I had to share this wonderful pamphlet with everybody:
In the beginning when God made the heavens and the earth
In six days, the Bible says that he did something special
with the seventh day of the week:
"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished,
and all the host of them. And on the seventh day
God ended his work which he had made;
and he rested on the seventh day
from all his work which he had made.
And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it:
because that in it he had rested from all his work
which God Created and made"
Genesis 2: 1-3 King James Version
Once God had finished His creative work
He rested and blessed the 7th day as a holy day
To sanctify the 7th day means to make it holy
To set it aside for a holy purpose
The first six days of the weekly cycle
Are regarded by God as normal working days
But the 7th day of the week is a blessed day of rest
The fact that God blessed the 7th day of the week
Distinguishes it from all the other 6 working days
Thus making it a special day!
For whose benefit was the 7th day Sabbath blessed?
Jesus tells us in the Gospels that God blessed
And made the 7th day Sabbath a day of rest for man's sake:
"And he (Jesus) said unto them,
The Sabbath was made for man,
and not man for the Sabbath"
Mark 2:27 King James Version
Using the planetary movements we can work out
various times and seasons such as a day, a month and a year:
Day = 24 hours for one revolution of the earth n its axis
Month = one revolution of the moon around the earth
Year = one revolution of the earth around the sun
However we cannot derive the weekly cycle
using planetary movements for none exist
The seven day cycle comes only from the creation
week found in the Bible's record of God's creation.
God worked in 6 days (Sunday to Friday)
and then rested on the 7th day (Saturday)
Jesus says that God blessed it
for all mankind to follow His example.
For which man was the Sabbath blessed?
Just like the marriage situation
God gave and blessed the 7th day Sabbath
before mankind ever fell into sin.
Adam and Eve, as the first parents of mankind
were the first to experience the blessed rest
of the 7th day Sabbath.
Some think that the 7th day Sabbath was given
to a particular race of man, such as the Jewish race,
but Jesus says that the Sabbath day was made
for all mankind - that is all men, women and children.
"And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man,
and not man for the sabbath:"
Mark 2:27 KJV
Abraham was the first Jewish man to live on the earth
and is called the father of Israel in the Bible.
Abraham lived about 2000 years after the Sabbath day
was first blessed and made holy by Creation.
This means that when God blessed
the 7th day Sabbath for man at Creation,
there was no Jewish man alive at that time.
Both Adam and Eve are the parents of all mankind
and God blessed the Sabbath day for all mankind,
not just a particular race, colour or creed of mankind.
God designed all mankind to work for six days and
then to enjoy the blessed rest of the 7th day Sabbath.
For what purpose does God want man to rest on th 7th day Sabbath?
God had a deeper purpose for man in blessing the 7th day
of the week. God wanted man never to forget something
and we find it recorded in the 4th command of
the Ten Commandments:
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labour; and do all thy work:
But the seventh day (is) the sabbath of the LORD thy God:
[in it] thou shalt not do any work...
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that in them [is] and rested the seventh day:
wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it."
Exodus 20: 8-11 King James Version
The 7th day Sabbath was blessed as a day to remember
God's creative works. it was blessed for man's sake
so that man would always remember where he came from, his origins.
God created man, and every week as man stopped from
his weekly labours and rested on the 7th day Sabbath,
man would always remember that he came from the hand of God.
Many today do not know where they came from, where they are,
or where they are heading. God wants us never to forget
that we came from his creative hand.
The 7th day Sabbath therefore is a continual reminder
that we have been made by God and every time we stop our work
and regard the 7th day Sabbath as a holy rest day
we declare that we believe both in Creation and in God who made us.
A day to remember Jesus Christ
The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
was involved in creating us and therefore the Sabbath day
points us also to His creative hand.
"Who is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of every creature: For by Him
were all things created, that are in heaven
and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities,
or powers: all things were created by him and for him:
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist"
Colossians 1:15-17 King James Version
God created everything in the universe, including mankind,
through His Son Jesus Christ. Therefore, as the Son of God
Jesus created the worlds through the power of His word
in 6 days and rested on the 7th day Sabbath.
The 7th day Sabbath then becomes a day to remember
the creative power of Jesus Christ.
In the Gospels, Jesus declares Himself
to be the Lord of the 7th day Sabbath:
"For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day."
MAtthew 12:8 King James Version
When we stop once a week from our weekly six day labour
and worship God on His holy 7th day Sabbath, we are
actually declaring our faith in Jesus Chris and His creative power.
Every 7th day Sabbath we publicly declare to the world
around us that we remember that Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
is Lord of the Sabbath day and Creation. The Bible,
In speaking upon the Creation on the new heavens and earth,
declares that in heaven nobody will ever forget to worship
God on His 7th day Sabbath. All creation will remember to
worship God as their Creator:
"And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another,
and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come
to worship before me, saith the LORD."
Isaiah 66: 23 King James Version
Are you taking your weekly 7th day Sabbath rest
in remembrance of God and His Son Jesus Christ?
Are you taking time out to stop and remember:
time out to worship, time out to praise, time out to rest?
Remember God blessed the 7th day Sabbath for your sake
and if you take the time to remember Him as your Creator,
you will indeed receive the blessing
of the 7th day Sabbath (Saturday).
For more information or to order your FREE book
on the life of Christ please send your details to
sa@sdarm.org.au
or
PO Box 272
Oaklands Park SA 5046
Australia
Distributed by
Religious Liberty Publishing Association
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