Wednesday, March 31, 2010
The Sabbath?
You know, with the way Singapore is(and my bed) there simply is no time to blog.
A bit of background to this post. As i was talking to one of my friends, he asked why some churches worship on sunday and some on saturday. and well, here's the first thing which came to mind-sabbath is actually on the saturday, strictly speaking, friday evening to saturday evening. So why do we worship on sunday? And it also led me to think have i been chucking aside the sabbath all this while? should i, hold to the sabbath?
And so i did some research of my own...and realised this was actually, once again another controversial topic.
Gal 4:10-11 (how you like my new function! i did it myself! HA!) but yes. Here's a start. this is something that rang in my head. Is the sabbath included in this?
Lets step back and think for a second. Why do we not need to have priests like in the past anymore? Because of the finished work of Christ on the tree. the significance? that we had passed from the old covenant(which really pointed to the new covenant), to the new. And this went along with all sorts of stuff, and in the bible especially mentioned being circumcision(Gal 5:2, Col 2:11-14). But what about the Sabbath?
In all the New Testament, ALL, of the commandments were repeated EXCEPT to keep the Sabbath. Neither Jesus nor the Apostles ever commanded for us to keep the Sabbath, infact Paul said otherwise! (Col 2:16-17) For what is the purpose of the Sabbath? Is it not but to marvel at the 6 day creation of the universe, and how man have forsaken the perfection of the "good" creation for sin! And with that the people of Israel remember their Creator God, and their sinfulness. But now, how blessed are we to have Christ!
Why then do we worship on Sunday? how very appropriate to be speaking of this now. In a few days time, we will be celebration Good Friday, and then Resurrection Sunday! So wow in the old covenant, the sabbath was held to remember the Creator God and sin and the falleness of man, Sunday is a day to celebrate and remember God our Saviour who saved us from sin and His Wrath! a day where we can cry out as one Body in Christ "Hallelujah! What a Saviour!"
And there is more to it than that, Jesus showed Himself to His disciples on Sunday, and even the day of Pentecost was on Sunday! it is no wonder that the church Fathers decided to place Worship services on Sunday! All to remember God our Saviour and King! And it is no wonder all the churches around the world have their services on Sunday! it wasn't a random change, it was filled with meaning, to set aside a day to remember our Saviour God, and Saviour King, and Friend. For in Him we now have a new rest, a complete, perfect, spiritual rest.(Heb 4:9)
However, im not saying we should forsake the idea of rest. the Bible still calls for us to have sufficient rest(Psalms 127:2), cause working too hard is not only forsaking your own health, but in some cases, also show our inability to fully trust in all that Christ is for us. But that shall be for another day.
Also, it would definitely be good to still continue to remember God the Creator on the seventh day of the week, to marvel at His creation and remember how man sinned and forsook all that God had intended, and then remember God our Saviour who sent His one and only son to pay the price of our sins(john 3:16), that in Him we stand completely forgiven(Col 2:13-14)!
Verse 1:
Oh how strong the power of Jesus' name!
It is stronger than any other name
How sweet the vict'ry that bore my shame
took the burden of my sin away
Verse 2:
Oh how great the kindness our God has shown
We were strangers, now we're called His own
His grace has welcomed the sinner home
Tender mercies, lead us to The Throne
Verse 3:
Oh what peace the Spirit of Jesus brings
through the trials He will carry me
One day, in Heaven, our eyes will meet
Filled with wonder, all the saints will sing
Hallelujah! What a savior!
I owe everything to Him
Hallelujah what a savior
Hallelujah to my King!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah to my King!
came at9:19 PM
