The Sabbath Through the Ages
By Charles L. Taylor
XVI. The Sabbath in Eternity
ABOUT six thousand years ago the record of time began. It was then that God, by His own creative word, spoke light and life and symmetry into the darkness, death, and chaos of earth. It was then that in His own image He made man, and set him to have dominion. It was then that Jehovah pronounced His completed work "very good," and gave to man a memorial of His glorious creation in the gift of the Sabbath.
Without fear of successful contradiction it may be said here, on the strength of Inspiration, that the Eden in which our first parents found a home was not an experiment. "Whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever." Eccl. 3:14. The life given to man — the life in uprightness — was to measure with the life of God; and his dominion, as a part of God's greater dominion, was to be everlasting. The earth, perfect in all its proportions, and glorious beyond description, was formed "to be inhabited;" and, as the home of an eternally upright ruler, was to abide forever. Eccl. 1:4. Eternity was stamped upon the face of the whole Eden plan. All this is so plain that even a child can see and know it. But what shall be said of the Sabbath which was so wonderfully placed at the close of creation week? Have we not seen very clearly that God instituted the Sabbath day as a monument to His Creatorship, that through it man might always be kept in touch with his Maker? Was not the Sabbath the spiritual crown of a completed creation, a halo of divine beneficence encircling the handiwork of the Eternal? But so certainly as that great truth is taught in the Scriptures, so certainly the Sabbath was to continue without end. That was before sin entered. Has the coming of sin caused the Almighty to discard that creation arrangement, and adopt some other not clearly revealed? Is earth to be abandoned? Will Satan really succeed in holding the ground which for a short time he has occupied as a usurper? Will man never be restored to his lost estate? The very day when sin made the first breach, that day the Son of God, the "Seed" of the woman, threw Himself into the gap, and by the gift of Himself insured the restoration of all that had been lost. In all its purposes, plans, and parts the Edenic concept will through Him be carried out. Man's life, man's righteousness, man's home, and man's Sabbath gift will all be given back. That the foregoing statements are correct may be seen by reference to the Gospel plan as revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ. He came to seek and save that which was lost. Luke 19:10. To Him, the second Adam (1 Cor. 15:45), "the first dominion" will be restored. Micah 4:8. Unto Him all things shall be subdued, even as at the first. 1 Cor. 15:27, 28. The day will come when our Lord's priestly work shall be finished, and when the kingdoms of this world shall become His. Rev. 11:15. At that time He will call all His redeemed ones to share with Him the inheritance, even the kingdom prepared "from the foundation of the world." Matt. 25:34. That kingdom will be this world (Matt. 5:5; Rom. 4:13), and will therefore be "under the whole heaven" (Dan. 7:27), the earth in its length and breadth. To bring about that wonderfully blessed state, our heavenly Father has covenanted to "make all things new." Rev. 21:5. By the mighty workings of His grace, by angel ministration and Spirit power, the Son of God draws man to Himself, and makes him a "new creature." The "old things" of life are destroyed, made to pass away; and the "new" and better take their place. 2 Cor. 5:17. By the presence of His own consuming power in the soul, the dross of character is consumed, the being is purified, and made ready to stand "face to face" with the Eternal. Thus is man made ready for him, — the home beyond. A Renewed Earth for a Renewed People
But this is not the all of Gospel creative power. Earth itself is to be made new. Isa. 65:17; 2 Peter 3:13; Rev. 21:1. Man having been made ready for home, so will home be made ready for him. The same creative power which made him a new man, now makes a new earth. In that renewed state, made clean by the purifying fires of God's own kindling (2 Peter 3:10-12), neither sin nor sinner shall find the least place; all that marred is forever removed. Rev. 5:13. There, Eden will again be found; there the Tree of Life, and there the River of Life. Rev. 22:1-5. And God Himself shall dwell among men. Rev. 21:3. In that day of life and peace and joy, in that country all undefiled, the blessed Sabbath will also hold a large and honored place. Listen to God's great announcement: "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord." Isa. 66:22, 23. How wonderfully this parallels the plan followed when earth first came from the hand of the Almighty! Of that time we read: "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 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." Gen. 2:1-3. And just so it will be again. When "the new heavens and the new earth" shall be completed, when new men and women and children, created anew in Christ Jesus, shall be found in Eden's recesses, then again God will rest, and give to a sinless people an unchangeable and eternal Sabbath. Hindered but Not Thwarted
The blessed design of the first Eden was marred and for a time lost because man, on probation and test, proved unfaithful to the trust committed to his care. But when Paradise shall finally be restored through Christ, the testings will all be past, and character fixed. Sin shall not rise up the second time. Man will then be immortal, and beyond all possibility of falling. And thus it will be that the Sabbath, by choice of unchangeable people, shall be observed throughout ceaseless ages. How beautifully fitting is the thought of eternal Sabbath-keeping! God's eternal power and creatorship will constitute an eternal reason, and call for an eternal Sabbath memorial. Every pulsing of every redeemed heart will be a reminder of the goodness and mercy and power of Divinity; and thus indeed "all flesh," out of the very spontaneity of overflowing and ever-increasing enjoyment of creative results, will gather "from one Sabbath to another" and join with the "morning stars" in ascribing praise to the Author of redemption. Then, in truth and in all fulness, Ex. 31:16, 17 will find its fulfilment. In the experience of eternal "Israel"—the overcomers of all the ages—Sabbath-keeping will prove a "perpetual covenant" of life and peace. "There remaineth therefore a Sabbath rest to the people of God." Heb. 4:9. That which was given at the very "foundation of the world," when "God did rest the seventh day from all His works," has been kept8throughout the ages. The oppositions of sin, the unbelief of God's professed children, and the rivalry of a corrupt sun-worshiping day, have sought to obliterate both the fact and the time of Jehovah's "rest;" but it still remains, held in trust for God's triumphant church. Dear brother, sister, think carefully upon these things. They are more than mere tales to be heard and soon forgotten. The day of life is near at hand. Soon "He that shall come will come, and will not tarry." Make sure of right relationship to God, that in the glorious new earth, where Sabbaths shall have no end, you may join in the holy service of the redeemed which, week by week, shall enlist the interest and enthusiasm of the entire universe.