The Lord's Day

In Mark 2:27-28 Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

 

The late Pastor Dennis James Kennedy asked: At the end of a given week, do you often find yourself tired and weary from the toils of a long week’s work? Are you ready to relax and give praise to the Lord? That is exactly what the Sabbath is for! We should reserve it as a day of stress-free rest and rejoicing from the heart. In fact, do you know why many churches choose not to have kneeling benches? Because in the early church, Christians were forbidden to kneel on Sunday. They instead observed Sunday as a day of rejoicing in God for His mighty deeds.

 

Genesis 2:2-3 “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”

 

The Sabbath is a blessed day, and so it should be, for even the Lord rested on the Sabbath after creating the universe. On this day of the week, we remember that God made us as special creatures, designed to lift our heads toward God, honoring Him for who He is and for what He has done. The Sabbath is a pledge of that eternal rest which is ours. Not only should we rest on the Sabbath, we should take advantage of it as family time. For those of us with children, we can take that day to spend time with our kids, to model rejoicing for them, and to teach them spiritual truths.

 

Exodus 20:8-11 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”

 

This Commandment of God’s Moral Law was designed for us to rest and praise the Lord. But we so often compromise the Sabbath. Amos castigated the ungodly people in Israel who eagerly awaited the end of the Sabbath so that they might sell their crops. Some people may have to work on Saturday or Sunday day, but have a weekday off to rest and some churches have alternative Worship service days and times for Christians to congregate and give thanksgiving and praise to God.  

 

Mark 16:9 tells us, “Jesus rose from the dead early on the first day of the week.” 

 

We don’t think about it a lot, but a calendar week is Sunday through Saturday. The Lord of the Sabbath had come, and with His death and resurrection He became the fulfillment of our “Sabbath rest.” Jesus rose, conquering sin and death, on the first day of the week. Therefore, the Lord's Day in Christianity is generally Sunday, the principal day of communal worship. It is observed by most Christians as the weekly memorial of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This week, plan to set the Sabbath, the Lord's Sabbath, the Day of the Lord aside as a day to rest and rejoice in the Lord. Give your responsibilities to God, and allow Him to hold them while you enjoy Him and the day He has made.

 

In God We Trust. Blessings in Christ.

Brian