The Biblical World View
1. What does the very first verse of the Bible tell us about God?
Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” It tells us God is there and He acts in space-time history. The Creation story gives human beings their place in the universe and meaning for their existence. God is sovereign; we are dependent, yet personal like God. This is perhaps the most important passage in the whole Bible for us in the 21st century.
A memorial of creation and redemption
2. When God had finished creating this world what did He do?
Genesis 2:2, 3 “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done."
3. Of what was the Sabbath a memorial?
Exodus 20:11 “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” The word Sabbath means “rest.” Genesis chapter one defines a day as “evening” and “morning”. As such the Sabbath, then, is from sunset on the sixth day (Friday) to sunset on the seventh day (Saturday) as a day of rest from our normal labours. (See Leviticus 23:32; Mark 1:32; Exodus 20:8-10.) God rested on the Sabbath after completing His work of creation. So Jesus, after He cried “It is finished” on the cross (John 19:30), rested in the tomb on the Sabbath (Luke 23:50-24:1-8). Thus Jesus forever linked the Sabbath with the plan of salvation, of which it is a memorial.
4. What significant call to worship is given to all people just before Jesus returns?
Revelation 14:7 “Worship him who made the heavens, the earth.” The word worship comes from Old English “worth-ship.” God, as Creator, is worthy of our adoration and allegiance.
This gives us worth and meaning, in contrast with evolution that says life is just an accident. If the past is hazy and the future blank, then what happens in between doesn’t matter.
For Our Benefit
5. What did Jesus say was made for the benefit of the human race?
Mark 2:27, 28 “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man [Jesus] is even Lord of the Sabbath.” The Sabbath as the Lord’s day is designed to be of benefit to us. We need to encourage each other spiritually (see Hebrews 10:25).
6. What is legitimate activity on the Sabbath?
Matthew 12:12 “To do good.”
7. When will we find joy in the Lord?
Isaiah 58:13, 14 “If you keep... from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honourable, and if you honour it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord.”
8. What was Jesus’ custom? Luke 4:16
Answers To Life's Big Questions
The Sabbath is a weekly reminder that we need to take time to be with God, family and friends, to remember where we came from and what Jesus has done for us.
