Exodus 20:8-11 ESV [8] “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. [9] Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, [10] but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. [11] For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Remember the Sabbath day. First, we must establish that the principle predates the law here given. God made the heaven and earth and all that is in them in six days. On the seventh day he rested. Genesis 2:1-3 ESV [1] Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. [2] And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. [3] So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
The word Sabbath means rest. God done all his work in six days and rested or ceased on the seventh. He established the principle in the beginning for our good and his glory. He saw all he created was very good. A reason to rejoice. We set aside a day of rest each week on which to reverence and rejoice in what God has done. It is to be kept holy set apart for this purpose. Worship as a result of his work. We avoid worldliness this day in observation of God’s holiness and completed work.
This law was instituted in the Old Testament as a reminder of God’s provisions. In their economy six days were designated for work and on the seventh they worshipped. They kept the law during the six day week and made sacrifice to God. Only after keeping the law and making the required sacrifice, only then became they worthy to worship. Their work preceded their worship.
Jesus flipped the script. He is the fulfillment of the Sabbath. He is our rest. No other sacrifice is needed except our living sacrifice. We gather on the first day of the week, Sunday. It’s the beginning of the week. Matthew 28:1 ESV [1] Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. Jesus resurrects on the first day of the week and from this point forward we find the disciples coming together to worship on Sunday. Acts 20:7 ESV [7] On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. However, the day of the week is not the most important principle. No day is to be esteemed above another, but every day is the Lord’s day. He made them all. What is most important is understanding that our work in born out of worship. We entered into our Sabbath, Jesus, and he motivates our work. Our motivation is love, not law. The law is kept from a love relationship and is not grievous to us. We worship and our faith is shown by our works. When we recieve him as Lord and savior we do good works. Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
So we worship on the first day of the week because Jesus is our Sabbath. We rest, reverence, and rejoice in his completed work on the cross. The most important question is he your Sabbath? If the answer is yes, put him first every day. Beginning on the first day of the week.
