The Sabbath Rest
"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." Gen. 2:2.
If we look at the account of Creation, God first worked, and then he rested. Adam, on the other hand, started his life with resting in the creation that God had made.Get the Flash
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Sermon Excrept
"God, in the person of Jesus Christ, did the work of redemption first. Jesus lived the sinless life, Jesus died for our sins and was resurrected, and the Christian begin his or her spiritual life resting in that truth. [...]
The Christian must begin by resting in what the Redeemer has done for us, and then begin his service. [...]
You see, here are some facts, some truths of God's word that you and I must rest in: You and I were crucified with Jesus. We were raised to life with Jesus in his resurrection. We are now sitting with Jesus in heaven (see Ephesians 2:6). Therefore, since Christ is exalted over every principality and power and dominion, we too are exalted above every principality and power and dominion, because we are with Jesus in heaven. [...]
We are to rest in the fact that Jesus will live out his life in and through us if we let him."
Only when we understand this truth can we cease from our labor and find true rest. This is the Biblical meaning of resting in Christ.
Sabbath Rest - Sermon Summary
Many parallels between God’s work of creation & His work of redemptionIn Creation - God brought
- Light to darkness,
- Perfect form where there was chaos,
- Life where there was no life and
- Created man in His own image.
- Light to man dwelling in darkness.
- Life to those who are dead in their sins.
- Recreates man in His own image
- Restore mankind to their Adamic perfection.
Creation and the Gospel
We also find the gospel taught in the creation story.- Gen. 2:1-2.
- God worked then rested.
- First he entered into God’s rest – 7th day Sabbath
- First full day of Adam’s life.
- Then he worked.
In Christ God completed work of redemption through His
- Sinless life, death and resurrection.
- Man to begin spiritual life by "resting" in these truths
Christ’s Exaltation
Ephesians 1:17-23. Because of Christ’s exaltation:- Christ exalted above every principality, power, might, dominion and name
- All things are "under his feet" - all things are under His authority and power.
- This is the "hope of our calling"
- This is the "glory of the inheritance" we have in Christ
- This provides "exceeding greatness of his power" that is available to us.
Our Resurrection and Exaltation in Christ
Man begins experiencing God’s redemptive work by:- First resting in what God has already done for him.
- We - Crucified with Christ
- We - Raised to life with Him in His resurrection.
- We - Now sitting together in Christ in heaven.
- We - Therefore exalted in Christ above every principality, power, might, dominion and name
- All things are under our feet -
- We have Christ’s authority and power.
- Jesus died for our sins
- God has given to us eternal life as a free gift.
- Christ’s righteousness covers us.
- At cross power of our sinful nature broken
- Now we are free to serve God.
- Christ lives in us
- He will live out His life in and through us if he simply chooses to let Him.
- We able to "work" or faithfully serve and obey God in life and ministry.
Cease from Working
Hebrews 4:9-11 When we enter into God’s rest:- We cease our own efforts.
- We will fail in our obedience to God due to unbelief.
- Rest in the fact that Jesus abides in us
- Allow Him to live out His life in and though us
- We must rest in that truth through belief
- By trying to work or exert our own effort to obey.
- Believe and choose to let Christ live out His life in us.
- We are to rest in His completed work.
Sabbath Rest
As Seventh-day Adventists- We highly regard the seventh-day Sabbath.
- We say we are to "rest" on that day.
- God’s command to rest from our labors every 7th day Sabbath is a type of our rest in Him for our redemption.
- The Sabbath rest is symbolic of resting completely in Christ for our deliverance from temptation & sin.
- Exodus 20:8-11 God’s act of creating
- Ezekiel 20:12 God’s redemptive work
- By accepting by faith what God has done for our redemption,
Then
- We not truly entering into meaning of Sabbath rest.
- If we seeking to obey God by our own efforts,
- If we not trusting fully in Christ to do the work
Then
- We not truly entering into meaning of Sabbath rest.
- Will have truly entered the Sabbath rest.
- They keeping the seventh-day Sabbath holy,
- They experiencing true meaning of the "rest" of the Sabbath.
Satan’s Hatred of the Sabbath
As we understand true meaning of the 7th-day Sabbath- Can see why Satan hates it so much.
- Memorial of God’s work of redemption in the lives of His children.
- Which will ultimately bring Satan’s kingdom to an end.
- Focuses on Jesus’ victory
- Symbolizes end Satan’s power in our lives
- A direct affront to Satan’s efforts to bring mankind under the power of his kingdom of darkness.
- Before Jesus comes to put an end to sin
- Satan will try to abolish the seventh-day Sabbath.
- Rev 13 mark of beast
- Jesus comes & delivers all who remained faithful to Him during the darkest hour of earth’s history
- 2 Thessalonians 2:8-9
- From creation to 2nd coming of Jesus,
- Isaiah 66:22-23 kept by God’s people throughout eternity in the new earth
Conclusion
Let us begin rejoicing now in God’s holy Sabbath dayLet us rejoice as we experience the "rest" in the salvation Christ has provided
Let us rejoice in the moment-by-moment deliverance Jesus is manifesting in us
Let us rejoice in the service He is performing through us every day
Let us rejoice in our eternity with Jesus
Jesus paid it all
- Jesus paid price for our forgiveness
- Jesus paid price of being tempted in all points
- Guilt, penalty and power of sin.
- Jesus is the beginning and the end
