THE SABBATH IN CREATION.
By R. C. Porter
AFTER man had been created and provided with an helpmeet for him, and the bill of fare best suited to the needs of his physical being, in which there was no flesh of dead beast, or fowl, or fish, or creeping thing (Gen. 1:29), had been given him, "the Sabbath was made for man" (Mark 2:27; Gen. 2:1-3). By whom was the Sabbath made, and for what purpose?—By Him through whom all things, both in heaven, earth, and sea, were made, even Jesus Christ, as we have before seen. "For all things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made." How did he make it?—By resting upon it himself and blessing it. Gen. 2:1-3. What day did he rest, and upon what day did he pronounce the blessing?—The seventh day. Gen. 2:1-3. Why did he make it for man?—"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." Ex. 20:11. Christ made the Sabbath then as a commemorative institution, by which the Creator was ever to be kept in mind. Not only was he to be remembered as the Creator, but remembered in his true character as Creator, a Creator that created because he loved, and One whose very act of creation was an act of almighty power, for the highest good and the greatest happiness of the created. This was not only to be remembered on the Sabbath day, but as all other days of the week were to be used with reference to the Sabbath, the Creator in his true character was to be continually kept in mind. The Sabbath thus kept would ever prove a safeguard against the temptation to imagine that God was not in his infinite love doing all within his almighty power for the best good of his creatures. It could not be kept according to God's appointment by simply taking physical rest upon that day. Yet to keep it properly a man must cease his common labor on that day, for "the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work." Ex. 20:10. In this we have before us the model of the Good Shepherd going before us as the example to his children. Though "he fainteth not, neither is weary," yet he ceased his labors and entered upon a season of spiritual rest and worship of Him who is worshiped only in spirit and truth, and he "was refreshed." He viewed all the work of creation, and saw that it was not only good, but "very good," for in it all he saw the divine touch of infinite love. This brought to him continually such a sense of his Father's goodness that he could see him only in his true character, a God of infinite, eternal love and power. This was true Sabbath keeping. That this is the nature of Sabbath keeping is further shown after the fall of man, when the Lord, through Moses and Ezekiel, instructed his people, "Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." Ex. 31:13; Eze. 20:12, 20. That is, set you apart for my service and keep you thus set apart. The presence of Christ sanctified Mount Sinai; his presence made the ground holy at the burning bush. So his presence within us sanctifies us, and, abiding in us, keeps us sanctified. To know God as the God that did sanctify them, they must know him as the God that "so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. They must also know Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent, as the sin-pardoning Redeemer, who loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood. Rev. 1:5. "For there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved," "neither is their salvation in any other." Acts 4:12. Therefore to keep the Sabbath according to its true significance is to keep it ever remembering God as almighty in power and infinite in his love to us, his laws framed in love, his government administered in love, and Jesus Christ a Saviour of matchless love and power. This could only be true of spiritual Israel; hence the generations here mentioned are the generations of spiritual Israel; and he that truly keeps the Sabbath is an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile. Since the presence of Christ sanctifies and makes us holy, as it sanctified the mountain, and made the place "holy ground" at the burning bush (Ex. 3:1-5), and at his meeting with Joshua (Joshua 5:13-15), so his presence sanctifies and makes holy the seventh day of the week (Gen. 2:1-3; Ex. 20:8-10). And since the presence of Christ rests in a special sense in the seventh day, and sanctifies it and makes it holy, and God has thus set it apart for his holy Sabbath, it is impossible to keep the Sabbath upon any other day than the one in which the presence of Christ rests to sanctify it and make it holy. As he said to Moses, "My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest" (Ex. 33:14), so it is only on the day in which Christ's presence rests that we can rest and be refreshed by true Sabbath keeping. Neither are we to conclude that because true Sabbath keeping requires more than spiritual rest, we are at liberty to do common labor on the sacred hours of the Sabbath. For God hath said, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work."