creation

The Ten Commandments, Part VII – The Sabbath of Creation and Redemption

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In Deuteronomy 5 is recorded what is often referred to as the second giving of the law. What we know as the fourth commandment (Exodus 20:8–11) is given again in Deuteronomy 5:12–15: “Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the Lord thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and [that] the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.”

A comparison of this passage of Scripture with Exodus 20:8–11 reveals some differences: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the Lord thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates: For [in] six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is], and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” These are the words of the fourth commandment written on the two tables of stone by the very finger of God. (See Exodus 31:18.) This commandment, the Sabbath commandment, closes the first table of stone that was given to Moses by God.

One difference between the account of Deuteronomy 5 and that of Exodus 20 is that instead of the former saying, “remember,” it says, “keep.” “Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it . . . .” This is what you might call “ministerial license” on the part of Moses, as he attempted to emphasize a point to the children of Israel because of all the difficulties they had encountered as they traversed through their 40-year wandering experience. He is trying to make the point that they needed to keep the Sabbath holy.

Logical Sequence

The first four commandments, which were written on the first table of stone, outline for man what his responsibilities are to his Creator. As we consider these first four commandments, we can see that they are arranged in a very logical sequence of order. This is not a coincidence; God set these down in a very specific way. Seeing such a logical sequential order confirms that these are of divine origin.

The first commandment proclaims to us the true object of worship. Worship of the true God was a problem in the days of the children of Israel. A variety of other gods commanded their attention for worship. The first commandment warns against having false gods.

The second commandment outlines the true mode of worship and prohibits false forms of religion. When we look at all of the various religions and “isms” that have inundated mankind around the world, they all have their origin in this second law as to their rightness and wrongness.

The third commandment gives the proper approach to this God who has been revealed to us in the first two commandments. It gives a proper approach to worship, and it warns against profanity, irreverence, and hypocrisy in our relationship to God.

The fourth commandment designates the special time for worship by consecrating each seventh day, the Sabbath day, as a memorial of creation and as a memorial of deliverance from bondage to sin.

Egypt Symbolism

Many times I have talked with people, particularly with pastors, about the seventh-day Sabbath. Quite often someone will point out the differences found between Deuteronomy 5 and Exodus 20, to let me know that these commandments are fluid and that they can change—particularly the one that deals with the Sabbath—and that it is not necessarily limited to just the creation story but that it also had implications of deliverance from Egypt.

Then I have asked, “Have you ever been to Egypt?” No, they have never been to Egypt, but they have certainly been in the land of sin, of which Egypt is symbolic. The Book of Revelation makes it explicitly clear that the land of Egypt is symbolic of sin. (See Revelation 11:8.)

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. Moses brought this fact out when he said, “And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and [that] the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.” We, as Christians living in the twenty-first century, can relate to this verse also.

There is a difference between the two writings of the commandments. One was written by the very finger of God, in stone, so that those words could never, ever be changed. The other was contained within the law of Moses, which was written on paper, and it could be changed. It is very easy to drive a nail through paper. It is not an easy task to drive a nail through a piece of stone. You can nail a book of paper to a cross, but you cannot nail a stone to a cross, and you cannot change it. So these differences are there for a very specific reason.

In the very beginning of time, “God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” Genesis 1:3. Then, the process of creation took place. After six days of creation, Jesus and the Father rested from their work. They established the Sabbath. We are told specifically, in Genesis 2:3, that the Sabbath day was blessed. It was hallowed. It was set apart. It was a day of rest that was established from the very beginning of creation, before there was ever a Jew, before there was ever sin, before there was ever anything that would try to include it as something that was temporary. God established it, and what God has blessed is blessed forever.

Brief History

When sin took the course that it did with Adam and Eve’s fall in the garden, the plan of salvation that had been conceived in the mind of God was put into operation, right at that point. The promise of a Saviour was there, yet to be fulfilled some 4,000 years later.

The Bible records for us how that all took place. It says that Jesus came in the form of human flesh. He lived; He died; and He rose again. The Bible also tells us that when Jesus was finished with His work of redemption, when at last His head fell into the hollow of His shoulder, after crying out, “It is finished,” His body was taken down off the cross just about sundown on a Friday afternoon. Jesus Christ, the Lord of all—not only the Lord of creation but also the Lord of redemption—rested in His tomb on the seventh day. He rested from His work of reclaiming man from the bondage of sin—man who had been living in the land of Egypt, man who had been contaminated with sin.

Sabbath a Seal

The Sabbath has been given as a sign or a seal. Revelation 7 tells us about a group called the 144,000, and it says that in their foreheads is found the seal of God. That seal of God is in contrast to the mark of the beast. God’s seal is the seventh-day Sabbath; the mark of the beast is Sunday keeping, that counterfeit day of worship that has been raised up by the devil to try to thwart the plans of God.

God’s redeemed will not only recognize Him as the Creator of all, but they will recognize Him as the Redeemer of all as well. The fact that they have recognized Him as Creator and the fact that they have accepted Him as their Redeemer shows that the Sabbath is doubly binding upon them. It seals them in their decision making process, so they are never again wanting to depart from the ways of God.

Proper Balance

In order to maintain this special relationship with God, which is so vital, He has asked that, at regular times, man turn from his secular pursuits to spiritual things. Man, in his fallen condition, needs to understand that all of his time and all of his activities are planned and ordered of God; his spiritual and his physical life depend upon each other. Because of this interdependence, if we are going to be properly balanced as human beings, it is of the utmost importance that we keep the seventh-day Sabbath.

Man, because of his selfish nature, is bent on doing as much as he can for himself. Usually that means, more than anything else, spending his time for himself. God knew that man needed to have some time away from himself to focus on spiritual things. This was the wonderful wisdom of God in setting aside the Sabbath day.

If you leave off either the physical or the spiritual, man becomes unbalanced. This is one of the reasons why we see so much carnage and destruction in the world today. Man, even though he may look sane, is really insane, because all that he wants to do is direct things to himself. It is very difficult to understand that Someone else has a claim on our lives other than ourselves.

Pivotal Point

The fourth commandment, given as a command to worship the Creator, implies the absolute necessity for the setting apart of a special time to worship God. The Sabbath commandment is a pivotal point between the first table and the second table of the Law of God. It is a binding influence between the divine and the human. The Sabbath has been said to be the meeting place between God and man. This must surely be one of the reasons why the devil has attacked it so vigorously. The Sabbath, as the weekly appointment for communion and worship, brings heaven and earth together.

It is God’s Sabbath, but we men and women are to keep it. The Sabbath commandment commands our worship, but it also commands our work. Have you ever noticed that? We give emphasis to the point that we are supposed to rest on the Sabbath day. Six days of each week are reserved for work, for labor, and the seventh day is set apart for rest from our work and all worldly activities.

Living in the society in which we do, that seems to be the thing that needs the most correcting, because Saturday, the holy Sabbath day, is the time for garage sales and auctions. The grocery stores and businesses do their biggest volume of sales on Saturday. It is hard for us, especially in a western society where our minds are turned towards the accumulation of things, to set that day aside for the worship of God. But I have felt, as well as witnessed, the blessings that come from the observance of God’s holy time.

Sacred and Common

The Sabbath commandment combines in a unique way the sacred and the common, outlining our duty to God and our duty to man. It divides all time into secular time and holy time, and it defines man’s duty to each allotted share of time that God has established.

One thing that has been present in every age of this earth’s history, and particularly this age in which we live, is the need for a Sabbath rest—even the Pope recognizes this! He recognizes that there is a need for a Sabbath rest, but he has the wrong day. He claims the day on which we need to rest is Sunday.

Habit

Our lives are rushed with so many things that we sometimes fail to take the time to even think. Much of our routine is carried on by habit. Did you know that?

Each morning when I arise, I go through my routine, as I am sure you also do. Much of what we do is governed by habit, and if we have developed good habits, we are going to grow in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4. If we have developed bad habits, however, they become very difficult to change.

This is one of the reasons why so many individuals have difficulty when they are confronted with the true Sabbath of the Lord. They find it hard to change the habit patterns that they have established during their lifetimes so they can give the Sabbath time back to God as His own and, in so doing, be blessed and benefited because of it.

Innumerable people with whom I have studied will acknowledge that Saturday is the Sabbath, but because of family, because of work, because of personal preferences, they find it is inconvenient to reverence it.

Need for Rest

There is a need for a Sabbath rest. It seems that we have no time for leisure, no time for spiritual exercise, no time for study, no time for reflection or meditation, except as we decidedly acknowledge the Sabbath commandment and rest according to God’s will.

There are those in the field of marriage counseling who many times find that disorders between couples occur because they are not spending quality time together as they should. The counselor, upon learning this state of things, will say, “What you need to do, if your schedule is so tight, is to ‘X’ out a certain time, so you can spend that time together.”

God knew that a long time ago, so He “Xed” out every Sabbath day and called it holy. He blessed it and sanctified it. As we enter into that experience with Him, we will find a change taking place in our own hearts and lives. We will have a balance in our lives. God wants us to choose the time that He has chosen and not choose the time that we have chosen. He wants us to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

How

Since God says, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,” we need to ask ourselves how this is to be accomplished. What does it mean to keep the Sabbath day holy? How do we keep it holy?

Have you ever watched a little child in clean clothes at play where there is mud and water? There seems to be a magnetic draw between little children and mud and water! If they begin to play in it, one thing is for certain—not just their hands will get dirty. Once mud is on their hands, children generally wipe it off onto their clothing.

It is just as impossible for us to keep God’s Sabbath day holy, if we are placing ourselves within proximity of sin and defilement. Just as little children’s hands are drawn to mud and water and to wiping the mud off onto themselves, man, in his sinful nature, is drawn by temptation to do sinful things. Unless we find ourselves deliberately absenting ourselves from all the secular draw and all the secular temptations that come to us, we are going to find ourselves like little children, getting our hands into it. Then we are going to get it on our clothes, and we are going to be defiled.

No Exceptions

The parallel is very apparent. God’s Sabbath day is holy. It is a sanctified day, and we are asked to keep it holy. The only way that we can keep it holy is to refrain from those secular activities that would pollute us on the Sabbath day. Those activities are covered by the commandment itself.

“Six days thou shalt labour”; six days we are to do all our work. How does that speak to the person who is retired? Well, God says, “All right, you have six days to do whatever you want to do, within reason. The seventh day is Mine.” If your wife has a “honey-do” list for you when you are retired, get it done in six days. The seventh day belongs to God.

The rule applies across the board. It does not make any difference whether you have regular employment or whether you are retired, you have six days to work.

The same principle applies to the tithe. God says that one-tenth of our increase belongs to Him. It does not even belong to us. (See Deuteronomy 14:22; Leviticus 27:32; Genesis 28:22.) A large number of people say that they are going to return their tithe to this or that church. Actually, as stewards, they are not returning their tithe, but God’s tithe.

The same thing is also true of time. The seventh day belongs to God. It is His holy day. The Bible says so. It is not our holy time to adjust our schedule however we might want it to be.

Work is Vital

Six days of work are commanded in this fourth commandment, and those six days of work are as vital as the rest time that God says should also take place.

If the concept of Sabbath keeping, as it is found in the fourth commandment, would be taught and impressed upon the minds of young children, creating in them a work ethic, it would save this old world a lot of misery and woe.

For instance, there are some people who think that they do not have to work, that they can get what they want easier by stealing something that does not belong to them. Learning the Sabbath concept would help them in keeping the commandment that says, “Thou shalt not steal,” because they would have a work ethic of working six days, rather than going out and taking what did not belong to them.

So, we are not only reminded to rest, but we are also commanded to work.

The Devil’s Attack

For the whole human family, the Sabbath commandment is really the foundation for true well-being—physical, mental, and spiritual. Again I ask the question, Is it any wonder that the devil has made such a special attack on this commandment? Even to the most casual observer, it is obvious that there is an attack upon this commandment, more than on any of the other commandments.

If the fourth commandment was observed as it should be from the standpoint of not only God being the Creator but also Jesus Christ being the Redeemer, we humans would be in a whole lot better shape. These two aspects are absolutely tied to the observance of the seventh day as the Sabbath.

Character Development

There are those who stress the part of the fourth commandment that deals with rest and forget the other part that deals with labor. I would like to suggest to you that no one could be a Christian and be indolent. No one can keep the Sabbath unless he is also willing to work, because the two concepts go together. We, as Seventh-day Adventists, have been somewhat remiss in bringing out those points and emphasizing them, but they are there, nonetheless. If we put them both together, we will see character traits developed that would not be developed otherwise.

We often speak about the character formation that Jesus desires to take place. The Sabbath commandment has more to do with character development than we realize. No other commandment tells us that we are going to become sanctified by refraining from breaking it. It does not say, “Thou shalt not steal, and you will become holy because of it.” But the Sabbath commandment says, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” And in Exodus 31, it says that through the observance of the Sabbath, man recognizes that God is making him holy. This is the only commandment that deals with holiness, as far as that which is brought into man’s experiences because of observance.

A Special Blessing

The Sabbath has to become a special blessing to us as Seventh-day Adventists, if we are going to fulfill the role and the commission that God has given to us. The Sabbath has to become special for us.

There is at times the tendency, when Seventh-day Adventists are asked concerning their denominational affiliation, to skirt around the issue. Some may respond, “Well, I am a Christian.”

“But what kind of a Christian are you?”

“I am a Protestant Christian.”

This is a hesitancy that should not be. Sometimes it is wise to be discrete, if we know that there are existing prejudices, but the question we each need to ask ourselves is, Are there prejudices that I am recognizing, or am I exercising my own self-preservation?

The devil is very anxious to destroy the Sabbath and Sabbath keeping, because if he succeeds, he will destroy the relationship that he knows God wants to have between Himself and His people. It does not matter how rigidly Sunday keepers keep Sunday; they are not keeping God’s appointed Sabbath. The special relationship that exists between God and the Sabbath keeper is not the same relationship that God has with those who are breaking one of His commandments.

God may wink at their ignorance; God may bless them in their ignorance; but there is something that is still lacking in that relationship. This is why, when we come down to the end of time, things are going to narrow down in such a way that the focal point is going to be on the Sabbath and Sunday, because of the tremendous impact that the Sabbath has upon the lives of human beings. If we human beings are going to live with God in the kingdom of heaven, we are going to have to be observant of the Sabbath day. If that has been revolting to us, then we are not going to be there.

Joint Observance

Do you realize that the Sabbath commandment is the only commandment in which God can join with man in its observance? It would be nonsense for God to observe the first commandment that says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” So with the second and the third. So with stealing, lying, and adultery. All these have no place as far as reference to God is concerned.

But there is one commandment that, in its observance, God can join with man. This is one of the reasons the devil attacks it so vigorously. Man, of course, is following God’s example in Sabbath keeping.

Isaiah 66 tells us that the Sabbath is going to be kept in the New Earth. “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, [that] from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.” Verses 22, 23. The Sabbath is going to be kept.

New Moon

It is sometimes questioned, If we are going to keep these new moons in the earth made new, then why should we not be keeping the feast days today?

It is often easy for us to expound on the keeping of the seventh-day Sabbath, but what about the new moon? How often does a new moon come? A new moon comes once a month. Is there ever a time in the earth made new that we are going to gather around the throne of God once a month? Most certainly! We are told, in Revelation 22:1, 2, “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, [was there] the tree of life, which bare twelve [manner of] fruits, [and] yielded her fruit every month,” that is, new moon.

When it talks about the creation of the new heavens and the new earth, it is dealing with this. Not only is the seventh-day Sabbath still to be a very integrated part of life in heaven, but something else that is interesting and a blessing to us is that we are going to gather around the tree of life each new moon and there partake of its fruit.

We are going to live in the country, Isaiah tells us. We are going to build houses, and we are going to inhabit them. We are going to plant vineyards, and we are going to eat the fruit of them. (Isaiah 65:21.) But then, on the Sabbath day, we are going to find ourselves back in the New Jerusalem, that place where Jesus has gone to prepare a mansion for us. And on that High Sabbath or that high occasion, that once a month gathering, we are going to partake of the fruit that is growing on the tree of life.

Validation

Do not ever tell me the Bible is not inspired! Do not ever tell me that there is no God in heaven! There are just too many things that have come together, written hundreds of years apart, which validate that there is a God in heaven. That God in heaven loved us so much, He came down to this earth and took upon Himself human flesh. And remembering the Sabbath day, from creation until the time that He died on Calvary’s cross and rested in that tomb, He says, “Here is a twofold reason why you, too, who are my disciples, need to rest on the Sabbath day with Me. It is a time when we can come together. It is a time that we can unite our hearts together. It is a time when I can make you holy.”

To be continued . . .

A retired minister of the gospel, Pastor Mike Baugher may be contacted by e-mail at: landmarks@stepstolife.org.

Bible Study Guides – To Whom do Man and All His Possessions Belong? Part II

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April 9, 2006 – April 15, 2006

Key Text

“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.

Study Help: Counsels on Stewardship, 20, 21.

Introduction

“Tithes and offerings for God are an acknowledgment of His claim on us by creation, and they are also an acknowledgment of His claim by redemption. Because all our power is derived from Christ, these offerings are to flow from us to God. They are to keep ever before us the claim of redemption, the greatest of all claims, and the one that involves every other. The realization of the sacrifice made in our behalf is ever to be fresh in our minds and is ever to exert an influence on our thoughts and plans. Christ is to be indeed as one crucified among us.

“ ‘Know ye not that . . . ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price.’ 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20. What a price has been paid for us! Behold the cross, and the Victim uplifted upon it. Look at those hands, pierced with the cruel nails. Look at His feet, fastened with spikes to the tree. Christ bore our sins in His own body. That suffering, that agony, is the price of your redemption.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 479.

1 For what purpose did Christ come into the world? Luke 19:10; 1 John 3:8, last part.

note: “Jesus is the Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He is the Light of the world, and He bids us come unto Him, and learn of Him. Jesus was the great Teacher. . . . He had come to seek and to save that which was lost, and He could not permit Himself to be turned from His one object. He allowed nothing to divert Him. This work He has given into our hands. Shall we do it?” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 183.

2 In what way did Christ redeem man from death? Hebrews 2:9, 14.

note: “The weight of the sins of the whole world would be upon Him. He told them [the angels] He would die and rise again the third day, and would ascend to His Father to intercede for wayward, guilty man.

“The angels prostrated themselves before Him. They offered their lives. Jesus said to them that He would by His death save many, that the life of an angel could not pay the debt. His life alone could be accepted of His Father as a ransom for man. . . .

“With a holy sadness Jesus comforted and cheered the angels and informed them that hereafter those whom He should redeem would be with Him, and that by His death He should ransom many and destroy him who had the power of death.” Early Writings, 150, 151.

3 What assurance have we that the lost possession will be redeemed? Ephesians 1:13, 14.

note: “Christ, by His sacrifice paying the penalty of sin, would not only redeem man, but recover the dominion which he had forfeited. All that was lost by the first Adam will be restored by the second. . . . That purpose will be fulfilled, when, renewed by the power of God, and freed from sin and sorrow, it [the earth] shall become the eternal abode of the redeemed. ‘The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever.’ ‘And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him.’ Psalm 37:29; Revelation 22:3.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 67.

4 How much will be redeemed? Revelation 21:4, 5; Psalm 104:29–31.

note: “The work of redemption will be complete. In the place where sin abounded, God’s grace much more abounds. The earth itself, the very field that Satan claims as his, is to be not only ransomed but exalted. Our little world, under the curse of sin the one dark blot in His glorious creation, will be honored above all other worlds in the universe of God. Here, where the Son of God tabernacled in humanity; where the King of glory lived and suffered and died,—here, when He shall make all things new, the tabernacle of God shall be with men.” Review and Herald, February 25, 1915.

“Christ’s plan is the only safe one. He declares, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ ‘If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.’ [Revelation 21:5; 11 Corinthians 5:17.] The Saviour gives no encouragement to any to think that He will accept a patchwork religion. Such a religion is of no value in His sight. There may at first seem to be some of self and some of Christ; but it is soon seen that there is none of Christ. The patches of selfishness increase till the entire garment is covered with them.” The Signs of the Times, January 8, 1902.

5 What relation will man then sustain to the creation? Revelation 21:7.

note: “There [on earth] the Eden life will be lived, the life in garden and field. . . .

“There man will be restored to his lost kingship, and the lower order of beings will again recognize his sway; the fierce will become gentle, and the timid trustful.” Education, 303, 304.

6 Through whom is this dominion to be restored? Micah 4:7, 8; Ephesians 1:10, 11.

note: “God’s original purpose in the creation of the earth is fulfilled as it is made the eternal abode of the redeemed. . . . The earth originally given to man as his kingdom, betrayed by him into the hands of Satan, and so long held by the mighty foe, has been brought back by the great plan of redemption. . . .

“God created the earth to be the abode of holy, happy beings. That purpose will be fulfilled when, renewed by the power of God and freed from sin and sorrow, it shall become the eternal home of the redeemed. . . .

“The Son of God redeemed man’s failure and fall; and now, through the work of the atonement, Adam is reinstated in his first dominion.” The Adventist Home, 540, 541.

7 What relation does man sustain to the purchased possession in this life? Romans 8:16, 17.

note: “Our sorrows do not spring out of the ground. In every affliction, God has a purpose for our good. Every blow that destroys an idol, every providence that weakens our hold upon the things of earth, and fixes our affections more firmly upon God, is a blessing. The pruning may be painful for a time, but afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness. We should receive with gratitude whatever will quicken the conscience, elevate the thoughts, and ennoble the life. There are branches that are cut off for the fire; let us thank God if we may, through painful pruning, retain a connection with the living Vine; for if we suffer with Christ, we shall also reign with him.” Review and Herald, September 11, 1883.

“The brethren here are being tried by the gospel straightener. Some here who had to work hard to get a living have been complaining of their lot, and when asked to help in the cause of Christ, have thought very strange. . . . The promise is, if we suffer with Christ we shall also reign with him. The sufferings of the human race while under the curse, will not raise them to fellow-heirship with Jesus on his throne. This is the lot of mortals in this world. The heir of God, then, is required to suffer still more. Yes, his whole body is to be a living sacrifice unto God. He is to sacrifice his ease, his pleasure, his comfort, his convenience, his will, and his own selfish wishes, for Christ’s cause, or never reign with him on his throne.” Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2, 95.

8 What was the price for man’s redemption? 1 Peter 1:18, 19; 1 John 3:16.

note: “Hating sin with a perfect hatred, He [Jesus] yet gathered to His soul the sins of the whole world. Guiltless, He bore the punishment of the guilty. Innocent, yet offering Himself as a substitute for the transgressor. The guilt of every sin pressed its weight upon the divine soul of the world’s Redeemer. The evil thoughts, the evil words, the evil deeds of every son and daughter of Adam, called for retribution upon Himself; for He had become man’s substitute. Though the guilt of sin was not His, His spirit was torn and bruised by the transgressions of men, and He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

“Voluntarily our divine Substitute bared His soul to the sword of justice, that we might not perish but have everlasting life. Said Christ, ‘I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again’ (John 10:17, 18). No man of earth or angel of heaven could have paid the penalty for sin. Jesus was the only one who could save rebellious man. In Him divinity and humanity were combined, and this was what gave efficiency to the offering on Calvary’s cross.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 322.

9 Then to whom does man and all he possesses belong? 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.

note: “God has laid His hand upon all things, both man and his possessions; for all belong to him. He says, I am the owner of the world; the universe is mine, and I require you to consecrate to my service the first-fruits of all that I, through my blessing, have caused to come into your hands. God’s word declares, ‘Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits.’ ‘Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase.’ [Exodus 22:29; Proverbs 3:9.] This tribute he demands as a token of our loyalty to him.

“We belong to God; we are his sons and daughters,—his by creation, and his by the gift of his only begotten Son for our redemption. ‘Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.’ [1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.] The mind, the heart, the will, and the affections belong to God; the money that we handle is the Lord’s. Every good that we receive and enjoy is the result of divine benevolence. God is the bountiful giver of all good, and he desires that there shall be an acknowledgment, on the part of the receiver, of these gifts that provide for every necessity of the body and the soul. God demands only his own. The primary portion is the Lord’s, and must be used as his entrusted treasure. The heart that is divested of selfishness will awaken to a sense of God’s goodness and love, and be moved to a hearty acknowledgment of his righteous requirements.” Review and Herald, December 8, 1896.

10 From whom does man derive power to get wealth? Deuteronomy 8:17, 18.

note: “Men of property often look upon their wealth and say: By my wisdom have I gotten me this wealth. But who gave them power to get wealth? God has bestowed upon them the ability which they possess, but instead of giving Him the glory they take it to themselves. He will prove them and try them, and will bring their glorying to the dust; He will remove their strength and scatter their possessions. Instead of a blessing they will realize a curse. An act of wrong or oppression, a deviation from the right way, should no sooner be tolerated in a man who possesses property than in a man who has none. All the riches that the most wealthy ever possessed are not of sufficient value to cover the smallest sin before God; they will not be accepted as a ransom for transgression. Repentance, true humility, a broken heart, and a contrite spirit alone will be accepted of God. And no man can have true humility before God unless the same is exemplified before others. Nothing less than repentance, confession, and forsaking of sin is acceptable to God.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 536.

11 Can man therefore glory in what he possesses? 1 Corinthians 3:21–23; Jeremiah 9:23, 24.

note: “Men act out the true character of the heart. There are about us those who have a meek and lowly spirit, the spirit of Christ, who do many little things to help those around them, and who think nothing of it; they will be astonished at last to find that Christ has noticed the kind word spoken to the disheartened, and taken account of the smallest gift given for the relief of the poor, that cost the giver some self-denial. The Lord measures the spirit, and rewards accordingly, and the pure, humble, childlike spirit of love makes the offering precious in His sight.” Review and Herald, July 3, 1894.

Bible Study Guides – The Sabbath in Eden

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October 1, 2006 – October 7, 2006

Key Text

“And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.” Genesis 2:2.

Study Help: Patriarchs and Prophets, 47–51.

Introduction

“After resting upon the seventh day, God sanctified it, or set it apart, as a day of rest for man.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 47.

“Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight [is] in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly [are] not so: but [are] like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” Psalm 1.

1 According to the creation story as recorded in the Bible, in how many days did God create the earth and all the life in it?

2 Were the days of creation literal days as we know them now? Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31; Psalm 33:6, 9.

note: “The Bible recognizes no long ages in which the earth was slowly evolved from chaos. Of each successive day of creation, the sacred record declares that it consisted of the evening and the morning, like all other days that have followed.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 112.

“Inferences erroneously drawn from facts observed in nature have, however, led to supposed conflict between science and revelation; and in the effort to restore harmony, interpretations of Scripture have been adopted that undermine and destroy the force of the word of God. Geology has been thought to contradict the literal interpretation of the Mosaic record of the creation. Millions of years, it is claimed, were required for the evolution of the earth from chaos; and in order to accommodate the Bible to this supposed revelation of science, the days of creation are assumed to have been vast, indefinite periods, covering thousands or even millions of years.

“Such a conclusion is wholly uncalled for. The Bible record is in harmony with itself and with the teaching of nature. Of the first day employed in the work of creation is given the record, ‘The evening and the morning were the first day.’ Genesis 1:5. And the same in substance is said of each of the first six days of creation week. Each of these periods Inspiration declares to have been a day consisting of evening and morning, like every other day since that time. In regard to the work of creation itself the divine testimony is, ‘He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.’ Psalm 33:9. With Him who could thus call into existence unnumbered worlds, how long a time would be required for the evolution of the earth from chaos? In order to account for His works, must we do violence to His word?” Education, 128, 129.

3 What did God do on the seventh day of creation? Genesis 2:1, 2.

note: “The great Jehovah had laid the foundations of the earth; He had dressed the whole world in the garb of beauty and had filled it with things useful to man; He had created all the wonders of the land and of the sea. In six days the great work of creation had been accomplished. And God ‘rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.’ [Genesis 2:2, 3.] God looked with satisfaction upon the work of His hands. All was perfect, worthy of its divine Author, and He rested, not as one weary, but as well pleased with the fruits of His wisdom and goodness and the manifestations of His glory.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 47.

4 What does it mean when the Bible records that God sanctified the seventh day? Leviticus 20:7.

note: “Because He had rested upon the Sabbath, ‘God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it,’—set it apart to a holy use. He gave it to Adam as a day of rest. It was a memorial of the work of creation, and thus a sign of God’s power and His love. The Scripture says, ‘He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered.’ ‘The things that are made,’ declare ‘the invisible things of Him since the creation of the world,’ ‘even His everlasting power and divinity.’ Genesis 2:3; Psalm 111:4; Romans 1:20, R. V.” The Desire of Ages, 281.

“After resting upon the seventh day, God sanctified it, or set it apart, as a day of rest for man. Following the example of the Creator, man was to rest upon this sacred day, that as he should look upon the heavens and the earth, he might reflect upon God’s great work of creation; and that as he should behold the evidences of God’s wisdom and goodness, his heart might be filled with love and reverence for his Maker.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 47.

5 Of what was the Sabbath intended to remind us? Exodus 20:11; 31:16, 17.

note: “In Eden, God set up the memorial of His work of creation, in placing His blessing upon the seventh day. The Sabbath was committed to Adam, the father and representative of the whole human family. Its observance was to be an act of grateful acknowledgment, on the part of all who should dwell upon the earth, that God was their Creator and their rightful Sovereign; that they were the work of His hands and the subjects of His authority. Thus the institution was wholly commemorative, and given to all mankind. There was nothing in it shadowy or of restricted application to any people.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 48.

“When God created the earth and placed man upon it, he divided time into seven periods. Six he gave to man for his own use, to employ in secular business; one he reserved for himself. Having rested on the seventh day, he blessed and sanctified it. Henceforth, the seventh day was to be regarded as the Lord’s rest-day, and to be sacredly observed as the memorial of his creative work. It was not the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth day that was sanctified, or set apart to a holy use, neither was it a seventh part of time and no day in particular; but it was the seventh day, the day upon which God had rested. We are every day to think of God and live as in his sight; but when the six days’ work is done, we are to ‘remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,’ [Exodus 20:8]—to cease from labor and devote the day exclusively to meditation and worship.” The Signs of the Times, February 28, 1884.

6 In reminding us of creation, how does the Sabbath point to redemption? Exodus 31:13; Ezekiel 20:12.

note: “All things were created by the Son of God. ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. . . . All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.’ John 1:1–3. And since the Sabbath is a memorial of the work of creation, it is a token of the love and power of Christ.” The Desire of Ages, 281.

7 What work was given to Adam and Eve in the garden? Genesis 2:15.

note: “To Adam and Eve was committed the care of the garden, ‘to dress it and to keep it.’ Genesis 2:15. Though rich in all that the Owner of the universe could supply, they were not to be idle. Useful occupation was appointed them as a blessing, to strengthen the body, to expand the mind, and to develop the character.” Education, 21.

8 After working six days, how can we keep the Sabbath as Adam and Eve did?

note: “I [Ellen White] was shown that the law of God would stand fast forever, and exist in the new earth to all eternity. At the creation, when the foundations of the earth were laid, the sons of God looked with admiration upon the work of the Creator, and all the heavenly host shouted for joy. It was then that the foundation of the Sabbath was laid. At the close of the six days of creation, God rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made; and He blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because that in it He had rested from all His work. The Sabbath was instituted in Eden before the fall, and was observed by Adam and Eve, and all the heavenly host. God rested on the seventh day, and blessed and hallowed it. I saw that the Sabbath never will be done away; but that the redeemed saints, and all the angelic host, will observe it in honor of the great Creator to all eternity.” Early Writings, 217.

“The demands upon God are even greater upon the Sabbath than upon other days. His people then leave their usual employment, and spend the time in meditation and worship. They ask more favors of Him on the Sabbath than upon other days. They demand His special attention. They crave His choicest blessings. God does not wait for the Sabbath to pass before He grants these requests. Heaven’s work never ceases, and men should never rest from doing good. The Sabbath is not intended to be a period of useless inactivity. The law forbids secular labor on the rest day of the Lord; the toil that gains a livelihood must cease; no labor for worldly pleasure or profit is lawful upon that day; but as God ceased His labor of creating, and rested upon the Sabbath and blessed it, so man is to leave the occupations of his daily life, and devote those sacred hours to healthful rest, to worship, and to holy deeds.” The Desire of Ages, 207.

9 When Adam and Eve sinned against the Lord, what sentence was pronounced upon them? Were they still to be engaged in labor? Genesis 3:23, 24.

note: “When the Lord placed our first parents in the garden of Eden, it was with the injunction that they ‘dress it’ and ‘keep it.’ [Genesis 2:15.] God had finished His work of creation, and had pronounced all things very good. Everything was adapted to the end for which it was made. While Adam and Eve obeyed God, their labors in the garden were a pleasure; the earth yielded of its abundance for their wants. But when man departed from his obedience to God, he was doomed to wrestle with the seeds of Satan’s sowing, and to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. Henceforth he must battle in toil and hardship against the power to which he had yielded his will.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 512, 513.

10 As a token of God’s love and care for Adam and Eve and all mankind, what remained for them to know Him? Ezekiel 20:20.

note: “The Sabbath was instituted in Eden and observed by our first parents before the fall. Because Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command, and ate of the forbidden fruit, they were expelled from Eden; but they observed the Sabbath after their fall. They had experienced the bitter fruits of disobedience, and learned what every one who tramples upon God’s commands will sooner or later learn, that God means just what he says, and that he will surely punish the transgressor. Those who venture to lightly esteem the day upon which Jehovah rested, the day which he sanctified and blessed, the day which he has commanded to be kept holy, will yet know that all the precepts of his law are alike sacred, and that death is the penalty of the transgression.” The Signs of the Times, February 6, 1879.

Personal Review

A Memorial of Creation—“But when the claims of the Sabbath are presented, there are many who ask, What difference does it make what day we keep as the Sabbath, so long as we observe one day in seven? We answer, It makes all possible difference whether we obey or disregard the word of God. God has given us the Sabbath as a memorial of the great work of creation. He says: ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work; . . . for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.’ [Exodus 20:8–11.] He declares through Moses, ‘It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever.’ [Exodus 31:17.] And the children of Israel include all who believe in Christ. For ‘if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed.’ [Galatians 3:29.] Again, by the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord says, ‘Hallow my Sabbaths; for they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’ [Ezekiel 20:20.] The Sabbath is a sign of God’s creative power; it shows him to be supreme, the Maker and Upholder of the universe, the One from whom we receive ‘life and breath and all things,’ [Acts 17:25] and hence the One to whom our allegiance is due.” The Signs of the Times, June 12, 1893.

Reconciled to God—“ ‘Wherefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.’ [Mark 2:28.] These words are full of instruction and comfort. Because the Sabbath was made for man, it is the Lord’s day. It belongs to Christ. For ‘all things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.’ John 1:3. Since He made all things, He made the Sabbath. By Him it was set apart as a memorial of the work of creation. It points to Him as both the Creator and the Sanctifier. It declares that He who created all things in heaven and in earth, and by whom all things hold together, is the head of the church, and that by His power we are reconciled to God.” The Desire of Ages, 288.

Reprinted with permission, Reformation Herald Publishing Association, Roanoke, Virginia, 2003.

Question: How do we know that the seventh day of the week today…

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Question:

How do we know that the seventh day of the week today is the same seventh day as when God created this planet?

Answer:

Who is the Author of the weekly cycle? It is certain that if some man figured it out and established it as a way to keep time and days straight, it would be recorded in the history books. But, then, if man did it, how did the weekly cycle become known in every country and tribe in the world? We know about the history of the sundial, about the calendar, and about Augustus Caesar changing the calendar. But the weekly cycle stayed the same through it all.

Considering the development of and changes to the calendar; the addition of months; the addition or subtraction of days due to calendar errors; the addition of “leap years”; the complete change from one calendar to another; changes to the beginning of the year; and many other changes noted in the historical record lead to one inescapable discovery: There is no historical record suggesting that the steady, seven-day week has ever been broken! When Julius Caesar added his 90 days to correct for errors in the Babylonian/Roman calendar, the date changed, not the day of the week. When the Gregorian calendar came into effect in 1582, the date changed, not the day of the week. Considering the supreme power emperors, kings, and rulers have had over the millennia, none have changed the day of the week.

Our best resource is the Bible—even though there are many other evidences. If we believe the Bible, we accept the creation story as it is written. “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.” Genesis 2:2.

The fourth commandment says: “For [in] six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is], and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:11. Here the Lord Himself acknowledges the seven-day weekly cycle and the creation of the world in six days.

When Jesus was here on earth, He kept the commandments, including the fourth: “And, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read.” Luke 4:16. Then, in Revelation we read: “Blessed [are] they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Revelation 22:14. Therefore, we may come to the conclusion that the best and real source to believe that the seventh day is still the same day as the one at creation is the Bible. If we believe that the Bible is God’s Word, we should have no trouble believing that the Sabbath is still God’s holy day, and it is the same day of the week as when our world was created.

The seventh day was the last day of the cycle, and was the Sabbath set aside for God. Despite a long history since the resurrection of the Messiah where the “Christian Church” has foolishly attempted to change the day of rest to the first day, Sunday, the seven-day cycle still has not been broken. Those who wish to obey God and observe the Sabbath and keep it holy may be comforted to know that if you can determine the number of years which have passed since Adam, and divide the total number of days since then by seven, you will know exactly the number of weeks that have passed and know that the Sabbath you are observing is the same Sabbath observed since the beginning! The fact is that since the dawn of man, by the hand of God, the seven-day period was established, the seventh day declared “set aside” and “holy,” a day of rest, and despite the many opportunities by man to alter it (even still today), it has never been altered!

Bible Study Guides – Divine Power in Creation Pt.2

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June 8, 2008 – June 14, 2008

Key Text

“Know ye that the Lord he [is] God: [it is] he [that] hath made us, and not we ourselves; [we are] his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” Psalm 100:3.

Study Help: Patriarchs and Prophets, 111–116.

Introduction

“In God’s word alone we find an authentic account of creation. Here we behold the power that laid the foundation of the earth, and that stretched out the heavens. Here, only, can we find a history of our race, unsullied by human prejudice or human pride.” Christian Education, 38.

1 What was God’s work on the fourth day? Genesis 1:14–19.

Note: “The sun and the moon were made by Him [Christ]. There is not a star which beautifies the heavens that He did not make.” The Ministry of Healing, 424.

2 What should the sun bring to our mind? Psalm 84:11; Malachi 4:2, first part.

Note: “The Sun of Righteousness did not burst upon the world in splendor, to dazzle the senses with His glory. It is written of Christ, ‘His going forth is prepared as the morning.’ Hosea 6:3. Quietly and gently the daylight breaks upon the earth, dispelling the shadow of darkness, and waking the world to life. So did the Sun of Righteousness arise, ‘with healing in His wings.’ Malachi 4:2.” The Desire of Ages, 261.

“After association with the Son of God, the humble follower of Christ is found to be a person of sound principle, clear perception, and reliable judgment. He has a connection with God, the Source of light and understanding. He who longed to be of service to the cause of Christ, has been so quickened by the life-giving rays of the Sun of Righteousness, that he has been enabled to bear much fruit to the glory of God.” Christian Education, 199.

3 Describe the creative work on the fifth day. Genesis 1:20–22. What declaration is made about each day thus far? Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23.

Note: “Geology has been thought to contradict the literal interpretation of the Mosaic record of the creation. Millions of years, it is claimed, were required for the evolution of the earth from chaos; and in order to accommodate the Bible to this supposed revelation of science, the days of creation are assumed to have been vast, indefinite periods, covering thousands or even millions of years.

“Such a conclusion is wholly uncalled for. The Bible record is in harmony with itself and with the teaching of nature. Of the first day employed in the work of creation is given the record, ‘The evening and the morning were the first day.’ Genesis 1:5. And the same in substance is said of each of the first six days of creation week. Each of these periods Inspiration declares to have been a day consisting of evening and morning, like every other day since that time. In regard to the work of creation itself the divine testimony is, ‘He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.’ Psalm 33:9. With Him who could thus call into existence unnumbered worlds, how long a time would be required for the evolution of the earth from chaos? In order to account for His works, must we do violence to His word?” Education, 128, 129.

4 Why is it so difficult for scientists to accept God’s word? Romans 1:18–21.

Note: “A terrible picture of the condition of the world has been presented before me. Immorality abounds everywhere. Licentiousness is the special sin of this age. Never did vice lift its deformed head with such boldness as now. The people seem to be benumbed, and the lovers of virtue and true goodness are nearly discouraged by its boldness, strength, and prevalence.

“I [Ellen G. White] was referred to Romans 1:18–32, as a true description of the world previous to the second appearing of Christ.

“It is sin, not trial and suffering, which separates God from His people and renders the soul incapable of enjoying and glorifying Him. It is sin that is destroying souls. Sin and vice exist in Sabbathkeeping families.” Child Guidance, 440.

5 What was created during the first part of the sixth day? Genesis 1:24, 25. How does God regard all these creatures? Matthew 6:26; 10:29.

Note: “Harsh treatment, even to the brutes, is offensive to God. Those who profess to love God do not always consider that abuse to animals, or suffering brought upon them by neglect, is a sin. The fruits of divine grace will be as truly revealed in men by the manner in which they treat their beasts, as by their service in the house of God. Those who allow themselves to become impatient or enraged with their animals are not Christians. …

“God, who created man, made the animals, also. They were to minister to man’s comfort and happiness, to serve him, and to be controlled by him.” The Signs of the Times, November 25, 1880.

6 What was the crowning work of the Creator? Genesis 1:26–28.

Note: “After the earth with its teeming animal and vegetable life had been called into existence, man, the crowning work of the Creator, and the one for whom the beautiful earth had been fitted up, was brought upon the stage of action. … ‘So God created man in His own image; … male and female created He them.’ [Genesis 1:27.] Here is clearly set forth the origin of the human race; and the divine record is so plainly stated that there is no occasion for erroneous conclusions. God created man in His own image. Here is no mystery. There is no ground for the supposition that man was evolved by slow degrees of development from the lower forms of animal or vegetable life. Such teaching lowers the great work of the Creator to the level of man’s narrow, earthly conceptions. Men are so intent upon excluding God from the sovereignty of the universe that they degrade man and defraud him of the dignity of his origin. He who set the starry worlds on high and tinted with delicate skill the flowers of the field, who filled the earth and the heavens with the wonders of His power, when He came to crown His glorious work, to place one in the midst to stand as ruler of the fair earth, did not fail to create a being worthy of the hand that gave him life. The genealogy of our race, as given by inspiration, traces back its origin, not to a line of developing germs, mollusks, and quadrupeds, but to the great Creator. Though formed from the dust, Adam was ‘the son of God.’ ” Patriarchs and Prophets, 44, 45.

7 What institution did the Creator establish in the sixth day? Genesis 1:27, 28.

Note: “Jesus pointed His hearers back to the marriage institution as ordained at creation. ‘Because of the hardness of your hearts,’ He said, Moses ‘suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.’ Matthew 19:8. He referred them to the blessed days of Eden, when God pronounced all things ‘very good.’ … Then, as the Creator joined the hands of the holy pair in wedlock, saying, A man shall ‘leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one’ (Genesis 2:24), He enunciated the law of marriage for all the children of Adam to the close of time. That which the Eternal Father Himself had pronounced good was the law of highest blessing and development for man.

“Like every other one of God’s good gifts entrusted to the keeping of humanity, marriage has been perverted by sin; but it is the purpose of the gospel to restore its purity and beauty. In both the Old and the New Testament the marriage relation is employed to represent the tender and sacred union that exists between Christ and His people, the redeemed ones whom He has purchased at the cost of Calvary.” Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, 63, 64.

8 What diet was provided for man at creation? Genesis 1:29.

Note: “In order to know what are the best foods, we must study God’s original plan for man’s diet. He who created man and who understands his needs appointed Adam his food. ‘Behold,’ He said, ‘I have given you every herb yielding seed, … and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food.’ [Genesis 1:29.] Upon leaving Eden to gain his livelihood by tilling the earth under the curse of sin, man received permission to eat also ‘the herb of the field.’ [Genesis 2:5.]

“Grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables constitute the diet chosen for us by our Creator. These foods, prepared in as simple and natural a manner as possible, are the most healthful and nourishing. They impart a strength, a power of endurance, and a vigor of intellect, that are not afforded by a more complex and stimulating diet.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 81.

9 What did Malachi prophesy concerning these last days? Malachi 4:5, 6.

Note: “Those who are to prepare the way for the second coming of Christ are represented by faithful Elijah, as John came in the spirit of Elijah to prepare the way for Christ’s first advent. The great subject of reform is to be agitated, and the public mind is to be stirred. Temperance in all things is to be connected with the message, to turn the people of God from their idolatry, their gluttony, and their extravagance in dress and other things.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 62.

10 What did the apostle Peter say, prophetically, about this work? Acts 3:19–21.

Note: “The great work of the gospel is not to close with less manifestation of the power of God than marked its opening. The prophecies which were fulfilled in the outpouring of the former rain at the opening of the gospel are again to be fulfilled in the latter rain at its close. Here are ‘the times of refreshing’ to which the apostle Peter looked forward …” Acts 3:19. The Great Controversy, 611, 612.

“In the time of the end every divine institution is to be restored. The breach made in the law at the time the Sabbath was changed by man, is to be repaired. God’s remnant people, standing before the world as reformers, are to show that the law of God is the foundation of all enduring reform and that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is to stand as a memorial of creation, a constant reminder of the power of God. In clear, distinct lines they are to present the necessity of obedience to all the precepts of the Decalogue. Constrained by the love of Christ, they are to co-operate with Him in building up the waste places. They are to be repairers of the breach, restorers of paths to dwell in. [Isaiah 58:12.]” Prophets and Kings, 678.

Additional Reading

“The most difficult and humiliating lesson that man has to learn is his own inefficiency in depending upon human wisdom, and the sure failure of his own efforts to read nature correctly. Sin has obscured his vision, and of himself he cannot interpret nature without placing it above God. He cannot discern in it God, or Jesus Christ, whom He has sent. He is in the same position as were the Athenians, who erected their altars for the worship of nature. Standing in the midst of Mars’ Hill, Paul presented before the people of Athens the majesty of the living God in contrast with their idolatrous worship. [Acts 17:22–29 quoted.]

“Those who have a true knowledge of God will not become so infatuated with the laws of matter or the operations of nature as to overlook, or refuse to acknowledge, the continual working of God in nature. Nature is not God, nor was it ever God. The voice of nature testifies of God, but nature is not God. As His created work, it simply bears a testimony to God’s power. Deity is the author of nature. The natural world has, in itself, no power but that which God supplies. …

“In its human wisdom the world cannot know God. Its wise men gather an imperfect knowledge of God from His created works, and then in their foolishness they exalt nature and the laws of nature above nature’s God. Those who have not a knowledge of God through an acceptance of the revelation He has made of Himself in Christ, will obtain only an imperfect knowledge of Him in nature; and this knowledge, so far from bringing the whole being into conformity to His will, will make men idolaters. Professing themselves to be wise, they will become fools.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 6, 1068.

©2005 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, Roanoke, Virginia. Reprinted by permission.

Bible Study Guides – Divine Power in Creation

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June 1, 2008 – June 7, 2008

Key Text

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Genesis 1:1, 2.

Study Help: Patriarchs and Prophets, 44–51.

Introduction

“Divine wisdom, infinite grace, were made plain by the things of God’s creation. Through nature and the experiences of life, men were taught of God.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 22.

1 Who took an active part in the creation of the universe? Genesis 1:1, 2, 26; John 1:1–3.

  • God, the Father — Hebrews 11:3
  • Jesus Christ — Colossians 1:16, 17
  • The Holy Spirit — Psalm 104:30

Note: “If Christ made all things, He existed before all things. The words spoken in regard to this are so decisive that no one need be left in doubt. Christ was God essentially, and in the highest sense. He was with God from all eternity. God over all, blessed forevermore.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 1126.

2 As we contemplate creation, what do we realize? Psalm 19:1–6.

Note: “God encourages us to contemplate His works in the natural world. He desires that we shall turn our mind from the study of the artificial to the natural. We shall understand this better as we lift up our eyes to the hills of God, and contemplate the works which His own hands have created. They are God’s work. His hand has molded the mountains and balances them in their position, that they shall not be moved except at His command. The wind, the sun, the rain, the snow, and the ice, are all His ministers to do His will.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 3, 1144, 1145.

3 How did the universe come into existence? Psalm 33:6–9.

Note: “God spoke, and His words created His works in the natural world. God’s creation is but a reservoir of means made ready for Him to employ instantly to do His pleasure.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 1, 1081.

4 What should cause us to truly marvel at God’s creation? Hebrews 11:3.

Note: “In the creation of the earth, God was not indebted to preexisting matter. ‘He spake, and it was; … He commanded, and it stood fast.’ Psalm 33:9. All things, material or spiritual, stood up before the Lord Jehovah at His voice and were created for His own purpose. The heavens and all the host of them, the earth and all things therein, came into existence by the breath of His mouth.” The Ministry of Healing, 414, 415.

“Nature in her work testifies of the intelligent presence and active agency of a being who moves in all His works according to His will. It is not by an original power inherent in nature that year by year the earth yields its bounties and continues its march around the sun. The hand of infinite power is perpetually at work guiding this planet. It is God’s power momentarily exercised that keeps it in position in its rotation.

“The God of heaven is constantly at work. It is by His power that vegetation is caused to flourish, that every leaf appears and every flower blooms. Every drop of rain or flake of snow, every spire of grass, every leaf and flower and shrub, testifies of God. These little things so common around us teach the lesson that nothing is beneath the notice of the infinite God, nothing is too small for His attention.

“The mechanism of the human body cannot be fully understood; it presents mysteries that baffle the most intelligent. It is not as the result of a mechanism, which, once set in motion, continues its work, that the pulse beats and breath follows breath. In God we live and move and have our being. Every breath, every throb of the heart, is a continual evidence of the power of an ever-present God.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 260.

5 What is revealed by God’s creation? Romans 1:20.

6 What was created on the first day of creation? Genesis 1:3–5.

Note: “He [God] causes ‘the light to shine out of darkness.’ II Corinthians 4:6. When ‘the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep,’ ‘the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.’ Genesis 1:2, 3.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 415.

7 What other light also comes from the same source? John 1:6–10; 8:12; 9:5.

Note: “God is light; and in the words, ‘I am the light of the world’ [John 8:12], Christ declared His oneness with God, and His relation to the whole human family. It was He who at the beginning had caused ‘the light to shine out of darkness.’ II Corinthians 4:6. He is the light of sun and moon and star. He was the spiritual light that in symbol and type and prophecy had shone upon Israel. But not to the Jewish nation alone was the light given. As the sunbeams penetrate to the remotest corners of the earth, so does the light of the Sun of Righteousness shine upon every soul.” The Desire of Ages, 464.

8 How does this light affect all who accept it? Isaiah 60:1, 2.

Note: “In the night of spiritual darkness, God’s word goes forth, ‘Let there be light.’ To His people He says, ‘Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.’ Isaiah 60:1. …

“It is the darkness of misapprehension of God that is enshrouding the world. Men are losing their knowledge of His character. It has been misunderstood and misinterpreted. At this time a message from God is to be proclaimed, a message illuminating in its influence and saving in its power. His character is to be made known. Into the darkness of the world is to be shed the light of His glory, the light of His goodness, mercy, and truth.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 415.

“It is the highest duty of every Christian to let the light God has given shine forth in steady rays.” Review and Herald, December 12, 1893.

9 What did God create on the second day? Genesis 1:6–8. What do we learn from God’s work in the firmament? Psalm 19:1–3.

Note: “Shall we not commit to memory the lessons nature teaches? Shall we not open the eyes of our senses; and take in the beautiful things of God? We would do well to read often the nineteenth psalm that we may understand how the Lord binds up His law with His created works. …

“We are to contemplate the wonderful works of God, and repeat the lessons learned from them to our children, that we may lead them to see His skill, His power, His grandeur in His created works.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 3, 1143.

10 What was God’s main purpose in creating the world? Isaiah 45:18.

Note: “In the beginning, God was revealed in all the works of creation. It was Christ that spread the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth. It was His hand that hung the worlds in space. … And upon all things in earth, and air, and sky, He wrote the message of the Father’s love.” The Desire of Ages, 20.

11 Explain why the sky can be especially inspiring to the Christian. Job 37:14–18.

Note: “Several years ago, while journeying from Christiania, Norway, to Goteborg, Sweden, I [Ellen G. White] was favored with the sight of the most glorious sunset it was ever my privilege to behold. Language is inadequate to picture its beauty. The last beams of the setting sun, silver and gold, purple, amber, and crimson, shed their glories athwart the sky, growing brighter and brighter, rising higher and higher in the heavens, until it seemed that the gates of the city of God had been left ajar, and gleams of the inner glory were flashing through. For two hours the wondrous splendor continued to light up the cold northern sky—a picture painted by the great Master Artist upon the shifting canvas of the heavens. Like the smile of God it seemed, above all earthly homes, above the rock-bound plains, the rugged mountains, the lonely forests, through which our journey lay.” The Faith I Live By, 248.

12 What was brought forth in the third day? Genesis 1:9–13.

Note: “When God formed the earth, there were mountains, hills, and plains, and interspersed among them were rivers and bodies of water. The earth was not one extensive plain, but the monotony of the scenery was broken by hills and mountains, not high and ragged as they now are, but regular and beautiful in shape. The bare, high rocks were never seen upon them, but lay beneath the surface, answering as bones to the earth. The waters were regularly dispersed. The hills, mountains, and very beautiful plains, were adorned with plants and flowers, and tall, majestic trees of every description, which were many times larger, and much more beautiful, than trees now are. The air was pure and healthful, and the earth seemed like a noble palace. Angels beheld and rejoiced at the wonderful and beautiful works of God.” Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, 33.

“It is through the gift of Christ that we receive every blessing. Through that gift there comes to us day by day the unfailing flow of Jehovah’s goodness. Every flower, with its delicate tints and its fragrance, is given for our enjoyment through that one Gift.” The Ministry of Healing, 424.

13 What relationship exists between creation and the first angel’s message? Revelation 14:6, 7.

Note: “In the first angel’s message men are called upon to worship God, our Creator, who made the world and all things that are therein.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 106.

Additional Reading

“While the Bible should hold the first place in the education of children and youth, the book of nature is next in importance. God’s created works testify to His love and power. He has called the world into being, with all that it contains. God is a lover of the beautiful; and in the world which He has fitted up for us He has not only given us everything necessary for our comfort, but He has filled the heavens and the earth with beauty. We see His love and care in the rich fields of autumn, and His smile in the glad sunshine. His hand has made the castle-like rocks and the towering mountains. The lofty trees grow at His command; He has spread earth’s green velvet carpet and dotted it with shrubs and flowers.

“Why has He clothed the earth and trees with living green, instead of with dark, somber brown? Is it not that they may be more pleasing to the eye? And shall not our hearts be filled with gratitude as we read the evidences of His wisdom and love in the wonders of His creation?

“The same creative energy that brought the world into existence is still exerted in upholding the universe and continuing the operations of nature. The hand of God guides the planets in their orderly march through the heavens. It is not because of inherent power that year by year the earth continues her motion round the sun and produces her bounties. The word of God controls the elements. He covers the heavens with clouds and prepares rain for the earth. He makes the valleys fruitful and ‘grass to grow upon the mountains.’ Psalm 147:8. It is through His power that vegetation flourishes, that the leaves appear and the flowers bloom.

“The whole natural world is designed to be an interpreter of the things of God. To Adam and Eve in their Eden home, nature was full of the knowledge of God, teeming with divine instruction. To their attentive ears it was vocal with the voice of wisdom. Wisdom spoke to the eye and was received into the heart, for they communed with God in His created works. As soon as the holy pair transgressed the law of the Most High, the brightness from the face of God departed from the face of nature. Nature is now marred and defiled by sin. But God’s object lessons are not obliterated; even now, rightly studied and interpreted, she speaks of her Creator. …

“In the natural world, God has placed in the hands of the children of men the key to unlock the treasure house of His word. The unseen is illustrated by the seen; divine wisdom, eternal truth, infinite grace, are understood by the things that God has made. Then let the children and youth become acquainted with nature and nature’s laws. Let the mind be developed to its utmost capacity and the physical powers trained for the practical duties of life. But teach them also that God has made this world fair because He delights in our happiness; and that a more beautiful home is preparing for us in that world where there will be no more sin. The word of God declares: ‘Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.’ I Corinthians 2:9.” Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 185–188.

©2005 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, Roanoke, Virginia. Reprinted by permission.

Health – Genetic Engineering

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In the beginning God created each plant and each animal to reproduce according to its kind. (Genesis 1.) But sin entered the world from a desire to become like God—to be as gods. (Genesis 3.) This was also the motivation that led to Lucifer’s fall. (Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28.) This desire to become like God has never ceased to agitate the sinful mind of man since the fall and will exist in those who have not been born again until the end of all things. This desire to be like God has manifested itself in the greatest crimes that have ever been perpetrated upon the human race.

In attempting to take the place of God the devil has been a genetic experimenter and manipulator for thousands of years: “All tares are sown by the evil one. Every noxious herb is of his sowing, and by his ingenious methods of amalgamation he has corrupted the earth with tares.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 288.

The devil inspired his subjects (the unconverted descendants of Cain) to also experiment with what God had made. “But if there was one sin above another which called for the destruction of the race by the flood, it was the base crime of amalgamation of man and beast which defaced the image of God, and caused confusion everywhere. God purposed to destroy by a flood that powerful, long-lived race that had corrupted their ways before him.” The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 1, 69.

We see in the above statement that before the flood men were performing genetic experiments in which they were producing creatures that were partly animal and partly human. This was one of the main crimes which resulted in God’s destruction of the earth by a flood. These amalgamations were destroyed by the flood.

“Every species of animals which God had created was preserved in the ark. The confused species which God did not create, which were the result of amalgamation, were destroyed by the flood. Since the flood, there has been amalgamation of man and beast, as may be seen in the almost endless varieties of species of animals, and in certain races of men.” Ibid., 78.

Since Jesus said that the last days would be like the days of Noah, we would expect that in the last days mankind would again be involved in genetic experimentation. That is exactly what has happened since 1798 A.D.

Man is not content with the plants and animals that God has created but is ever attempting to design plants and animals to his own liking for supposedly superior benefit. God has given plain warning in His word against doing this but it is hard for man to learn that God means exactly what He says and that a penalty is attached to every transgression of God’s commandments.

Before getting more deeply into this subject it is necessary to clearly define the law of God—the Ten Commandments. Because of the frailty of man’s mind, God instructed Moses to specify in minute terms the breadth and meaning of the Ten Commandments in the Torah—the first five books of the Bible. “If man had kept the law of God, as given to Adam after his fall, preserved by Noah, and observed by Abraham, there would have been no necessity for the ordinance of circumcision. And if the descendants of Abraham had kept the covenant, of which circumcision was a sign, they would never have been seduced into idolatry, nor would it have been necessary for them to suffer a life of bondage in Egypt; they would have kept God’s law in mind, and there would have been no necessity for it to be proclaimed from Sinai or engraved upon the tables of stone. And had the people practiced the principles of the Ten Commandments, there would have been no need of the additional directions given to Moses.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 364.

The above statement shows that the entire ceremonial system would have been unnecessary if man had kept the law of God. The bondage of the Israelites in Egypt would have been unnecessary. The giving of the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai would have been unnecessary, and additional directions explaining the principles of the Ten Commandments would have been unnecessary.

In addition to the explanations of the principles of the Ten Commandments in the Torah, the Lord gave to Moses a ceremonial system made up of symbols pointing to Christ, His sacrifice and priesthood. This ritual law with its ceremonies, sacrifices and ordinances was to continue until “the Seed should come” (Galatians 3:19), and then this ceremonial law was taken out of the way and nailed to the cross. (Colossians 2:14-17.)

Much of what Moses wrote was simply an explanation of the Ten Commandments and therefore is actually part of the moral law by which we will be judged. For example, in Leviticus 18 and 20, we have extended descriptions in regard to nakedness and modesty for which God even held the heathen nations responsible. These are explanations of the seventh commandment by which all the purveyors of pornography in any context will have to answer in the day of judgment.

In the same way, in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, God gave dietary restrictions to His people. These dietary restrictions had nothing to do with the ceremonial law but were given as explanations of the Ten Commandments, especially the sixth commandment.

The only laws in the writings of Moses that were temporary until the death of Christ on the cross were the instructions in regard to the ceremonies. These were types of the future incarnation, work and ministry of Christ. This typical or ceremonial law was taken away by Christ and nailed to the cross.

But the explanations of the moral principles of the Ten Commandments, being part of the moral law, defining right and wrong, are eternal. These are as unchangeable as the throne of God and these moral principles will maintain their claims upon all created intelligence’s through eternal ages. This is what the great controversy is about—is every precept and principle of the law of God as contained in the Torah binding upon all generations and in all ages?

When a person chooses to keep the Sabbath, he is telling the whole world that he believes that all the law is binding and that he is going to keep all of it. This law has very specific things to say about biological tinkering or genetic experimentation upon God’s creation, whether plant or animal.

Notice, “You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle, you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed.” Leviticus 19:19. This was not part of the ceremonial law; it was part of the moral law—an explanation of the principles of the Ten Commandments. It is repeated in Deuteronomy 22:9: “You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, or all the produce of the seed which you have sown and the increase of the vineyard will become defiled [or polluted or unclean].” Some people have wondered why God placed this strict prohibition of genetic engineering or biological tinkering with either plants or animals. In a later article we will explain what happened in the twentieth century when human beings decided, as they had formerly decided before the flood, to re-engineer what God had made.

The flood brought a stop to most (but not all) of this biological tinkering with what God had created. Although in a lesser degree, genetic experimentation still continued. The reduction of the human race to eight individuals almost brought to an end the genetic experimentation that was widespread before the flood. But Jesus said that the last days of earth’s history would be like it was in the days of Noah. These genetic experiments or biological tinkering are promoted as being for the betterment of the human race, both individually and collectively. They are supposed to bring health and increased well-being. They were probably promoted in the same way before the flood. In a later article we will see what actually happens.

Adventist Evolutionists

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The fourth chapter of Romans is one of the richest in the Bible, in the hope and courage which it contains for the Christian. In Abraham we have an example of righteousness by faith, and we have set before us the wonderful inheritance promised to those who have the faith of Abraham. And this promise is not limited. The blessing of Abraham comes on the Gentiles as well as on the Jews; there is none so poor that he may not share it, for “it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed.” [Romans 4:16.]

The last clause of the seventeenth verse is worthy of special attention. It contains the secret of the possibility of our success in the Christian life. It says that Abraham believed “God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.” This marks God’s power; it involves creative power. God can call a thing which is not as though it existed. If a man should do that, what would you call it?—A lie! If a man should say that a thing is, when it is not, it would be a lie. But God cannot lie. Therefore, when God calls those things that be not, as though they were, it is evidence that that makes them be. That is, they spring into existence at his word. We have all heard, as an illustration of confidence, the little girl’s statement that “if ma says so, it’s so if it isn’t so.” That is exactly the case with God. Before that time spoken of as “in the beginning,” there was a dreary waste of absolute nothingness; God spoke, and instantly worlds sprang into being. “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth … For he spake, and it was; he commanded, and it stood fast.” Psalm 33:6–9. This is the power which is brought to view in Romans 4:17. Now let us read on, that we may see the force of this language in this connection. Still speaking of Abraham, the apostle says:—

“Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb; he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.” Romans 4:18–22.

Here we learn that Abraham’s faith in God, as one who could bring things into existence by his word, was exercised with respect to his being able to create righteousness in a person destitute of it. Those who look at the trial of Abraham’s faith as relating simply to the birth of Isaac, and ending there, lose all the point and beauty of the sacred record. Isaac was only the one whom his seed was to be called, and that seed was Christ. See Galatians 3:16. When God told Abraham that in his seed all nations of the earth should be blessed, he was preaching the gospel to him (Galatians 3:8); therefore Abraham’s faith in the promise of God was direct faith in Christ as the Saviour of sinners. This was the faith which was counted to him for righteousness.

Now note the strength of the faith. His own body was already virtually dead from age, and Sarah was in like condition. The birth of Isaac from such a pair was nothing less than the bringing of life from the dead. It was a symbol of God’s power to quicken to spiritual life those who are dead in trespasses and sins. Abraham hoped against hope. There was human possibility of the fulfillment of the promise; everything was against it, but his faith grasped and rested upon the unchanging word of God, and his power to create and to make alive. “And therefore it was imputed unto him for righteousness.” [Romans 4:22.] Now for the point of it all:—

“Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.” Romans 4:23–25.

So Abraham’s faith was the same that ours must be, and in the same object. The fact that it is by faith in the death and resurrection of Christ that we have the same righteousness imputed to us that was imputed to Abraham shows that Abraham’s faith was likewise in the death and resurrection of Christ. All the promises of God to Abraham were for us as well as for him. Indeed, we are told in one place that they were especially for our benefit. “When God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself.” “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.” Hebrews 6:13, 17, 18. Our hope, therefore, rests upon God’s promise and oath to Abraham, for that promise to Abraham, confirmed by that oath, contains all the blessings which God can possibly give to man.

But let us make this matter a little more personal before leaving it. Trembling soul, say not that your sins are so many and that you are so weak that there is no hope for you. Christ came to save the lost, and he is able to save to the uttermost those that come to God by Him. You are weak, but he says, “My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 11 Corinthians 12:9. And the inspired record tells us of those who “out of weakness were made strong.” Hebrews 11:34. That means that God took their very weakness and turned it into strength. In so doing he demonstrates power. It is his way of working. For “God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are; that no flesh should glory in his presence.” I Corinthians 1:27–29.

Have the simple faith of Abraham. How did he attain to righteousness?—By not considering the deadness and powerlessness of his own body, but by being willing to grant all the glory to God, strong in faith that he could bring all things out of that which was not. You, therefore, in like manner, consider not the weakness of your own body, but the power and grace of our Lord, being assured that the same word which can create a universe, and raise the dead, can also create in you a clean heart, and make you alive in God. And so you shall be a child of Abraham, even a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

I am going to speak … on the subject of evolution. I want you to pay close attention, and find out for yourselves whether or not you are an evolutionist. … [The following] statements are all copied from a treatise on evolution, written by one of the chief evolutionists; therefore they are all correct, so far as they go, as definitions:—

“Evolution is the theory that represents the course of the world as a gradual transition from the indeterminate to the determinate, from the uniform to the varied, and which assumes the cause of these processes to be immanent in the world itself that is to be thus transformed.”

“Evolution is thus almost synonymous with progress. It is a transition from the lower to the higher, from the worse to the better. Thus progress points to an increased value in existence, as judged by our feelings.”

Now notice the particular points in these three sentences: evolution represents the course of the world as a gradual transition from the lower to the higher, from the worse to the better; and assumes that this process is immanent in the world itself thus to be transformed. That is to say, the thing gets better of itself; and that which causes it to get better is itself. And this progress marks “an increased value in existence, as judged by our feelings.” That is to say, you know you are better, because you feel better. You know there has been progress, because you feel it. Your feelings regulate your standing. Your knowledge of your feelings regulates your progress from worse to better.

Now in this matter of progress from worse to better, have your feelings anything to do with it? If they have, what are you? Every one … who measures his progress, the value of his experience, by his feelings, is an evolutionist: I care not if he has been a Seventh-day Adventist for forty years, he is an evolutionist just the same. And all his Christianity, all his religion, is a mere profession without the fact, simply a form with no power.

Now I read what evolution is, in another way; so that you can see that it is infidelity. Then, if you find yourself an evolutionist, you know at once that you are an infidel: “The hypothesis of evolution aims at answering a number of questions respecting the beginning, or genesis, of things.” It “helps to restore the ancient sentiment toward nature as our parent, and the source of our life.”

One of the branches of this sort of science, that has done most toward the establishment of the doctrine of evolution, is the new science of geology, which has instituted the conception of vast and unimaginable periods of time in the past history of our globe. These vast and unimaginable periods, as another one of the chief writers on this subject—the author of it indeed—says, “is the indispensable basis for understanding man’s origin” in the process of evolution. So that the progress that has been made has been countless through the ages. Yet this progress has not been steady and straight forward from its inception until its present condition. It has been through many ups and down. There have been many times of great beauty and symmetry; then there would come a cataclysm, or an eruption, and all would go to pieces, as it were. Again the process would start from that condition of things, and build up again. Many, many times this process has been gone through; and that is the process of evolution,—the transition from the lower to the higher, from the worse to the better.

Now, what has been the process of your progress from the worse to the better? Has it been through “many ups and downs”? Has your acquiring of the power to do good—the good works which are of God—been through a long process of ups and downs from the time of your first profession of Christianity until now? Has it appeared sometimes that you had apparently made great progress, that you were doing well, and that everything was nice and pleasant; and then, without a moment’s warning there would come a cataclysm, or an eruption, and all be spoiled? Nevertheless, in spite of all the ups and downs, you start in for another effort: and so through this process … you think, as judged by your feelings,—is that your experience? Is that the way you have made progress?

In other words, are you an evolutionist? Don’t dodge; confess the honest truth; for I want to get you out of evolutionism. … There is a way to get out of it: and every one who came … an evolutionist can go out a Christian. So if, when I am describing an evolutionist, so plainly that you see yourself, just say so,—admit that it is yourself, and then follow along the steps that God will give you, and that will bring you out of it all. But, I say plainly to you that, if that which I have described has been your experience, if that has been the kind of progress that you have made in your Christian life, then you are an evolutionist, whether you admit it or not. The best way, however, is to admit it, then quit it, and be a Christian.

Another phase of it: “Evolution, so far as it goes, looks upon a matter as eternal.” And “by assuming” this, “the notion of creation is eliminated from those regions of existence to which it is applied.” Now if you look to yourself for the principle which would assure that progress that must be made in you as certainly as ever you reach the kingdom of God; if you suppose that that is immanent in yourself, and that if you could get it rightly to work, and superintend it properly when it had been thus got to work, it would come out all right,—if thus you have been expecting, watching, and marking your progress, you are an evolutionist. For I read further what evolution is: “It is clear that the doctrine of evolution is directly antagonistic to that of creation. … The idea of evolution, as applied to the formation of the world as a whole, is opposed to that of a direct creative volition.”

That is evolution, as defined by those who made it,—that the world came, and all there is of it, of itself; and that the principle that has brought it to the condition in which it is, is immanent in itself, and is adequate to produce all that is. This being so, in the nature of things “evolution is directly antagonistic to creation.”

Now as to the world and all there is of it, you do not believe that it all came of itself. You know that you are not an evolutionist as to that; because you believe that God created all things. Every one of you would say that you believe that God created all things,—the world and all there is in it. Evolution does not admit that: it has no place for creation.

There is, however, another phase of evolution that professedly is not absolutely antagonistic to creation. Those who made this evolution that I have read to you did not pretend to be anything but infidels,—men without faith, for an infidel simply is a man without faith.—Even though a person pretends to have faith, and does not actually have it, he is an infidel. Of course, the word “infidel” is more narrowly confined than that nowadays. The men who made this evolution that I have read to you were that kind of men; but when they spread that kind of doctrine abroad, there were a great number of people who professed to be Christians, who professed to be men of faith, who professed to believe the word of God, which teaches creation. These men, not knowing the word of God for themselves, not knowing it to be the word of God, but their faith being a mere form of faith without the power, these men, I say, being charmed with this new thing that had sprung up, and wanting to be popular along with the new science, and really not wanting to forsake altogether the word of God and the ways of faith, were not ready to say that they would get along without God, without creation somewhere, so they formed a sort of evolution with the Creator in it. That phase of it is called theistic evolution,—that is, God started the thing, whenever that was; but since that, it has been going on of itself. He started it, and after that it was able of itself to accomplish all that has been done. This, however, is but a makeshift, a contrivance to appearances,—and is plainly declared by the true evolutionists to be but “a phase of transition from the creational to the evolutional hypothesis.” It is evolution only; because there is no half-way ground between creation and evolution.

Whether you are one of this kind or not, there are many of them, even among Seventh-day Adventists,—not so many as there used to be, thank the Lord!—who believe that we must have God forgive our sins, and so start us on the way all right; but after that we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Accordingly, they do fear, and they do tremble, all the time; but they do not work out any salvation, because they do not have God constantly working in them, “both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12, 13.

Taken from the book, Lessons on Faith.

©1995 by TEACH Services, Inc., used with permission. www.teachservices.com

In 1888, the Lord brought a message of righteousness to the Church through Elders E.J. Waggoner and A.T. Jones. This message was identified as the beginning of the loud cry of the third angel whose glory was to fill the whole earth in preparation for the second coming of Jesus.

Bible Study Guides – The Creator and Upholder of All

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January 1, 2006 – January 7, 2006

Key Text

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” John 1:1–3.

Study Help: Patriarchs and Prophets, 44–51.

Introduction

“God is the foundation of everything. All true science is in harmony with His works; all true education leads to obedience to His government. . . .

“No finite mind can fully comprehend the existence, the power, the wisdom, or the works of the Infinite One. . . . The mightiest intellects of earth cannot comprehend God. Men may be ever searching, ever learning, and still there is an infinity beyond.

“Yet the works of creation testify of God’s power and greatness. ‘The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork.’ Psalm 19:1. Those who take the written word as their counselor will find in science an aid to understand God. ‘The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead.’ Romans 1:20.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 115, 116.

1 To whom does the earth belong? Whose also are we? Psalm 24:1.

note: “Who is it that owns our world? Who are the real owners of houses and lands? Is it not God? He has an abundance in our world which He has placed in the hands of men . . . .” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 197.

“The fields nigh and afar off belong to God; for the world is His.” Ibid., 218.

“The Majesty of heaven yielded up his high command, his glory with the Father, and even his own life, to save us. And now what will we do for him? God forbid that his professed children should live for themselves! There is work to be done for the Master, by our means and by our influence. God’s claim underlies every other. The first and best of everything rightfully belongs to him. When Christ shall come in the clouds of heaven, he will have no use for the money which he has intrusted to us. It is in this life that he requires all our talents to be put out to the exchangers.” Review and Herald, February 9, 1886.

2 On what basis does God claim the earth and its inhabitants? Psalm 24:2.

note: “Upon all created things is seen the impress of the Deity. Nature testifies of God. The susceptible mind, brought in contact with the miracle and mystery of the universe, cannot but recognize the working of infinite power. Not by its own inherent energy does the earth produce its bounties, and year by year continue its motion around the sun. An unseen hand guides the planets in their circuit of the heavens. A mysterious life pervades all nature—a life that sustains the unnumbered worlds throughout immensity, that lives in the insect atom which floats in the summer breeze, that wings the flight of the swallow and feeds the young ravens which cry, that brings the bud to blossom and the flower to fruit.

“The same power that upholds nature, is working also in man. The same great laws that guide alike the star and the atom control human life. The laws that govern the heart’s action, regulating the flow of the current of life to the body, are the laws of the mighty Intelligence that has the jurisdiction of the soul. From Him all life proceeds. Only in harmony with Him can be found its true sphere of action. For all the objects of His creation the condition is the same—a life sustained by receiving the life of God, a life exercised in harmony with the Creator’s will. To transgress His law, physical, mental, or moral, is to place one’s self out of harmony with the universe, to introduce discord, anarchy, ruin.” Education, 99.

3 By what means was the earth created? Psalm 33:6, 9.

note: “The theory that God did not create matter when He brought the world into existence is without foundation. In the formation of our world, God was not indebted to pre-existing matter. On the contrary, all things, material or spiritual, stood up before the Lord Jehovah at His voice and were created for His own purpose. The heavens and all the host of them, the earth and all things therein, are not only the work of His hand; they came into existence by the breath of His mouth.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 258, 259.

4 By virtue of His creative power, how fully does God claim ownership of all? Psalm 50:10–12. What claim does He make upon the hidden treasures of the earth? Haggai 2:8.

note: “God has stamped his image upon every work of his hand. In every object in nature, we see evidences of his mighty power. The fields of waving grain bow their heads in acknowledgment of the God who gives to man his bread in due season. The trees, bending beneath their weight of precious fruit, bear unmistakable evidence of the love of a beneficent Creator. Every tree and shrub declares the work of infinite power. Upon every blade of grass God’s name is written. The opening buds and blooming flowers, with their varied tints, outvying even the glory of Solomon, show forth the skill of the divine Artist. The cattle upon a thousand hills, all with their distinctive characteristics, express the wonders of their Maker, and declare that he is God indeed.” The Youth’s Instructor, December 24, 1896.

“Every good thing of earth was placed here by the bountiful hand of God as an expression of His love to man. . . . The gold and the silver are the Lord’s, and He could rain them from heaven if He chose.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 255.

5 How does David beautifully acknowledge the ownership of God? 1 Chronicles 29:11–14.

note: “All that man receives of God’s bounty still belongs to God. Whatever God has bestowed in the valuable and beautiful things of earth is placed in the hands of men to test them—to sound the depths of their love for Him and their appreciation of His favors. Whether it be the treasures of wealth or of intellect, they are to be laid, a willing offering, at the feet of Jesus; the giver saying, meanwhile, with David, ‘All things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we given Thee.’ [1 Chronicles 29:14.]” Patriarchs and Prophets, 753.

6 Who are associated with God as the agent in creation? Colossians 1:12–17. How fully did Christ enter into the work of creation with the Father? John 1:1–3.

note: “In the beginning, God was revealed in all the works of creation. It was Christ that spread the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth. It was His hand that hung the worlds in space, and fashioned the flowers of the field. ‘His strength setteth fast the mountains.’ ‘The sea is His, and He made it.’ Psalms 65:6; 95:5. It was He that filled the earth with beauty, and the air with song. And upon all things in earth, and air, and sky, He wrote the message of the Father’s love.” The Desire of Ages, 20.

“The Sovereign of the universe was not alone in His work of beneficence. He had an associate—a co-worker who could appreciate His purposes, and could share His joy in giving happiness to created beings. [John 1:1, 2 quoted.] Christ, the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father—one in nature, in character, in purpose—the only being that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 34.

7 What material witness is given to the power and majesty of God by His creation? Psalm 19:1–3.

note: “The beauty that clothes the earth is token of God’s love. We may behold it in the everlasting hills, in the lofty trees, in the opening buds and the delicate flowers. All speak to us of God. The Sabbath, ever pointing to Him who made them all, bids men open the great book of nature and trace therein the wisdom, the power, and the love of the Creator.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 48.

8 When man was created, over what did God give him dominion? Genesis 1:28; Psalm 8:6–8.

note: “After the earth with its teeming animal and vegetable life had been called into existence, man, the crowning work of the Creator, and the one for whom the beautiful earth had been fitted up, was brought upon the stage of action. To him was given dominion over all that his eye could behold. . . .

“He was placed, as God’s representative, over the lower orders of being. They cannot understand or acknowledge the sovereignty of God, yet they were made capable of loving and serving man.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 44, 45.

9 What specific work did God give into the hands of Adam? Genesis 2:15.

note: “To the dwellers in Eden was committed the care of the garden . . . . Their occupation was not wearisome, but pleasant and invigorating. God appointed labor as a blessing to man, to occupy his mind, to strengthen his body, and to develop his faculties. In mental and physical activity Adam found one of the highest pleasures of his holy existence. And when, as a result of his disobedience, he was driven from his beautiful home, and forced to struggle with a stubborn soil to gain his daily bread, that very labor, although widely different from his pleasant occupation in the garden, was a safeguard against temptation and a source of happiness.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 50.

10 What limitation was placed upon man’s control of the possessions entrusted to him? Genesis 2:16, 17.

note: “In the midst of the garden, near the tree of life, stood the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This tree was especially designed of God to be the pledge of their obedience, faith, and love to Him. Of this tree the Lord commanded our first parents not to eat, neither to touch it, lest they die. He told them that they might freely eat of all the trees in the garden except one, but if they ate of that tree they should surely die.” The Story of Redemption, 24.

“God had made them [Adam and Eve] the recipients of rich blessings; but should they disregard His will, He who spared not the angels that sinned, could not spare them; transgression would forfeit His gifts and bring upon them misery and ruin.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 53.

11 As the earth is the Lord’s, what, then, is man’s relationship to Him? Luke 19:12, 13. As a servant, or steward, of God, what is required of every man? 1 Corinthians 4:2; Luke 12:48, last half.

note: “God calls us servants, which implies that we are employed by Him to do a certain work and bear certain responsibilities. He has lent us capital for investment. It is not our property, and we displease God if we hoard up our Lord’s goods or spend them as we please. We are responsible for the use or abuse of that which God has thus lent us. If this capital which the Lord has placed in our hands lies dormant, or we bury it in the earth, even if it is only one talent, we shall be called to an account by the Master. He requires, not ours, but His own with usury.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 668.

“Every Christian is a steward of God, entrusted with His goods. Remember the words: ‘Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.’ 1 Corinthians 4:2. Let us be sure that we are not robbing God in any jots or tittles, for much is involved in this question.

“All things belong to God. Men may ignore His claims. While He bountifully bestows His blessings upon them, they may use His gifts for their own selfish gratification; but they will be called to give an account for their stewardship.

“A steward identifies himself with his master. He accepts the responsibilities of a steward, and he must act in his master’s stead, doing as his master would do were he presiding. His master’s interests become his. The position of a steward is one of dignity because his master trusts him. If in any wise he acts selfishly and turns the advantages gained by trading with his lord’s goods to his own advantage, he has perverted the trust reposed in him.” Ibid., vol. 9, 246.

12 In view of all that God has entrusted to mankind, what ought we to do? What should we constantly consider? 1 Samuel 12:24.

note: “It is God that speaks. He who understands the thoughts afar off, and places the right estimate upon men, says, ‘I know him.’ There will be . . . no betraying of the truth for selfish purposes. He will keep the law, and deal justly and righteously; for he knows that he must answer to God for his conduct. And he will not only fear the Lord himself, but he will cultivate religion in his home. He will instruct his family in righteousness; the law of his God will be the rule in his household. Would that this testimony could be borne of all who in this day have the knowledge of the way of the Lord, and profess to walk in it.” The Signs of the Times, April 22, 1886.

From Darwin to Hitler

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In the 1900s Charles Darwin presented new theories that were different than any other since the world began. One was the theory of evolution. It developed, became accepted, and eventually led to greater crimes being committed in the 20th century than ever before recorded.

In his autobiography, Charles Darwin stated that if man has no belief in God or an afterlife, his rule of life can only be to follow the strongest impulses and instincts which are within him. Morality, being based on biological instincts and not on any moral code or law, was believed to change over time. His theories were widely accepted throughout the intellectual world, especially in the European universities. Not only were they accepted in regard to biology, but Darwin’s theories of evolution began to be applied to ethics.

Thinkers in Europe drew several conclusions from Darwinism relating to morality and ethics. The concept of free will was undermined because Darwin’s theories were interpreted to mean strict determinism; and, behavior and moral character are, at least in part, hereditary. Some thought that behavior was totally hereditary.

The idea of an overruling purpose in the universe was destroyed and all phenomena were thought to be the result of the laws of chance. Morality, they said, has evolved.

Natural selection was thought to be the force that produces morality since morality is thought to be relative.

The idea of inherent human rights, and objective moral standards, were undermined by Darwinism. The idea became widespread in scientific and medical circles by 1900 that human moral behavior is determined largely by biological instincts inherited from one’s ancestors.

These new ideas that were becoming so widespread by 1900 had tremendous implications. Firstly it affected education, then justice, the criminal or penal code, the marriage policy, the sexual practices of any population that accepted these theories, and also control of reproduction and a person’s attitude toward personal responsibility.

If the human race had evolved and was still evolving, it was thought that some races had evolved more than others, and therefore were superior. It was also thought that the inferior races would eventually cease to exist through the natural victory and survival of the fittest. In other words, the evolution of higher life forms depends on the suppression and destruction of lower life forms.

Darwinism offered a secular view of life and death to replace a religious view. The new view was that human life was valuable only as it contributed to the higher evolution of the human species. Therefore, if a person could not contribute to the improvement of the community, his life was not so valuable. It was thought that human life was not intrinsically sacred and inviolable as in Christian thought.

As people’s conceptions of the importance and value of human life and the significance of death were changed, a debate erupted over such issues as to the morality of infanticide, euthanasia, abortion, and suicide.

Prior to Darwin’s time, the sanctity of human life was dominant in European thought and was referred to as the right to life. Christian churches explicitly forbad murder, infanticide, abortion and suicide. Until then there had been no significant debate in Europe over the sanctity of human life.

Another idea that developed from Darwinism was to help evolution along by selective breeding of humans rather than depending on natural selection. This development was called Eugenics. Its basic idea was to promote the superior human beings, the ones with the best genes, to have many children and to prevent the inferior human beings, the ones with inferior genes, from having children at all and thus improve the human race.

Eugenics, founded on the premise of human inequality, was popular in the United States, as well as in Europe. Eugenics’ philosophy taught that some races were not as highly evolved as other races, and hundreds of thousands of people were involuntarily sterilized to prevent them from having children, because of their supposed defects.

Christianity, on the other hand, taught the brotherhood of all races that descended from common ancestors, namely Adam and Eve.

The earliest advocates of involuntary euthanasia, infanticide, and abortion were those devoted to the Darwinian world view. Not only this, but less than one year after Darwin published his theory, there were German sources who were justifying racial extermination. This was considered a natural unavoidable consequence of the human struggle for existence—the survival of the fittest and the destruction of the less fit.

This is commonly called racism and it led to racial wars.

Adolph Hitler embraced an evolutionary ethic that made Darwinian fitness and health the only criteria for moral standards. The Darwinian struggle for existence, especially the struggle between different races, became the sole arbiter for morality. Hitler denied that anyone could escape the universal struggle for existence. He stripped individuals of any rights and argued that the destruction of the weak by the strong was humane. He believed Darwinism provided the moral justification for infanticide, euthanasia, genocide, and other policies that before had been considered immoral. The justification was to promote the highest evolution of the most highly developed or superior race which, in his opinion, was the Arian race of northern Europeans.

Darwinian theory provided the mechanism to bring about this highest evolutionary development:

  • Increase the population of the most fit.
  • Decrease the population of the less fit.

The means to bring about these two goals eventually included promotion of maximum sexual reproduction of the favored, and sterilization of the less fit. Both voluntary and involuntary sterilization were practiced and, finally, directly murdering the less fit.

The result of this was the largest, most destructive war that had ever occurred between nations. It resulted in:

  • 350,000 compulsory sterilizations of people for their supposed defects. This does not include the tens of thousands in the United States.
  • Over 70,000 put to death by physicians as euthanasia.
  • A whole generation of young people, demoralized by perverted ideas concerning the sanctity of the marriage and the family. That has had a demoralizing influence on the entire world right up until the present day.
  • Over 6,000,000 people violently murdered because they were considered an inferior race.
  • Over 50,000,000 lost their lives in the most deadly war this world has ever seen.

Many people think that it does not matter whether or not you believe in evolution, but this is not an insignificant ideal when considering its results.

The God of heaven considered this question of origins and how we got here of extreme importance.

In the Old Testament there is one document that was:

  • Spoken by God’s own voice, publicly.
  • Written by God’s own finger in tables of stone.
  • Declared to be God’s covenant and His law.

This document was declared by Jesus to be of imperishable obligation. He said that it would be easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for a part of a letter of this document to fail.

“And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one tittle (that is just part of a letter) of the law to fail.” Luke 16:17. The One who made that statement was the One who had created the heavens and the earth and everything in it.

With His own voice, from Mt. Sinai, God spoke His law to the people Himself; then wrote the Ten Commandments, with His own finger, in tables of stone for a permanent record. That document, His law, the foundation of His government, was not entrusted to any man to tell the people. God Himself spoke it and also wrote the document. In regard to that law the Bible says, “And I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever: nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken from it … that men should fear before him.” Ecclesiastes 3:14.

When God gave the world His law, the Ten Commandments, and He wrote it in tables of stone, one commandment is longer and more detailed than all the rest. It is the only commandment that in the Hebrew language has over fifty words. Some of the commandments, for instance, the seventh and eighth commandments, “You shall not commit adultery” and “You shall not steal,” have just two words in the Hebrew language.

The fourth commandment is longer than all the rest, and it is right in the heart of the law. This commandment explains the origin of the world and the human race.

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, 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.” Exodus 20:8–10.

The reason for the fourth commandment is given in the last verse of the commandment.

“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.” Exodus 20:11.

It is so important for every human being to know where we came from, how we got here, and who we are, that God devoted more words to explaining the origins than any other moral precept. This commandment is in the heart of the ten. In ancient documents it was customary to place the seal of the document in the center.

The Sabbath will be a major issue in the last days of this world’s history. Part of the Sabbath commandment is quoted in the prophecy of Revelation with reference to the last days. The controversy over whether this world came into existence by the word of God is predicted to be a controversial issue in the last days. Eighteen hundred years before it happened, Peter predicted that in the last days people will scoff at the idea of creation and will not believe that this world came into existence by the word of God. See II Peter 3:3–7.

Bible students who make a careful study of the Bible know that the number seven is the number of spiritual perfection. In the book of Revelation we find another very significant number that is going to attract the attention of almost the entire world—666.

Within the Christian church there is some confusion over which day is the Lord’s day; however, the Bible is quite specific on this subject. Reading right from the fourth commandment we see that “the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.” Exodus 20:10.

Within the most detailed of all of the Ten Commandments, we are told that the seventh day is the Lord’s day.

In Revelation 14:12, it says, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are those that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

In the last days there will be some people who are called saints, or holy people, and they are going to keep the commandments—all ten of them. The book of Revelation also points out a terrible crisis that will come into the world in the last days. It talks about a beast power that will have the number 666. In essence, the controversy in the very last days of earth’s history is going to be over whether or not God is the Creator of the world and whom you will worship, the Creator or the beast. The beast, of course, is the anti-christ.

The Bible clearly identifies the God of heaven as the creator.

“You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for you created all things, and by your will they exist and were created.” Revelation 4:11.

“Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that are in it, and the earth, and the things that are in it, and the sea, and the things that are in it.” Revelation 10:6.

This world has a Maker. For thousands of years, until this theory of Darwinism about 150 years ago, almost the whole human race of all religions knew this. The book of Revelation, a book specifically for the people living in the last days, gives an appeal to worship God as the Creator. Revelation 14:6–12 describes three angels coming with a final message of mercy to be given to the inhabitants of this world.

The latter half of the book of Revelation focuses on these Three Angels’ Messages, and in Revelation 16 you will find that the people who reject these warnings are going to receive seven last plagues.

Revelation 18 describes what is going to happen to all the people in the world who reject the second angel’s message, and Revelation 19 describes Jesus coming and the destruction of those refusing the warnings.

Reading further on into Revelation 20 you will see that the people who accept the Three Angels’ Messages, even if they lose their lives through doing so, are taken to heaven to be with the Lord during the millennium.

The focal point of the latter half of the book of Revelation relates to the last three warnings of mercy to be given to the earth by the angels, and they are worthy of special study.

The first message says, “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment has come: and worship him who made heaven, and earth, the sea, and springs of water.” Revelation 14:7.

As we approach the last days of earth’s history there will be only two camps. Every person in this world is going to chose to be part of one of them, worshiping God as the Creator or worshiping the beast—the anti-christ. The fourth commandment says to remember the Sabbath. Acknowledging this and keeping this day holy is to worship the creator God.

Those who worship the anti-christ will believe they are worshipping Christ, but will find out too late they are worshiping the wrong Christ.

God is the Creator. The Bible says that in the beginning “God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” Genesis 1:3.

After He created light, on the second day He created the firmament, the heavens that surround the earth—the envelope of oxygen, the air that surrounds our earth. And then He divided the waters from the waters and He caused the dry earth to appear, and then it says, “Let the earth bring forth the grass, and trees, and all manner of plants.” Verse 11. That was the third day. The Lord had everything planned, exactly what He was going to do before He started.

On the fifth day the fish and birds were created, and then on the sixth day God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures.” Verse 24.

By the sixth day He had created a paradise and when everything was ready, for His crowning act, God said, “Let us make man in our image; male and female he created them.” Verses 26, 27.

After Adam and Eve had been created, notice what the Bible says: “Thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished.” Genesis 2:1.

Creation was 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 2:2.

The seventh day was the Sabbath, the day God rested after creating this world. The Sabbath is God’s love gift to the entire human race. He blessed it, He sanctified it, and He made it holy (Genesis 2:3). Only God can make something holy. God made that day, the seventh day, holy. God rested on it as an example for the human family. It is a holy day.

In Revelation 1:10, John says he “was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.”

“For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Matthew 12:8.

“Therefore the Son of man is also Lord of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:28.

“The Son of man is also Lord of the Sabbath.” Luke 6:5.

The Lord’s Day is the Sabbath. The Sabbath was a gift to the human family instituted in Eden and not something that was added because of sin, like the ceremonial law. It was given to Adam and Eve and their descendants in Eden. Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man. See Mark 2:27.

When Adam and Eve were put out of the Garden of Eden because of their sin, everything was lost to them but two things. They still had the gift of marriage and the gift of the Sabbath.

Many years later, when God spoke His law and wrote it on two tables of stone on Mount Sinai, He wrote the Sabbath right in the middle, right in the heart of the law. It says:

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Exodus 20:8–10.

Jesus kept the Sabbath. “So he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.” Luke 4:16.

A few days before the crucifixion the disciples wanted to know what would happen in the future and what sign would they have of His coming and the end of the age. Jesus gave them a sermon about future events. He told about the destruction of Jerusalem, and how they would have to flee. Notice what He said, “And pray that your flight may not be in the winter, or on the Sabbath.” Matthew 24:20.

Jesus was here referring to an event that took place 66 years after His crucifixion.

After Pentecost, we find over and over again that the apostles continually kept the Sabbath. After Paul had preached the gospel to the Jews (Acts 13:42), some Gentiles who had heard about this requested that he also preach to them the following Sabbath for they wanted to hear his message as well. Many years after the crucifixion, the Sabbath was still being kept by the believers and he never suggested that he preach to them on Sunday. But, “on the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.” Acts 13:44.

These people were Gentiles; they were not Jews. The disciples, the apostles, and the converted Gentiles always kept the Sabbath. On one occasion the apostles were in a new area evangelizing to convert people from their idolatry to Christianity. There was no church or place to worship so they went to the river side, “And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the river side, where prayer was customarily made, and we sat down, and spoke to the women who met there.” Acts 16:13.

Again, “They came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews: And then Paul, as his custom was, went into them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the scriptures.” Acts 17:1, 2. In the book of Acts there are over 80 references to Paul keeping the Sabbath, and no reference of him keeping any other day.

Some may question that over time there may have been a calendar change or time has been lost and ask the question, Which day is the Sabbath? Certain events in the Bible prove that time has not been lost. Christ was crucified on what the Bible calls preparation day. Today that is called Friday, and most Christians refer to that day as Good Friday.

In Luke 23:54–56 and Luke 24:1, it says that it was the day of the preparation. They took Jesus down from the cross, then put Him in the tomb and then they went home. It says, they kept the Sabbath according to the commandment, and then came back the first day of the week, and it was the resurrection.

Jesus was raised on the first day of the week, Sunday. The day between the preparation day and the day of the resurrection was the Sabbath.

The Dictionary meaning of Saturday is: the seventh day of the week, following Friday. There is no known evidence that any time has been lost.

Interestingly, in 108 languages of the world, the word for the seventh day of the week is Sabbath. The word Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word that means a rest day.

“Moreover I also gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them, that I am the Lord that makes them holy.” Ezekiel 20:12.

This is something worthy of consideration. Paul says that, “without holiness nobody is going to see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14.

It is impossible for a human being to become holy, as we do not have power to do this ourselves; it is something that only God can do: sanctify—make holy. God only can give the power, the ability, to be obedient.

God says that He gave His people the Sabbath that they would have a sign between them and know that He is the Lord, that He is going to make them holy.

Keeping the Sabbath is a sign between God and His people. God promises them, “This is a sign between Me and you; I am going to make you holy.” If God makes you holy, you will inherit the gift of eternal life. Only holy people will be in heaven.

In heaven there are no wars, there are no penal institutions, there are no punishments. Why? Because the people there are holy people and they do not need police, air force, armies, navies, wars, prisons, and things like that to make them do what is right. They are holy people.

The Bible teaches that even in heaven God’s children are going to keep the Sabbath. Nobody will be in heaven who argues with the Lord about what day they will keep, because everybody in heaven has decided to keep the Ten Commandments. Notice what it says:

“And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, all flesh will come to worship before me, says the Lord.” Isaiah 66:23.

Facts about the Sabbath:

  • It is Jesus’ day; He created it (John 1:1–3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2).
  • It is the day that His people at the end of the world will be keeping. Those who will worship the beast and are connected with the number 666 will be worshipping on another day. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8; Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5).
  • Jesus is the law giver.

Jesus Christ was the One who gave Moses those two tables of stone. Jesus Christ existed from the days of eternity. He came to this world and was born a baby in Bethlehem, but that One who was born, His days were from old, from everlasting (Micah 5:2).

Concerning the Father, it says in John 1:18 that no man has seen the Father at any time. It was Jesus Christ who is the authority behind the law and who revealed His glory to Moses on Mount Sinai.

It was Jesus who commanded the Sabbath, and while here on this earth, He perfectly kept it holy.

He said to the Jews, “Which of you convinces me concerning sin [breaking the law]?” John 8:46. They couldn’t answer. They would have nailed Him immediately if He had been a Sabbath breaker, but they had nothing to say because Jesus perfectly kept the Sabbath when He was on the earth.

Jesus commanded His disciples to keep the Sabbath. He said, “Pray that your flight be not in winter, nor on the Sabbath day.” Matthew 24:20.

All the apostles were Sabbath keepers. The Sabbath is His sign of allegiance, “a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.” Ezekiel 20:20.

The Bible says, “The Sabbath is a sign between me and you the Lord says, that I am the Lord that will sanctify you [make you holy].” Ezekiel 20:12.

Remember, according to Hebrews 12:14 only those who are holy will go to heaven. You cannot make yourself holy. Only God can make you a holy person. A holy person is a person who keeps all of the commandments, because “the law is holy.” Romans 7:12.

A holy person is a person whose life is in harmony with the law. An unholy person is a person whose life is not in harmony with the law. For example, the seventh commandment says, “You shall not commit adultery.” A holy person will not commit adultery.

It is the same for every other commandment. If you are a holy person you will obey all the commandments. And the Sabbath is a promise between God and you that if you keep this day, God says He will make you a holy person.

The Sabbath will continue in heaven. “It is going to come to pass, that from one Sabbath to another, from one new moon to another, all flesh are going to come to worship before me.” Isaiah 66:23.

There will be no controversy over which day is the Sabbath. The Sabbath will be a delight to all, a day of communion with our God in remembrance of creation.

The same appeal made to His disciples the night He was betrayed is given to you and me in this last generation: “If you love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15.

Jesus tenderly calls and offers the invitation, “Come unto me, all of you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle, and lowly in heart: and you will find rest unto your soul.” Matthew 11:28, 29.

It doesn’t sound like the survival of the fittest; it is an invitation to all, young and old, rich and poor, free or imprisoned, no matter what race or color or social standing or physical condition. It is an open invitation to anybody to come.

And then Jesus says, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:30.

There is a better way than any survival of the fittest. There is a better way than the struggle between the races. There is a better way than competition and rivalry, and trying to figure out by competition who is better than whom. There is a better way.

Jesus says, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

For about 6,000 years there has been a great controversy in the universe over who is going to be Lord— the head of the beast power, which is Satan, or Jesus Christ.

The theory of evolution came from his satanic majesty to deceive the human race and to get people into an all out struggle with each other, to destroy one another. But Jesus says to all the weak, to all those who are considered inferior in our world, “Come unto me, all of you, all of you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

The rest He offers here is rest from your burden of sin. Sin is the heaviest burden you can carry, one that will kill you. Jesus will give you rest from the restlessness that is in this world. He says, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

The choice is yours. The difference between Darwin, and Hitler, and the survival of the fittest and the invitation of Jesus Christ is great.

“Choose you this day whom ye will serve; … as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15.

[Literal translations used in Bible quotes.]

Pastor John Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by e-mail at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316–788–5559.