a law that we Christians have to keep? Christianity isn’t defined as a set of rules we have to keep, just as the Bible is not a book of rules. The Bible reveals the God whom we serve. God did not create us so that He could save us, though He has always been willing to do so. Rather, creation flows out of who God is. Creation is a natural expression of His attributes. A society-wide response designates the Sabbath as a holy holiday and dictates that it be work-free. But it is up to each of us to determine what our personal response will be in order to give God the honor that He is due.

Take time in prayer today and give God the honor He is due!

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.