significance of this is that, God first works and then rests from But this does not mean
his does not mean that we should keep on
His perfect and finished work for mankind. Man does not
begin by working, but by resting in God’s perfect and finished
work for him. [Genesis 1:26-28, Hebrews 2:6-8]
3. Both creation and redemption were accomplished by God
through Christ.
Creation: “All things were made by Him [Christ]; and without
Him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:3).
Redemption: “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of
God; being justified freely by His grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24).
4. Both creation and redemption were finished by Christ on the
sixth day (Friday). And in both cases, Christ rested on the
seventh day (Saturday). [John 19:30-31, Luke 23:46-54]
5. The Sabbath therefore becomes a weekly reminder that our
perfect and finished redemption was fulfilled in Christ at the
cross. We can add nothing to it. Our Sabbath keeping does not
add to that salvation, rather, it is simply us entering to that rest.
6. This Gospel truth, the Jews completely failed to realize.
“Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us
fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed
the gospel was preached to us as well as to them, but the word
which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with
faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter
that rest, as He has said: ‘So I swore in My wrath, They shall
not enter My rest,’ although the works were finished from the
foundation of the world. For He has spoken in a certain place
of the seventh in this way: ‘And God rested on the seventh day
from all His works’… There remains therefore a rest for the
people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself
also ceased from his works as God from His.” (Hebrews 4:1-9)
The moment you enter into God’s rest, of which the
Sabbath is a sign, you will stop trying to earn your way to
heaven, or contribute towards your salvation. You will rest
entirely on Christ. This is why God says do not work on the
Sabbath. Not that it has any merits, but it is simply reminding
us that we are resting on the finished redemptive work of our
Lord Jesus Christ which He accomplished for us 2000 years
ago. This is the significance of the Sabbath in the light of the
Gospel.
sinning (killing, stealing, lying, coveting, fornicating etc).
Grace does not give license to continue living a life of sin
[Romans 6]. Yes the law is not the means for salvation, but it
is the standard of Christian living. But even this meritless
Christian living is possible only through the power of the Holy
Spirit who lives in each believer. Yes, because of our sinful
nature, we may sin at times (this happens when we depend on
self instead of God for strength), but in all this we are not
condemned [Romans 8:1]. We just have to ask for forgiveness
from God [1 John 1:8-10, 2:1-2] and next time learn from our
previous mistake and this time, depend fully on God for power
to walk uprightly.
7. The Good News of the Gospel is that, the Sabbath rest on
which Adam turned back (Genesis 3:19), has been restored by
Christ’s earthly mission (His birth, life, death & resurrection).
8. The 7th day Sabbath has a threefold application to believers:
First - It points to a perfect and finished creation, which
fallen humanity has ruined.
Second - It points to a perfect and finished redemption
which believers rejoice in, being reminded weekly by their
Sabbath keeping. We are resting on the perfect righteousness
of Christ. So, if used correctly, Sabbath keeping does not
belong to the Old covenant (salvation by works), rather, it
belongs to the New Covenant (salvation by grace alone
through faith alone). It is the sign of the New Covenant.
“Be careful to keep My Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign
of the Covenant between Me and you from generation to
generation. It is given so you may know that I am the LORD
who makes you holy.” (Exodus 31:13. NLT)
Third - It points believers to the blessed hope.
“’As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will
endure before Me, so will your name and descendants endure...
From one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow
down before Me’, says the Lord. (Isaiah 66:22-23)
In Conclusion, this is what makes the seventh-day
Sabbath a day of joy and gladness. It is a weekly reminder
to all believers that, as long as they are resting by faith in
the righteousness of Christ, their salvation is guaranteed.
The Sabbath Rest
It’s Vital Connection to the Everlasting Gospel
"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shall
thou labor and do all thy work, but the seventh day [Saturday]
is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shall do no
work... For in six [literal] days the Lord made heaven and
earth, the sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day:
wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it"
(Exodus 20:8-11).
The Good News of the Gospel, realized in the holy
history of our Lord Jesus Christ (His birth, life, death and
resurrection), is often described in the Holy Bible by the word
‘rest’ or ‘righteousness’.
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will
raise unto David a righteous Branch... And this is the name
whereby He will be called, ‘the Lord our righteousness’.”
(Jeremiah 23:5-6)
“There shall be a Root of Jesse, which shall stand for
an ensign [banner] of the people; to It shall the Gentiles seek,
and His rest shall be glorious.” (Isaiah 11:10)
“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus
stood and cried saying, ‘if any man thirst, let him come to Me
and drink’.” “Come to Me all you who labor [working for
salvation] and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (John
7:37, Matthew 11:28).
“It is because of Him [God] that you are in Christ
Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: that is, our
righteousness, holiness and redemption.” (1 Corinthians 1:30)
“And the Spirit and the bride say Come. And let him
that hears say Come. And let him that is thirsty Come. And
whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
(Revelation 22:17)
The Sanctuary service that God gave in olden times
through Moses was a visual aid (show and tell) of the plan of
salvation from beginning to end. On the day of Atonement,
which in figure pointed to the last day events that will take
place at the ending of the plan of salvation (judgment, second
coming of Christ, 1000 years, and then destruction of Satan
and all wicked), God’s people were required to do 2 things.
“The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of
Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and
present a food offering to the Lord. Do not do any work on that
day because it is the Day of Atonement when atonement is
made for you before the Lord your God. Those who do not
deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people.
I will destroy from among their people anyone who does any
work on that day… This is to be a lasting ordinance for the
generations to come wherever you live. It is a day of sabbath
rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening
of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you
are to observe your sabbath.” (Leviticus 23:26-32)
Sadly, the Jews applied the above two requirements
in a legalistic manner instead of giving them a Gospel
application which is what the Sanctuary service was all about.
Here is its Gospel application:
1. Deny yourself – This means, deny yourself of every
aspect of self-righteousness.
“For we are the circumcision which worship God in
the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in
the flesh, though I might have confidence in the flesh. If any
other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the
flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of
Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as
touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the
church; touching the righteousness which is in the law,
blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted
loss for Christ... I count all things but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have
suffered the loss of all things, and do count them as dung, that
I may win Christ. And be found in Him, not having mine own
righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the
faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”
(Philippians 3:8-9)
“A man is justified by faith apart from the deeds
[works] of the law.” (Romans 3:28)
“To him who does not work [does not work to earn
salvation] but believes on Him [Christ] who justifies the
ungodly [wicked], his faith is accounted for righteousness.”
(Romans 4:5)
“For it is by grace [Christ’s perfect righteousness
and sacrificial death] you have been saved through faith, and
this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works,
so that no man can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
2. Sabbath of rest – This means, rest completely in the
righteousness of Christ, Lord of the Sabbath.
“’The just shall live by faith, but if any man draw
back [live faith and go back to works], My soul shall have no
pleasure in him.’ But we are not of them who draw back unto
perdition [condemnation], but of them that believe to the
saving of the soul [glorification]” (Hebrews 10:38-39).
These two requirements are the subjective
application of the Gospel. Yes, we do many good things and
we keep the law, but this is simply the fruit of the Gospel, the
evidence of Salvation, the demonstration of the power of the
Gospel in our lives. All these good works or law keeping does
not contribute anything to our salvation. Our salvation is based
entirely on the righteousness of Christ.
The Great Controversy between Christ and Satan
In heaven itself, before the creation of this earth,
Lucifer (Satan), the highest angel in heaven, rebelled against
God and His government over the issue of agape love which,
according to the Bible, “seeketh not its own” (1 Corinthians
13:5). Satan insisted that such selfless love, that leaves no
room for self, deprives one of happiness [Isaiah 14:12-14].
Later on, after God created the earth and gave Adam
and Eve dominion over it [Genesis 1:26], Satan beguiled them
and they chose to obey him rather than God. Because of this,
their dominion was given to Satan and he became lord or
prince of this earth [Luke 4:5,6; John 14:30]. This transferred
the controversy between God and Satan from heaven to earth,
and man became the issue [Revelation 12:7-9]. So, once Satan,
and the angels that joined him, took dominion of the earth, he
used mankind to develop this world on the principle of self:
politics, education, sports, commerce, etc.
All went well for Satan until Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, came to this world 2000 years ago to redeem mankind
and establish His own kingdom [Luke 11:21-23]. At the cross,
Satan was totally defeated and the human race was bought
back by the precious blood of Jesus Christ [John 12:31-33; 1
Peter 1:18, 19]. So, the lordship of this earth, which Satan took
from Adam at the fall, was taken away from Satan and given
to Jesus Christ. “The kingdoms of this world have become the
kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ’’ (Revelation 11:15).
This is the Good News of the Gospel, unfortunately,
because mankind was created with the freedom of choice, the
gospel has divided the human race into two camps: those who
have accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour and come under
His banner, and those who have rejected Him and remained
under the banner of Satan [Matthew 10:34-39; 1 John 5:19].
To the world that chose Satan’s lordship, Sunday (1 st
day) represents rest in man’s unfinished imperfect work. To
believers, Sabbath (Saturday – 7 th day) represents rest in God’s
finished and perfect work [Genesis 2:1-3]. Just as Christ
finished creation on the sixth day and rested on the seventh, so
also He finished redemption on the sixth day (Friday) and
rested in the tomb on the seventh day (Saturday) [John 19:30].
Since the fall, all religions have belonged to one of
these two camps. True Christianity is built on the foundation
of salvation by grace through faith (God’s righteousness);
while all other religions, including apostate-Christianity, is
built upon salvation by human works (man’s righteousness).
When this Gospel will have been taken to the whole
world (Matthew 24:14), the human race will be polarized into
only two groups — believers and unbelievers. At that time, the
Sabbath (Saturday) will become the Seal of God, just as
circumcision was to Abraham [Roman 4:11]. And Sunday will
become the Mark of the Beast [Rev. 14:9,10, 12:9-12; 13:4)].
How the Sabbath Rest points to the Gospel
1. The Sabbath is God’s day of rest. It was made for man
[Mark 2:27], but does not belong to man.
“The seventh day is the Sabbath [rest] of the Lord.” (Ex 20:10)
“My Sabbaths you shall keep.” (Exodus 31:13)
“My holy day… the holy of the Lord.” (Isaiah 58:13)

2. The Sabbath is God’s seventh day. He created this world in

six literal days and rested on the seventh day. Man was created
at the very end of the sixth day. [Genesis 1:26-31, 2:1-3]
Therefore, God’s Sabbath (Saturday) was man’s first day. The