Sunday Postscript

The "Sunday Postscript" will be my time to share and reflect on the messages and events from the Lord's Day.

         In the morning service, I have been preaching through Genesis.  Yesterday I preached from Genesis 2:1-3 on "God Blessed the Seventh Day".  God blessed the seventh day and He also sanctified it (set apart, made it holy).  Through the use of repetition and ascribing a moral value to the seventh day, God clearly wanted us to notice and take heed to observing the seventh day.  God honored the seventh day because after working six days he rested (stopped His creative activity).  What He had created was perfect, and all 'very good' (1:31) and so there was no need to do anything else.  In doing so, God gave us a pattern for our own practice which was later codified in the 4th Commandment, that one day in seven would be the Lord's - a day of resting from our usual labors and recreations, worshipping God, fellowshipping with one another and serving one another.  The first important point to remember is that the Sabbath command was not new with Moses at Sinai - but was a Creation ordinance for all of mankind to follow.  Unfortunately by Jesus' day, the Jews had distorted God's intent and design for the Sabbath and made it a burden for the people.  The second important point to remember is that Jesus never abolished the Sabbath observance.  Jesus, as Lord of the Sabbath (Mk 2:28) taught that “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mk. 2:27), thus restoring the Sabbath to its God ordained design.  On the Sabbath we see Jesus and His disciples, resting from their usual labors, worshipping, fellowshipping and doing acts of necessity (getting food from the fields) and mercy (healing).  Jesus has given us the example as to how we should spend the Sabbath.  The third important point to remember is that though Jesus did not abolish the Sabbath observance – He did institute one significant change – with His resurrection the day of rest changed from the seventh day of the week to the first day of the week.  Just as God rested after His work of Creation, so Jesus on the first day of the week rested from His work of redemption accomplished for His people.  The ‘one day in seven’ principle of Exodus 20 remains, but for the Christian, the day for resting, worshipping, fellowshipping and serving has changed.  The Apostle John later referred to this as the Lord’s Day (Rev. 1:10).  We closed with the fourth important point to remember from Isaiah’s prophecy (Isaiah 58:13-14) regarding the duty we have of calling the Sabbath a delight – when we observe it and delight in it as God intends – we delight in Him.  This was true for Israel in the OT, it is true for the Church today, and it will be true in glory when we enter into the eternal Sabbath rest that has been prepared for us by our Lord.

     In the second service, we have been working our way through the Apostles’ Creed.  Last evening we considered, “I Believe Jesus Christ Suffered Under Pontius Pilate”.  The mention of Pilate in the Creed is significant as a historical marker (like the mention of the Virgin Mary) – it ties Jesus, the Son of God, to a particular person, time and place in human history.  Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate by being falsely charged and condemned by the courts of sinful men (trials before the Sanhedrin and Pilate).  He also suffered abuse, mocking, scourging and the humiliation of the Cross.  Why did Christ suffer these things:  To give us an example when we suffer (1 Peter 2:21-23), to redeem us and heal us of our sins (vs. 24) and to aid and minister to us in our time of suffering and need (Hebrews 2:17-18; 4:15-16).