ARISE Online

The Story
THE SABBATH
Ty Gibson

OUR POSITION IN CREATION

Genesis 2:1-3

Adam and Eve were created on the latter part of the sixth day, after all the work of Creation was
“finished.” They did not participate in the work of Creation, nor did they witness it with their eyes.
They awoke to to life as objects of grace, recipients of life and all its pleasures as a free gift. Then
they rested on the seventh day as their first full day of life.

Genesis 2:7—God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a living being.

Genesis 2:18—The LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone.”

Adam and Eve find themselves existing by no ____________ of their own, in a world that required
no ________ on their part to create, face to face with a being who is telling them a _________
regarding who they each are in relation to one another. A glorious being stand before Adam and
Eve making astounding _________. In order for them to have any sense of personal ____________
they must _____________ what God is telling them. All they can do is either exercise ____________
or _____________ in the One telling them the story. It is evident, then, that __________ is
necessarily built into human identity and experience. In order to know who they are and who God
is in relation to them, they must occupy a position of ____________ _______________.

Paul gets at this in Hebrews 11:1—Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen.

Verse 3—By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the
things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

Faith is built into his nature. God’s love draws forth trust from the human heart. Where does the
Sabbath fit into the story? What role does it play within the relational dynamic?

The Sabbath is a divine ____________________ device. It is intended to keep in our

________________ the truth of who God is, who we are, and the proper relation that exists
between He and us. To engage in Sabbath rest is to engage in faith, to live in trust, and therefore to
remember our position of dependance on God as the Great Gift-giver.

The Sabbath is not a _________ ______________. Rather, the Sabbath is a ______________

____________________.

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A MEMORIAL OF CREATION AND REDEMPTION

Compare Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15

We see here that the Sabbath is a memorial of both _________________ and __________________.

Compare Genesis 1:1-3 and John 1:1-5

With John’s account, the New Testament opens its storyline with a direct reference to the opening
verses of the Old Testament. John is pointing us to ______________ as a passageway to
understanding __________________.

Scripture intentionally and repeatedly speaks of salvation in creation language:

2 Corinthians 4:6, NIV—For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine
in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Ephesians 2:8-10—For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it
is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 4:23-24—Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man
which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

2 Corinthians 5:17—Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed
away; behold, all things have become new.

Psalm 51:10-12—Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. . .
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation.

Now return to John’s gospel and notice the creation-salvation parallel further worked out:

John 17:4—I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.

John 19:30—He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Luke’s informs us that Jesus finished the work of salvation on Friday, rested in the tomb from that
work on the Sabbath, and rose from the dead on Sunday: Luke 23:54-56; 24:1-3

It is God’s weekly reminder to us that our salvation is 100% the gift of His grace, totally His
accomplishment through Christ and not ours, to be received into our lives by faith alone. As such
the Sabbath guards us against legalism and self-dependence and lodges all our hope and trust in
Jesus. The Sabbath tells us that good works contribute absolutely nothing to our salvation, while at
the same time revealing God’s mighty work in us. We are saved by His creative work. Our part is to
rest by trusting in His mighty power to save us.

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THE SABBATH AND THE NEW COVENANT

Isaiah 56:1-7—Thus says the Lord: “Keep justice, and do righteousness, for My salvation is about
to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of
man who lays hold on it; who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any
evil.” Do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord speak, saying, “The
Lord has utterly separated me from His people”; nor let the eunuch say, “Here I am, a dry tree.” For
thus says the Lord: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and
hold fast My covenant, even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a
name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them[a] an everlasting name that shall not
be cut off. “Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to
love the name of the Lord, to be His servants—everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and
holds fast My covenant—even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My
house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house
shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

Here we see that Isaiah foretold the gospel going to the gentile world and the formation of the new
testament church. And according to this prophecy, New Testament believers, both Jews and non-
Jews, will be Sabbath-keepers because the Sabbath is a constant reminder of the new covenant
of God’s law written in the heart and the impossibility of salvation by works.

It is not surprising, then, that we find the new testament church, both Jews and Gentiles, keeping
the Sabbath:

Acts 13:13-44—Paul and his party . . . went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat
down. . . So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words
might be preached to them the next Sabbath. . . On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came
together to hear the word of God.

Nor is is surprising that Jesus, as the embodiment of the new covenant, was a Sabbath keeper
and envisioned his end-time people as Sabbath keepers:

Luke 4:16—So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He
went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.

Mark 2:27-28—And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the
Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

Matthew 24:20—Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.

The Sabbath will forever be for us a point of intimate contact in time with our Maker and Savior:

Isaiah 66:23—It shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to
another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the LORD.

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RESTING IN CHRIST

Matthew 11:28-30—Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest
for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

The Message—Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.

Unforced ___________________________________________________________________________

Rhythms ___________________________________________________________________________

Of Grace ___________________________________________________________________________

Faith and Works, p. 38—We must not trust at all to ourselves or to our good works; but when as
erring, sinful beings we come to Christ, we may find rest in His love. God will accept every one that
comes to Him trusting wholly in the merits of a crucified Savior. Love springs up in the heart. There
may be no ecstasy of feeling, but there is an abiding, peaceful trust. Every burden is light; for the
yoke which Christ imposes is easy. Duty becomes a delight, and sacrifice a pleasure.

Steps to Christ, p. 71—When the mind dwells upon self, it is turned away from Christ, the source
of strength and life. Hence it is Satan’s constant effort to keep the attention diverted from the
Savior and thus prevent the union and communion of the soul with Christ. The pleasures of the
world, life’s cares and perplexities and sorrows, the faults of others, or your own faults and
imperfections—to any or all of these he will seek to divert the mind. Do not be misled by his
devices. Many who are really conscientious, and who desire to live for God, he too often leads to
dwell upon their own faults and weaknesses, and thus by separating them from Christ he hopes to
gain the victory. We should not make self the center and indulge anxiety and fear as to whether we
shall be saved. All this turns the soul away from the Source of our strength. Commit the keeping of
your soul to God, and trust in Him. Talk and think of Jesus. Let self be lost in Him. Put away all
doubt; dismiss your fears. Say with the apostle Paul, “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and
the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave
Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20. Rest in God. He is able to keep that which you have committed to
Him. If you will leave yourself in His hands, He will bring you off more than conqueror through Him
that has loved you.

Write here a prayer of Sabbath-Salvational rest: