The God of Rest (2/3)

(Part 2: Sabbath from Christ to New Creation)

Text: Genesis 2:1-3, Exo. 31:12-18, Col. 2:16-17

{Genesis: Gospel Prologue}

[Sermon Takeaway by Jaz] The big question regarding the Sabbath is – did we change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday? Or is this really the core question?

Most of us here in our so-called “Christian” nation (Philippines) grew up thinking and practicing that Sunday was the Christian Sabbath, even without knowing why or how it happened. Reformed and evangelical groups are even divided regarding this matter. Some in the evangelical spectrum are Old Covenant Sabbatarians who practice and believe that the Sabbath is and should be on Saturdays while most confessional, Reformed churches believe that Saturday has been changed to Sunday while retaining “Sabbath” principles. Later on, we will find out if the big question is the question that we should actually be asking.

“The authority is in the sufficiency of the Scriptures because even faithful theologians still differ. Our rule for faith and practice is the Word of God.”

This is why it is necessary to remind ourselves and the church that the authority is in the sufficiency of the Scriptures because even faithful theologians still differ. Our rule for faith and practice is the Word of God. The truth is one of the significant reasons why churches are so weak and dying is because our theology and practice of Sabbath rest is so weak and confusing.

The previous sermon explained that the Sabbath is “of God”, “for God”, and “in God.” These are the non-negotiables when we talk of the Sabbath. God sanctified the Sabbath. Like the elements in “temple” (as in the Old Testament), they are still ordinary things sset apart for God’s holy use—thus, sanctified. From creation to eternity, God is giving us a picture of His grand goal of Sabbath rest. God sanctified them for His extraordinary purpose.

This sermon focused on two parts:

1. Sabbath from Creation to Christ

– In Exodus 31:12-18 God declared the Sabbath to be observed forever.

– Yet notice that In Ephesians 2:14-15, The “Law” expressed “in ordinances” is abolished and in Colossians 2:16, no one is to judge anyone regarding differing practices in Sabbath or food and drink (dietary laws) or any festival.

Does this mean that Exodus 31 contradicts Ephesians 2:14-15 and Colossians 2:16? The answer can be found in God’s instruction in His law. This we will try to analyze.

2. Sabbath from Christ to New Creation

First, let’s look at the Law as a whole.

– James has said that when you disobey one law, you disobey the rest of it (James 2:10).

– For the Reformed students, they connected their thinking with how the Hebrews thought: they actually saw the Law as a whole but with three divisions/dimensions. It’s as if there is a triunity within the law. They are the moral, civil, and ceremonial divisions.

A. The Law’s Moral Dimension

The law’s moral dimension displays the unchanging character and nature of the moral Lawgiver: God Himself. It serves as the foundation for all other dimensions since “all law is moral.”

This moral dimension in its “concentrated form” is found in the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments. When God commanded that idolatry is futile, it showed His singularity, worth and sufficiency—thus, we should have no other gods. When God said to not commit adultery, it points to God as the God who acknowledges and designed the sanctity and beauty of marriage, which will illustrate His own love for His people. When God said to not lie, it points to God as the God of truth. The moral Law points to the moral Lawgiver.

The moral law is also the natural law. In the Old Testament, He gave His new covenant—putting “the Law” in the hearts of His people, through His Spirit of Truth. This as an anticipation of Christ and as part of creation where God’s moral character can be seen through man’s conscience which was also reiterated by Paul in Romans 2:14-15. The moral law as “law of nature” points that even before the Decalogue, even before the fall, the essence of the Law (Adam’s love for God and for Eve, his neighbor) was already there in forms of a God-entranced conscience. Even before the Decalogue, Cain was a murderer, Abraham was a liar, and men were sinners—all on the basis of God’s moral standards. When sin came (Gen. 3), God’s image was distorted during Adam’s headship leading to mankind’s death and separation from God. The Law was transgressed and this threw everyone into the Adamic state of imputed sin and confusion (man redefining good and evil)—something that the “Law in stone” will try to regulate (Exodus 20, Deu. 5) but will never, ever aid apart from the Spirit of God powerfully recreating it within.

B. The Law’s Civil Dimension

This dimension is the legal or “judicial” division of the law governing the nation of Israel as a theocracy. Philip Ross calls this “in-the-land” laws, meaning, relevance is based mainly upon Israel’s presence in their designated land as Deuteronomy 4:14 as being the civil aspect and verse 13 as the moral aspect. This includes case laws, food and hygiene laws, regulations regarding safety, debts and etc. God Himself has given these regulations so that Israel will be different or set apart from the nations around them. This shows how serious God is with His holiness. If you are part of His people, then you are to pattern your living to the Holy God.

C. The Law’s Ceremonial Dimension

This dimension is the “purity” or ritual duties God’s people is required to do on the outset of sin. The sacrificial laws govern how one should function and be cleansed in a society centered upon temple and tabernacle life. These are rules and regulations concerning worship and cleansing that include priestly duties, altar worship, festivals, the regulations regarding the ark of the covenant, and religious feast days.

It is clear that in Matthew 5:17-20, Christ came to fulfill the law, not abolish it. In connection with the Sabbath Law, we get to see more of a heart issue which the Pharisees did not understand—which is why they continued to judge Jesus when He was ministering during the Sabbath. Sabbath was made for man (Mark 2:27-28)—for restoration through rest. Yet the legalists (Pharisees) focused too much on their self-made laws, making themselves lord. Jesus reminded them who is the real lord of Sabbath (v.28). Jesus did not disobey the Law. They did. If they were right and Christ broke the law, then He would not have been a perfect sacrifice for our sins and a worthy Savior.

In Matthew 12, after His invitation to come and enter “rest”, Jesus claimed to be the lord of the Sabbath. On its very core, He is the rest we need. The beauty of the Old Testament and the commandment on Sabbath was that it pointed to the previously anticipated and now realized temple, Jesus Christ, in the New Testament. He is the very substance that the shadow of Sabbath pointed to (Col. 2:16-17).

John 5:1-18 showed at the same time how Jesus was the Lord of the Sabbath. Together, Jesus and the Father were working and continues to work. If there was a single second that the Father was not working, utter chaos will happen to His creation. Here in Sabbath, God has been and is still sustaining His people. It was God who worked for us to rest in Christ. Why did Jesus heal on the Sabbath? Jesus was restoring everything back to creation as what He did for the withered man. The essence of Sabbath is restoration which Jesus perfectly embodied as the Lord of the Sabbath in whom our soul rests. God is glorified when His people are fully resting in Christ.

So is the Sabbath Saturday or Sunday?

Let’s wait for the third and last part of this article.

The Author