p. 6 | THE FIRST SABBATH by S. N. H.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 18, 1896

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 24.

THE FIRST SABBATH.

By S. N. H.

BY S. N. H.

As it was Christ who created the world (Col. 1:16), and performed the labor on each day of the six working days, so it was Christ who made the Sabbath. By three distinct acts the Sabbath was made,—by resting, blessing, and sanctifying. Gen. 2:1-3. But who was it that rested on that first seventh day that is measured off from eternity?—It was Christ the Father, angels—all who were engaged in the work of creation—and Adam and Eve. This was a wonderful Sabbath observance. It was a holy convocation. Lev. 23:2. In speaking of the Sabbath, Moses said: “Six days shall work be done; but the seventh day there shall be to you holiness [margin], a Sabbath of rest to the Lord.” It was holiness, because holiness was in the day. It was rest, because rest was in the day. It was a blessing, because God placed a blessing on the day. It was sanctification, because the day was sanctified. Each of these blessings come from Christ to man; “for Christ is Lord of the Sabbath day;” and “the Sabbath was made for man.”

Christ came to this earth to bring to fallen man what man had lost by sin, and therefore he said: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” But what rest is this?—It is the rest of Christ. It is the same rest that was placed in the Sabbath.

It was not physical rest which the Creator enjoyed—“for he fainteth not, neither is he weary”—but a refreshing rest of satisfaction. Men who find rest in Christ become physically weary. But they obtain the same rest that was first placed in the Sabbath; for it came from Christ. It was his rest. It partook of his nature. It is thus described by the prophet: “For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength; and ye would not.” Isa. 30:15. Again, “To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing; yet they would not hear.” Isa. 28:12. Again: “The Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest.” Isa. 63:14. Again: “The Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve.” Isa. 14:3. There is no hard labor of bondage like that of sin. Again: “For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest; altho the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. . . . There remaineth therefore a keeping of a Sabbath to the people of God.” Heb. 4:3-9, margin. Here it is very plainly stated the Sabbath contains the same rest that is found in Christ.

But man can not get this rest out of the Sabbath without Christ, because it was holiness in the Sabbath, and man had sinned and lost his holiness, the image and likeness of God. So every effort to become holy was a failure, because he had fallen, and there was no power, no holiness, no righteousness in man.

It became necessary, therefore, for a divine Being to bring down to man that rest, that holiness, that sanctification and blessing; and when through Christ it has been taken hold of, the Sabbath becomes a delight, the holy of the Lord, and honorable. But why can not I have Christ and the rest in him, and not take the Sabbath? The answer is very simple. It is the same rest and blessing in the Sabbath that is in Christ. If I get that which is in Christ, I have that which God placed in the Sabbath. They are both one in this respect. I might as well say, Why can not I have Christ and hate my brother?—Because Christ is love, and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God; for God is love. He that hateth his brother is a murderer, and we know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. It is an opposite spirit to Christ. He who has rest in Christ will observe the Sabbath.

The same rest of quietness, a refreshing of spirit, would have been found in the Sabbath, if man had never sinned, as God, Christ, angels, and man, who bore the image of God, had experienced in Eden. During the week then, as now, man would have experienced the favor of God; he would have known that he had the approbation of God; but at the return of the holy Sabbath, all labor would have been laid aside, and there would have been a quiet contemplation of the Creator’s works; and thus the blessing of Christ would have been especially revealed to the sinless race. When the moral image of the Creator is restored, and the new man is created in Christ Jesus unto good works, then, and then only, can the Sabbath be observed in all of its sweetness and soul refreshing.

It is because of God’s resting and being refreshed that constitutes the Sabbath a sign. “It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.” Ex. 31:17. Therefore God said, “Hallow my Sabbaths [this implies a preparation on the part of man], and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.” Eze. 20:20. Or, again, we read, “And also my Sabbaths I have given to them, to be for a sign between me and them, to know that I am Jehovah their sanctifier.” Young’s translation. It is “Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” 1 Cor. 1:30. The blessing of Christ is what pardons our sins and covers our iniquity; for “David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” Rom. 4:6-8.

Then in the Sabbatic institution, before man fell, were undeveloped the blessings revealed by the death of Christ on the cross, and thus made available to a lost race. Divinity took hold upon humanity, that humanity through divinity might obtain the blessings lost by sin. And when all is restored, man reinstated upon the earth made new, “it should come to pass that . . . from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.” Isa. 66:22, 23. The Sabbath, then, in the fullest sense, becomes the everlasting memorial of Christ’s creating power in the creation of the world at the beginning, and the Redeemer, the Restorer, and Recreator of man, and of all that was lost by sin.