A Sabbath Day Rest

Jesus teaching in Nazareth from Emmanuel

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 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. (Genesis 2:1-3)

---

To tell you the truth, Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Dearborn, Michigan doesn’t have a window depicting the Seventh Day of Creation. Perhaps the church itself is a representation-in-action of the day that God blessed as holy. The window pictured here is a depiction of Luke 4:16-21 where Jesus was preaching on the Sabbath Day in a Synagogue in Nazareth early in His ministry and proclaimed that the prophesy of Isaiah concerning the Messiah was fulfilled by Him that day.

There is a lot of talk about a “six day creation” in the debate over the creation. What gets lost in this description is the very important Seventh Day of Creation. Though God rested from His work and did not create anything new, this day seven is a very important part of God’s creation.

When I teach this story to children they often ask the obvious, but impertinent, question, “Was God tired that He needed to rest?” The answer is “No.” God is almighty and created “life, the universe, and everything” (if I can be so bold as to quote the late Douglas Adams, who was often blasphemous before his untimely death) perfectly in only six days by merely saying, “Let there be …”, so clearly God does not need to rest. It was no great strain for God to create everything. He did not rest on the Seventh Day for His needs, but for ours. We are the ones who need the rest, so God led by example (to begin with). Ever since then God has been working on the Sabbath days serving our needs.

Angels worshipping at the cross

Most people think that worship is what we do to please God. This is a pagan idea, but it is not uncommon among those calling themselves “Christians”. The Holy Bible never says that we should try to please God. Scripture says, “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2) Unfortunately, as sinners we cannot be holy no matter what we do. This makes it seem like salvation is impossible as Jesus’ disciples once realized when they asked Him, “Who, then, can be saved?” Jesus replied, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” (see Mark 10:17-27)

If God had left our salvation in our control then none of us would have a chance of salvation. However, God didn’t leave it up to us to save ourselves. God worked out our salvation himself so that we all could be saved. Even before sin came into the world God set aside one day out of the week so we could stop and remember just how much we need God.

People reject Sabbath worship because we want to think that we don’t need God. It is humbling to have to rely on God to provide salvation, but most people don’t realize that it is far more humbling to try to save yourself – and fail.

“Christ is Risen” - From Emmanuel

Because God sanctified the Seventh Day of creation making that a holy day, the Old Testament people of God set aside that day for worship. Yet, today the vast majority of Christians now worship God on the first day of the week. The reason for the change is, of course, Jesus.

From the very beginning the Sabbath rest was a typological prophesy about Christ. Jesus fulfilled the promise of the Sabbath when He rested in the grave on the Saturday after He died. Jesus was in the grave part of Friday and part of Sunday, but He had a full Sabbath day’s rest from His work of salvation. Then He rose from the dead on Sunday to proclaim our salvation. Since then we remember Christ’s victory over sin and death for our sake when we go to worship every Sunday.

---

The Seven Days of Creation

In the Beginning
The Orderly Creation
Distinctions in Creation
The Center of the Universe
Designed by God
The Crown of God’s Creation
A Sabbath Day Rest

The Crown of God’s Creation

Creation Day Six from Emmanuel

And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground–everything that has the breath of life in it–I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day. (Genesis 1:24-31)

---

On the sixth day of creation God created animals and man. One might be tempted to say that on the sixth day God just created all kinds of creatures, but that is not how the Holy Scriptures tell what happened. It is true that man is certainly a creature created by God, but there is something very special about the creation of man that distinguishes us from everything else that God created.

When God had made nearly everything in the universe and had come to the last part of His creation He said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness….” So God created man in His image. This is special because God did not do this for anything else in creation. Man is the “crown of God’s creation” because God made people in His image. What does it mean that man is made in God’s image? It means that Adam and Eve were made holy, like God. They were made immortal because death only came after the fall into sin as a punishment for their disobedience. The image of God is also seen in verse 26 in the passage above where God gave Adam and Eve the authority to rule over the earth and all other creatures just as God has authority over us and ultimate authority over all things.

We should also see that it wasn’t for Adam and Eve’s sake that God made them in His image. Yes, God loved them dearly, but He also knew that they would rebel against Him, reject Him, become His enemies, and face His wrath and condemnation. Instead, it was for the sake of Jesus that God made man to be the crown of creation. Even before anything was made, God knew that He would need to become incarnate as a man to redeem his beloved, but rebellious people. Saint Peter wrote, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” (1 Peter 1:18-21) This shows us that God had planned to save us before the creation of the world. It was for the sake of His beloved Son (Jesus) that God made people the crown of creation, though because of Jesus, God did this for our benefit and eternal joy.

Saint Paul also said much the same thing when he wrote “For he chose us in (Christ) before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” (Ephesians 1:4-8) Here again we see that it was according to God’s plan of salvation from eternity that He created us in His image, but it was for the sake of Christ, who redeemed us that we might be “adopted as His sons”. Strictly speaking, Jesus is the crown of God’s creation, but because of Jesus, we have been redeemed through His blood, forgiven of our sins, and adopted into God’s family so that through faith in Jesus we can share in the glories of His eternal inheritance.

There is so much in the creation account that I can only begin to describe the importance of it in this short essay. It is important to note that the creation account in chapter one of Genesis is not the only information we have on the creation of people. Genesis chapter two gives a more detailed account of what God did when He created Adam and Eve. Some people try to discredit the Biblical account of creation by saying that the stories in chapter one and chapter two are different stories, but that is stretching the text too far. It is very clear that the account in chapter one is a general summary of God creating man, and then chapter two gives more details about the creation of man on day six. There is nothing in chapter two that contradicts chapter one, it only expands on the details.

We see in the creation of man that God also created marriage. Eve is described as Adam’s “wife” just as soon as she is formed out of Adam’s rib and given life. Here is the answer to all who would redefine marriage as something other than the lifelong union of one man and one woman. When God created people He also created marriage and blessed this union and commanded them to be fruitful. We also see that the woman is not a lesser being to be dominated, but a true partner, as Adam declares that this woman who was formed out of his rib is “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” (Genesis 2:23)

Nevertheless, there is still a hierarchy in the order of creation of the husband and the wife. The wife is to submit to the husband as the husband is to submit to God, but this doesn’t mean that the woman is the man’s servant or property. After sin came into the world man started getting some strange notions about the roles of husband and wife and twisted around God’s good institution. However, people who take seriously the Genesis account of creation have throughout history have had a higher view of marriage, and women in those cultures have enjoyed greater protections and stability than those cultures which either put women down to the level of servant or property, or those which raise women up to a level of superiority over men.

In the New Testament Jesus acknowledges the sanctity of marriage when He was asked a question about divorce in Matthew 19:1-9. Jesus references the creation to show what God intended and says that marriage is “what God has joined together” so that no one should separate those united in marriage. Saint Paul also gives a bold endorsement of marriage in Ephesians 5:21-33 even though he remained celibate in his life. Even though Paul’s words have been twisted throughout history he gives a beautiful picture of marriage where the wife submits to the husband, and the husband loves his wife and submits to God. If you read Paul’s words carefully as written you see that he does not give the husband the authority to dominate his wife, but requires him to give his life for his wife as Christ gave His life for the church (all believers). So if the husband loves his wife enough to die for her, then he will not dominate her, but will care for her as he ought.

We see God with us in the account of creation in that He not only made all things for our benefit, and made us in His image, but also in what God did for us when we rebelled against Him and became His enemies through our disobedience. God could have destroyed all people for their sin. He maybe should have, but out of love for us creatures God came to earth Himself as one of us. Jesus came to keep God’s law, which we are unable to do, and also to endure the punishment for sin as our substitute so that we are freed from that threat of punishment. This is what Jesus did out of love for God’s disobedient creatures.

---

The Seven Days of Creation
In the Beginning
The Orderly Creation
Distinctions in Creation
The Center of the Universe
Designed by God
The Crown of God’s Creation
A Sabbath Day Rest

Designed by God

“Creation Day Five” from Emmanuel

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning--the fifth day. (Genesis 1:20-23)

---

Once again we see that in creating, God progresses in an orderly manner. Now that He had prepared the world for living creatures by creating orderly day and night cycles, and seasonal cycles, and creating plants for creatures to eat, now on Day Five God creates birds and fish.

As God created the living creatures on the earth He also provided for them to reproduce according to their own kind and commanded them to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and the seas. The fact that creatures reproduce according to their kind has been known by all people going back to Adam and Eve (Day Six). The precise physical mechanism that God created to accomplish this was unknown until James Watson and Francis Crick published their paper describing the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953. What they discovered (though they would likely never have put it this way) was that God had ordered and arranged His creation down to the molecular level (at least) so that, barring the odd defect, life would propagate in an orderly fashion according to His plan. Subsequent study into DNA and genetics such as the Human Genome Project found that while the genetic information in DNA is extraordinarily stable, the DNA molecule contains the potential for vast diversity that even now cannot be understood, though macro-evolution is ruled out.

Unfortunately, since the fall of man into sin (Genesis 3) people have been questioning the truth of God’s word, even when they know the truth. Though the structure of DNA is so complex and contains so much information that it cannot have been assembled by accident, evolutionists would have us believe that is exactly what happened despite all evidence to the contrary. The evidence is the same for both sides of the argument, and all who approach with an open mind would have to conclude that, at the very least, the structure of the DNA molecule shows that life came about by design, and not through random accidents and macro-evolution. This is the basis for the study of scientific intelligent design.

From Emmanuel

The study of intelligent design will never directly lead people to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died on the cross to redeem mankind from our sins. Only God’s Word can reveal who God is and what He has done for us. The study of intelligent design can, however, suggest that design by an intelligent God is possible and can certainly allow for a better explanation for the origin of the universe than a godless Darwinistic explanation that must ignore the most basic human and scientific observations.

Christianity isn’t against scientific inquiry and research. In fact, most of the greatest scientific discoveries throughout history have been made by Christians who pursued scientific research to understand the world which God created for us. On the other hand, Darwinism can only flourish through the religious zeal of its adherents. Though the United States Constitution forbids the establishment of religion, Darwinism is – in practice – the functionally established religion in state schools. Though Darwinism is portrayed as “science,” any scientist who dares to investigate its claims scientifically is summarily dismissed as anti-intellectual, backward, and (ironically) a religious zealot. If nothing else this proves that sin is real and has continuing tragic consequences for mankind.

Fortunately for us, God is still in control of His creation despite the fact that it seems like He is losing. God has provided a solution to our sin and the obstinate ignorance which results from our sinfulness. Holy Scripture tells us that the same God who created this amazing world for us, and provides all things for our benefit and the sustenance of our lives (even when we deny Him), also sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem us from our sin and bring us to live in His heavenly paradise forever.

---

The Seven Days of Creation

In the Beginning
The Orderly Creation
Distinctions in Creation
The Center of the Universe
Designed by God
The Crown of God’s Creation
A Sabbath Day Rest

The Center of the Universe

Creation Day Four - from Emmanuel

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights--the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning--the fourth day.
Genesis 1:14-19

---

It would almost seem to the objective viewer that God’s creation activities on Day Four were a little out of place. Of course, since we are all part of God’s creation there is no such thing as an objective viewer. God has a purpose to all that He does, and Day Four of creation is no exception. As I noted in my essay on Day One God created light before there was any natural source for that light. The light that existed on days one through three was provided and sustained by God Himself. I also noted in my essay on Day Two that God does everything in an orderly manner. On the surface it doesn’t seem that Day Four is in order, but that is only because we live in God’s orderly world where certain “natural” phenomenon have “natural” causes.

As we know it, light must have a source. Light always has a source as far as we know. Yet, for the first three days that the universe existed there was light with no source except for God, Himself. For the closed-minded this would suggest that God is not so orderly, or that the account cannot be trusted. However, there is a better explanation. Knowing that God is orderly, we must then conclude that there is a different order at work. God does not only order His creation in terms of cause and effect, but also in terms of importance. I have recently found some stunning photographs of Saturn’s moon, Enceladus. All of these pictures are amazing considering how far away we are from Saturn, and several of the photos are incredibly beautiful. However, you don’t have to look long at the planets in the solar system (other than earth) before you get the feeling that there is a great unfinished quality to them. Something is definitely missing, and that “something” includes all of the qualities which make earth a paradise and everywhere else certain death. There is nowhere in the universe would we rather be than right here on earth.

From Emmanuel

Earth is a paradise for people because God made it that way for us. It was no accident, nor was it an oversight, that God worked on Day Two and Day Three to make earth an inviting place for us, before He got around to making the sun, moon, and stars. This tells us that this place was a top priority for God, and everyplace else was secondary. As we shall see on Day Six of creation there is some significance to the order in which God creates and populates the world. If God had made the sun, moon, stars, and planets before Day Four then we would have more reason to think that these places have greater importance than they do. As it is, God put these created things in their place. According to the Genesis account the heavenly bodies were created to give us light and to help us keep track of time, and they still do all these things to this day. The heavenly bodies were given to serve us, and the fact that they have a beauty (though they may be cold and uninviting like Saturn or Enceladus) is just a bonus and another reason to praise God for His great wisdom.

Earth may not be the geographic center of the universe or the solar system, as the atheists are so eager to point out. Actually, you could make a case for the earth as the center of the universe. It isn’t usually done because the math gets extremely ugly real fast. I must confess that I, too, am a big fan of elegant mathematical equations in Physics so I will grant that the earth is not the geographical center of the universe. However, it is clear from Holy Scripture that people on earth are at the center of God’s attention. God proved that by His incarnation in Jesus Christ. In Jesus, God came down to earth as a man to redeem mankind from our sins. This place is not some “insignificant little speck among the vast universe.” We are so important to God that He came down to us to live and die as one of us that we might live in a new paradise with Him forever. God did not do this because we deserved it. God did this for us purely out of His love for us.

---

The Seven Days of Creation
In the Beginning
The Orderly Creation
Distinctions in Creation
The Center of the Universe
Designed by God
The Crown of God’s Creation
A Sabbath Day Rest