The Sabbath is a consecrated day to the Lord. In the Sabbath we are lifted to the heavenlies, while experiencing joy in creation. a It is inextricably connected with Creation. It is therefore a creation ordinance. It is to be observed and kept in holiness. This holy day belongs unto the Lord our God and it is to be remembered. It is not to be substituted by feast days and celebrations, but rather, the church calendar is to be secondary to God’s ordained celebration. Lent in some sense adheres to that principle by making Sunday a day of feasting.
The Sabbath is holy and holiness is derived from God himself. Hence, the holiness of the Sabbath cannot be altered or tempered. To observe the Sabbath is therefore to be holy and worship the holiness of God. In the words of Geerhardus Vos: ” …the holiness predicated of God is the primary, original conception, the holiness of the other things is derivatory.” b The Sabbath would not be holy if it were not derived from the Holy One. “Thus God ‘hallowed’ the Sabbath, not because it inherently possessed a peculiar character, to which magic and superstition could attach themselves, but because it was His will that the day should bear a peculiar significance reminding of and binding it to the service of God.” c.
The Sabbath is not to be taken lightly. It is a perpetual reminder that God’s holiness operates within the physical world every Sunday. d This crucial reminder serves to point us to our eternal rest. e It should not serve, however, to disenchant us of this present world, for God is redeeming this world from Sunday to Sunday, from Easter to Easter until all His enemies are under His feet. f
- We also taste of the gracious gift of creation in the garden (back)
- Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments, pg. 248 (back)
- Vos, pg.250 (back)
- I am presupposing a Biblical-Redemptive change from Saturday to the Lord’s Day (back)
- Hebrews 4 (back)
- I Corinthians 15:24-26 (back)
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