The Creator and the Sabbath
By Roderick S. Owen
In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins: who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature: for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him. Col. 1:14-16. HIS scripture asserts that the One who redeems us by His blood, is that One who called into existence the myriads of twinkling stars that bestud our sky; that One who spoke out of nothingness the unnumbered systems of worlds that sweep so majestically around these suns; that One who is the Author of the power that set them in motion, and supports them as they traverse their wide orbits; that One who established the laws that control all the planetary systems in all this vast universe; that One who formed, fashioned, and beautified the earth for the abode of the man, whom He made in His image; the One whose name forever is I AM. And this is His memorial through all generations; but we call His name JESUS, for He saves His people from their sins. Turning to the first chapter of Genesis, let us notice the successive steps by which our earth was made. "In the beginning God created." "For He spake, and it was; He commanded, and it stood fast." "Without form and void." A plastic mass, with no fixed shape, submissive to be fashioned by the same voice that was responsible for its existence; like the soul that God creates anew, pliable and yielding as clay in the hands of the potter, to be formed and fashioned as He wills. "Void"—empty, to be filled with the glory of God. "Let there be light." Darkness was there; and God said, Let light be there; and light was there. He did not send the light into the darkness; for God commanded the light to shine out of the darkness, just as He in redemption speaks to the soul darkened with sin, and the entrance of His Word floods its innermost recesses with light, which streams forth with cheering radiance to all around. "God divided the light from the darkness." Gathering the light to one side of the earth, and fixing its position, the Creator produced a succession of light and darkness, by giving the earth its motion upon its axis, thus originating the day composed of twelve hours of light and twelve hours of darkness, "and the evening and the morning were the first day." "Let there be a firmament." Revolving, the earth assumed the form of a globe, its surface as clear as a crystal. Underneath this transparency of air, appeared another surface of water, on one side clear and sparkling, and on the other side clear but darkening in the shadow. And God said, "Let there be a firmament;" and immediately a volume of water was lifted up, forming a vast canopy above the air which passed between the waters, thus forming the firmament, called our heaven. "Let the waters . . . be gathered together, . . . and let the dry land appear." O, what a moving was there! The land arose and came to view, while the waters fell away from sight, filling the vast reservoirs of earth's interior. At God's rebuke they fled; at the voice of His thunder they hastened away. When the commotion had ceased, O, what a picture was there—the earth, composed of broad, beautiful valleys, surrounded by lofty mountains that towered in graceful slopes; vales skirted by hills that arose in varied but pleasing forms; plains that stretched away to shores of seas beyond. The waters were gathered in seas, lakes, and ponds, in rivers, brooks, and rills, each gleaming like a sparkling jewel, or like a thread of silver, upon the surface of the earth. "Let the earth bring forth grass." Over the face of nature there spread a carpet of living green of varied shades, bestudded here and there with clumps of shrubs in blending colors; while from the midst of it all, to grace the slopes of mountains and of hills, there arose the trees, from the lofty cedars exceeding those of Lebanon, and the spreading oaks, to the pale, trembling asps of the mountains, or the swaying willows by the brooks. Let each bear seed in itself. Then, lo, upon the blades of the grasses, upon the sprigs of the bushes, and upon the twigs of the trees, there burst forth flowers of wondrous beauty, to sway to and fro in the breezes, to fill the air with their fragrance, and to bear seed in themselves. "Let there be lights in the firmament, . . . to give light upon the earth." A vast body in the heavens, clothed with the glory of God, immediately began to pour its radiance upon the earth; while opposite it, but much nearer, was a smaller body, from which there began to stream a flood of silvery light upon the darker side of the earth. The first was the king of day, the second was the queen of night. Besprinkled throughout the canopy above, there appeared a great host of lesser lights, to grace the presence of the queen of night. O, the beautiful dome of heaven, with the sun to rule the day, and the moon to rule the night! Let the waters bring forth, and let there be fowls. Immediately in all the waters appeared the finny tribes, in forms diversified, in colors beautiful; while in the sea swam great whales, and other denizens of the deep, leaving behind them a trail of sparkling foam. High in the heavens, with leveled wings cleaving the air, soared great birds; while flitting from tree to tree, happy songsters of brilliant plumage made the air vocal with joy. "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion." God made man in His own image, and gave him dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over all cattle, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth, and over all the earth. "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Thus the earth came from the hand of Christ a thing of beauty, set in glory, to be inhabited by creatures controlled by love; while over it all stood man, made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor. And as the Creator viewed His finished work, He pronounced it all "very good." "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.5 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." Here we have the origin of the Sabbath, or rest of the Lord. He rested (sabbatized) on the seventh day, thus constituting that day His Sabbath, or rest day. Christ, the One who created, is the One who rested; and thus He became the Lord of the Sabbath, being its Author. Because of this fact, we find the seventh day called in the Bible "the Sabbath," "the Sabbath of the Lord thy God," "the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord," "the Lord’s day;" and God speaks of it as "My holy day," "My Sabbath," etc. See Acts 16: 13; Ex. 20: 10; 16: 23; Rev. 1: 10; Eze. 20: 12; Isa. 58: 13. On the seventh day, God rested—not a physical rest; for "hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?" But "He rested, and was refreshed." He viewed this new creation, and rejoiced in it—not alone, for "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy" as they beheld this new manifestation of the beneficence of God. Thus we see that the Creator’s rest was the joy and satisfaction of seeing and rejoicing in this finished new creation. Into the rest of Jehovah all His intelligent, loving creatures entered in that morning song of earth’s history. Having rested on the seventh day, God blessed and sanctified it. The resting made it His rest day. The blessing and sanctifying established it as a memorial, and placed upon all His loyal subjects the obligation to recognize it as such, and thus brought its blessing to all who do so. No other day has ever been treated in this manner. No other day has ever been blessed and sanctified. No other day has God ever recognized in its weekly recurrence as His Sabbath. Thus the seventh day stands before us as His Sabbath day, the sign of His creative power, the seal of His finished work, the memorial of His name as Creator. Wherefore the Son of Man is Lord even of that holy day which He made for man. Mark 2: 27, 28.