Many Christians today seem confused about what Jesus meant when he said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27), as if Jesus meant that anything a person decides to do on the Sabbath is equally acceptable and appropriate. Some will even go so far as to say that Sabbath observance was an Old Testament requirement that no longer applies in the New Testament age. However, as part of the Moral Law, the requirement to keep the Sabbath remains. Certainly, we do not earn our salvation by keeping the Sabbath. We are saved by Christ alone. However, Sabbath observance is an excellent way for us to show our gratitude for what Christ has done for us. Even more, it serves as the foundation for any gratitude we express to our Lord during the rest of the week.
So how, exactly, does Sabbath observance do that? God gave us a good road map for observing the Sabbath when he gave the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. Not only did he give a command to observe the Sabbath, but he also gave two reasons why. In Exodus 20:8-11, he said:
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.” [1]
Notice what God said in verse 11. The reason we are to remember the Sabbath day has something to do with creation. We honor the Sabbath by remembering creation. Specifically, we can remember that God established a seven-day pattern of work and rest. It is in our best interests to respect that pattern. But something else happened at creation that also plays a role in how we honor the Sabbath. When God created us, he gave us a mandate. We find that mandate in Genesis 1:28, which says,
“28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”[2]
We weren’t created to do our own thing in this world. We were created as God’s image-bearers to establish his dominion over the entire world. Undoubtedly, when Adam and Eve sinned, they messed up our ability to honor that mandate perfectly. But the mandate is still in force. It is good for us to be consistently reminded that God gave us a mandate at creation that we should still follow today.
One way to remind ourselves of our creation obligations is by worshipping the Lord each Sabbath. When we come together as a corporate body of Christ, we gather to acknowledge our failures over the past week, hear God’s word proclaimed to us, and praise him for his grace and mercy by dealing with our sins through Christ Jesus.
But remember that the commandment tells us to set aside the day. Worship is a highlight of the day for a Christian, but how should we honor the Sabbath the rest of the day? Again, we can focus on our creation. Spend some time asking yourself how you have honored the creation mandate in the past week. Ask yourself if you failed to honor it in any way. Then, move on to the week that is upon you. What plans can you make to honor the creation mandate over the next seven days? What will you need in order to honor the creation mandate properly? Spend some time in prayer presenting your plans to God and asking for his help in bringing those plans to fruition.
But the command in Exodus 20 is only one part of the command to remember the Sabbath. Another version of the command comes in Deuteronomy 5:12-15, which says:
12 “ ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 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 or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. [3]
Notice that this version of the command gives a different reason for observing the Sabbath. Now, instead of observing it to remember our creation, we are called to observe the Sabbath to remember our redemption. Here again, there are two primary ways we can remember our redemption on the Sabbath day.
The first is in our corporate worship. When we gather as a body of Christ before the Lord, we acknowledge that we have sinned and fallen short of God’s requirements in the previous week. We lay our sins before the Lord, trusting in nothing but the blood of Jesus Christ to fully pay for all our sins. Corporate worship services do well when they include a confession of sin and an assurance of pardon because they acknowledge that we are sinners and must wholly rely on Christ for our redemption. In addition, the ministry of the word proclaims to us the wonderful redemption accomplished for us through the work of Jesus Christ.
But another way we can remember our redemption is what we do on the rest of the Sabbath, outside of corporate worship. In your quiet time on the Sabbath, ask yourself not only why you were created but also why you were redeemed. Jesus Christ gave us a good answer for why we were redeemed. After he finished his work of redemption on the cross, he gave his church a commission just before he ascended into heaven. We can find it in Matthew 28:19-20
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” [4]
If Christ has redeemed you, he also calls you to make disciples. Spend some time this Sabbath day asking yourself how you did in that department. Did you engage in discipleship with anyone during this past week? It doesn’t have to be a formal program. Even informal discipleship is a step in the right direction. How about next week? Do you have plans to reach out to someone to encourage their faithful living before the Lord? Would you commit to spending time in prayer asking the Lord to give you opportunities for discipleship and giving you a heart to take full advantage of those opportunities?
In his command to remember the Sabbath day, the Lord gave us an opportunity to take one day out of each week to regain our perspective on our creation and our redemption. We can do this through corporate worship and also through our individual quiet time. Just think of the impact we could make if all Christians would take the time to use this Sabbath gift that God has given us.
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ex 20:8–11.
[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ge 1:28.
[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Dt 5:12–15.
[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mt 28:19–20.