What a thought-provoking song! Jesus Christ is the Creator-God (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2), and He "finished" His "work" by the end of the 6th day of Creation week and rested on the 7th day. "Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 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. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." (Genesis 1:31--2:3) To fulfill this picture, Jesus as the Creator-Redeemer purchased mankind's salvation during the last week of His earthly life when He died on the cross to pay for all sin completely and cried out as He died, "It is finished" (John 19:30). He did this on the 6th day ("Good Friday") just before sundown and the start of the 7th/Sabbath day (Matt. 27:45-60; Mark 15:33-46; Luke 23:44-56; John 19:28-42). Why did He "rest" on the Sabbath day? Not because He was tired, but because His work of redemption was "finished"! Jesus repeatedly said that He came to "finish" the "work" that God the Father gave Him to do in paying for the sins of the human race (John 4:34; 5:36; 9:4; 17:4), which He accomplished on the Cross (John 19:30). This is why anyone can be saved and forgiven through Him, simply by believing He did all the work of salvation in your place, just like He (rather than us) did all the work at Creation. Adam & Eve didn't even lift a finger! God provided everything they needed by His grace. The same is true with salvation for us: "For by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). "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 did from His" (Hebrews 4:9-10). This song means a lot to me because I finally have rest in my soul, not because I've religiously worked to achieve it. Just the opposite. I've ceased from my works of trying to be "good enough" to obtain salvation and instead simply trusted in Jesus Christ's finished work alone. This is the only thing that provides true assurance of eternal life (1 John 5:9-13). If we had to work for our salvation, when would we ever be "good enough" (Rom. 3:10-12, 23; 4:4-6)? Now I have a blessed Sabbath rest in my soul every day solely because Jesus finished His work and rested. All praise be to Him!
But in Hebrews 4 the Bible doesn’t say that Jesus is our Sabbath? I hear this a lot but can’t find it in the Bible. What verse says that? Is this just another one of the many “missing verses” of Christianity? In Hebrews 4 the Sabbath is used as a symbol of salvation by grace as opposed to salvation by works. Why would this be and why would God use this specific commandment and not one of the other 9? First is should be noted that the Sabbath was give at creation (Gen 2: 1 - 3), then reinstated at Sinai, it was kept by God’s people all down through history, It was Jesus habit to worship on the Sabbath (Luke 4: 16) The disciples and gentile christians kept it after the resurrection (Acts13, 17, 19 etc) The early church worshipped on the seventh day sabbath and since then there has never been a point at which Christians have not worshipped on the Sabbath. Finally the Bible says it will be kept in the new Earth for eternity. (Isa 66: 22, 23). Ad to this the fact that there is no place in the Bible where Jesus said to stop keeping the Sabbath or to change it to a different day. The Sabbath is used in Hebrews 4 as a symbol of salvation by grace alone. A rest from us trying to save ourselves by being good enough to deserve heaven. That does not mean that good works are not a part of the Christian experience. The Bible does not present obedience as a means of salvation but rather a fruit/result of salvation and an expression of love and thankfulness to God for His sacrifice for us (John 14: 15) Salvation by grace alone does not exclude good works from the believer as Eph 2: 8 - 10 states “for we are created in him for good works”. Rather it excludes works as the means of salvation. Salvation by works can be stated as “our efforts being good enough to achieve salvation.” A works relationship is when we come to God and say: “We know what you say, but what we are doing is good enough for you.” In contrast salvation by grace gives an attitude in which we say; “I am so thankful for the salvation you have freely provided, I will, out of love for you, and in response to that grace, do whatever you ask.” Anything less is a demonstration of a lack of love for God. Obedience is not done away with by “salvation by grace”, or conversion would be irrelevant. It is not the acts that change but the motivation for those acts which change when we move from works to grace. If the motivation is salvation it is works, if it is love and thankfulness for the salvation we have received it is grace. When we question what God has asked, or change it to suit ourselves, we are effectively saying that our actions are good enough for God. Any kind of putting forward our own actions in contrast to God’s requests shows a dishonourable and unloving attitude to God and constitutes an action of works. This is well represented in Pauls discussion in Gal 4: 22 - 31. Ishmael is the product of Abraham saying “My actions and decisions are good enough for God” (works). Isaac is the result of Abraham saying “ Because of your covenant (grace/salvation) I will do whatever you say, no questions asked”. When we bring Sunday to God (a human invention not found in scripture) we are doing as Abraham did with Ishmael and saying, Here is our service, we have invented it outside of your instruction, but it will suffice. When we keep the Sabbath we are saying, We are so thankful for your abundant grace we will do what you say even if we don’t see what difference it makes. Here is where we find the Sabbath as such a great symbol for salvation by grace alone and the only one of the ten commandments that can fulfil this role. The other 9 commandments all have a very obvious reason to exist. It is clear why we don’t kill, lie, cheat, steel etc. It is not clear what difference one day makes to any another. After all, all days are alike, the sun comes up and the sun goes down. sometimes it rains and sometimes it doesn’t. But by placing this entirely neutral commandment in the centre of His law God has given a commandment that reveals where our heart is. Do we obey God because it makes sense to us and there is an obvious reason for it? Or do we serve God because we love Him so much we will do anything He says and for no other reason than that He says it? Because of it’s moral neutrality only the Sabbath can give a true reading on our motivation and thus only the sabbath can be a symbol of the rest that we find in God’s saving grace. Isn’t it strange that in a New Testament, devoid of any mention of a change of the day of worship, the verse that actually says, “There remains a Sabbath for the people of God” is used by Christians to indicate that either, a sabbath no longer remains, or that another day is meant . Maybe that’s why it’s the only commandment that starts with remember.
Interesting how many people justifies to worship on a day God has not sanctified. And calls that day holy. Praise God that He chose very weak vessels to be repairers of the breach. That He is our strength, and that is enough for Him. Waiting for the day He will roar like the Lion that He is.
So they took His body down The man who said He was the resurrection and the life Was lifeless on the ground The sky was red as blood along the blade of night As the sabbath fell they shrouded Him in linen They dressed Him like a wound The rich man and the women They laid Him in the tomb Six days shall you labor The seventh is the Lord's In six He made the earth and all the heavens But He rested on the seventh God rested He said that it was finished And the seventh day, He blessed it God rested So they laid their hopes away They buried all their dreams about the kingdom He proclaimed And they sealed them in the grave As a holy silence fell on all Jerusalem But the Pharisees were restless Pilate had no peace And Peter's heart was reckless Mary couldn't sleep But God rested Six days shall you labor The seventh is the Lord's In six He made the earth and all the heavens But He rested on the seventh God rested He worked till it was finished And the seventh day, He blessed it He said that it was good And the seventh day, He blessed it God rested The sun went down The sabbath faded The holy day was done and all creation waited
Andrew Peterson's music is such a blessing. With every new song I discover from him, my faith is strengthened and encouraged in some new way. This song gives my troubled mind such a sense of peace. Thank You God for Andrew and his gifts.
I love that too--it's like it ends in the middle of a verse, like a cliffhanger to the next chapter. Wouldn't it be cool if the first song of Volume 1 were to begin on the next note in this song?
I love it as well, Daniel. It strikes me that this, as the final track on the Prologue, ends with "all creation waited..." and then the first lyrics on the Res Letters V1 album are, "His heart beats..." Creation waits no more, He is Risen!!
That's great in a spiritual sense. But physically there are still days and weeks and years. God has not abolished those. Christ did not teach us to neglect the Sabbath, but loved and upheld it both before and after his death and resurrection. His command from the beginning still stands, to rest not only spiritually every day, but physically every seventh day.
I agreed it is really good song. About "the eighth day" I do not know, but the Bible said that Easter is the first day. After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. Matthew 28:1
I found this song about 8 months ago and it has become one of my favorites. Will share it today as it is the Easter sabbath today. Thank you Andrew for this perfect piece of music. God was truly leading you. It is by far the best song on the sabbath I have ever heard. I hope it will help many people to understand why there was 3 days and realize that Jesus himself was observing the law He made at creation and in no way was indicating a change to its observance to come. If only people would follow the Bible instead of tradition.
Exactly! Christ himself oversaw the moving of the Sabbath to Sunday, as we can infer from his presence for 40 days after his resurrection together with the saints. If it were not so, he would have corrected them and told them "Noooo, Sunday is not the Sabbath. Every day is the Sabbath!"
The connection between God resting on the 7th day because he'd finished his work in creation, and Jesus (who is God) resting in the tomb on the 7th day (Sabbath) because he'd finished his work.
He rested by going into the grave - in particular, the place of blessed peace enjoyed by all who had died in faith before, sometimes called "Abraham's side" or "paradise". He went there, soon to be joined by the thief to whom he had promised hours before, "today you will be with me in paradise." Not only that, but according to Peter's epistle, while he was there he preached to the souls on the other side of the divide, especially those who had disobeyed in the time of Noah (1 Peter 1:19-20).
Ich freuhe mich! Ein Deutsche Christian! Es gibt nicht viele Christianen auf Deutschland. Ich bin Amerikaner, aber mein großvater ist Deutsch. Jetst erlerne mich Deutsch und lese Die Heilige Schrift. Wohin kommt deine Familie? Meine Familie ist von der Nord des Deutchlands. Jesus sei mit dir!
This is a beautiful song, I love all the intertwined thoughts and truths. A few small assumptions about what it was like for those present (red sky, Mary couldn't sleep, etc), but I think that if you remember that this is Andrew P's imagination telling a true story that it is ok.
And he drew the words for this song from Bible truths about the true Sabbath that Jesus and his followers kept as the weekly holy day as God established at the end of creation week.
