THE SABBATH AS A MEMORIAL.
By John Nevins Andrews
WHEN God had finished the creation of the heavens and the earth, he instituted the Sabbath to commemorate that infinite work. This is plainly taught in Gen. 2:2, 3, and Ex. 20:11. Yet it is said that when he raised his Son from the dead he determined that the Sabbath should thenceforth commemorate that event, and so changed the institution from the day on which he rested from his creative work to the day on which he raised Christ; but nothing of this kind is stated in the Bible. To show the absurdity of this view, I will suppose that, instead of ordaining an institution to commemorate his creative work, he had set up a literal monument for that purpose. Thus, the heavens and the earth being finished, God erected a monument with the following inscription: "In six days God created the heavens and the earth, and rested on the seventh. This monument was erected to commemorate that work." However, when the Father raised his Son from the dead, he thought it good to make an addition to the words upon this monument, and under the original inscription he placed a second, which reads thus: "God raised his Son from the dead on the first day of the week. This monument was erected to commemorate that event." This illustrates the case of those who say that the Sabbath commemorates the creation of the world and the resurrection of Christ; but whoever reads the two inscriptions on the same monument, will say that one of them is a falsehood, for they contradict each other; and it would not be difficult to determine that the untruth is in the second inscription. Others think to remedy this difficulty by the statement that he removed the original inscription and then engraved the second. This does not avoid the falsehood, it only hides it in the case of those who do not think; while thoughtful men will say, "This monument was not erected to commemorate the resurrection of Christ, for it had been standing four thousand years when he was raised from the dead." If the Great Architect lacked materials he might have demolished the original monument and used its stones to erect another, and on it he would have written the second inscription. This is what many assert that he did. In that case he declares the first event no longer worthy to be commemorated, and the original monument no longer worthy to exist. This is to say, that the creation of the heavens and the earth is no longer worthy of commemoration, and the Sabbatic institution no longer worthy to be hallowed. The resurrection of Christ is worthy of a divine memorial; but it is not necessary to inscribe a falsehood upon the memorial of creation, nor yet to destroy that memorial in order to secure a memorial of Christ's resurrection. As the Lord's supper commemorates the death of Christ, so does baptism commemorate his resurrection, Rom. 6:1–5; Col. 2:12; 1 Pet. 3:21; while the Sabbath remains the Memorial of Creation.
J. N. A.