Oct 22
30
Old Testament Reading: Exodus 35:1-3
“Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them, ‘These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do. Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day’” (Exodus 35:1–3, ESV).
New Testament Reading: Galatians 3:1-14
“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’ So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’ Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’ But the law is not of faith, rather ‘The one who does them shall live by them.’ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:1–14, ESV)
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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
Introduction
Last Sunday I preached a sermon entitled, What Is The Gospel? In that sermon, I told you that the word gospel means good news. The gospel of Jesus Christ is an announcement, therefore. It is the good news that forgiveness from sin and salvation is available through faith in Jesus Christ. But in that sermon, I did also try to convince you that the gospel is not a simple announcement, but rather a story about God’s good creation, man’s fall into sin, the redemption that Christ has earned through his obedient life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection, and the consummation of all things when he returns. If you wish to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that makes sense, you must (to one degree or another) tell the story of creation, fall, redemption, and consummation. The story of God’s good creation and man’s fall into sin through the breaking of the covenant of works is the backstory that makes the story of our redemption in Christ Jesus comprehensible.
And now I ask, how does this redemption which Christ has earned through his obedient life and sacrificial death come to benefit sinners? In other words, Christ has accomplished our redemption. This he has done nearly 2,000 years ago. He lived a life of righteous obedience so that sinners might be clothed with his righteousness, and he died in the place of sinners to atone for their sins and to bear the wrath of God in their place. This work has been accomplished. There is nothing more to do. It is finished! But here I am asking, how is this redemption which Christ has earned applied to sinners – even to those of us who live now 2,000 years after the fact?
Answer: it is received by faith through the preaching of the gospel as the Spirit works.
What do I mean when I say, as the Spirit works? Here I am talking about the fact that, because we are dead in our sins, blind to the truth, at enmity with God, and bent towards evil, the Spirit of God must work upon fallen sinners inwardly if we are to turn from our sin and to God through faith in Jesus the Christ. The Spirit of God must work. He must give new life to the sinner. He must open blind eyes so that the sinner can perceive the truth of the gospel with the mind. He must subdue the rebel sinner to make them submissive to the will of God. He must renew the sinner’s heart so that he or she desires God and the gospel. We call this regeneration. We call this new birth. We call this effectual calling.
Questions 32 through 34 of our catechism say it well.
Q. 32. How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ? A. We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by the effectual application of it to us, by His Holy Spirit. (John 3:5,6; Titus 3:5,6)
Q. 33. How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?
A. The Spirit applieth to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling. (Eph. 2:8; 3:17)
Q. 34. What is effectual calling?
A. Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, He doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the Gospel. (2 Tim. 1:9; John 16:8-11; Acts 2:37; 26:18; Ezekiel 36:26; John 6:44,45; 1 Cor. 12:3)
That is what I mean when I say that the redemption that Christ has earned is applied to sinners when they receive it by faith through the preaching of the gospel as the Spirit works.
The Spirit must work. The Spirit must call sinners inwardly. This is what Jesus meant when he said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44, ESV). But the gospel must also be proclaimed! And that is our work. The preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ is the means that God uses to bring sinners to faith and repentance. This is why Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16, ESV). And a little later in Romans, he says, “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” (Romans 10:12–15, ESV, emphasis added). You see, it is through the preaching or proclamation of the gospel that men and women are ordinarily saved.
But know this: though the Spirit must draw sinners, and though the gospel must be preached if men and women are to be saved, faith is the instrument whereby we lay ahold of Christ and the gift of the gospel that is freely offered.
How do you receive food into the body and benefit from all of the nutrients it contains? Is it not by way of the mouth and through the process of chewing and the means of digestion? And how do you receive a gift offered to you by a friend? Do you not receive it with the hand and express your gratitude with your lips? Just as the mouth is the instrument by which we receive the blessing of food, and the hand is the instrument by which we receive a gift from a friend, faith in Christ is the instrument by which we receive salvation and all of the spiritual and eternal benefits that accompany it.
Listen to Paul in Galatians 2:16: “yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:16, ESV, emphasis added). The words “through” and “by” speak to the means or the conduit through with salvation is received. When you turn the faucet on in your home, water comes out. How does that happen? How do you come to have the water in your glass or pot? It is through or by the pipes. And how do you come to have the salvation that Christ accomplished so long ago along with all of its various benefits in your soul? It is received by faith. And we know that faith, that is to say, the ability to believe, is itself a gift from God. This is what Paul so clearly says in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9, ESV).
How is this redemption which Christ has earned received by sinners? Answer: it is received by faith through the preaching of the gospel and by the effectual calling of the Holy Spirit. Sinners come to be saved by Christ and forgiven all of their sins when they turn from their sins, believe in Christ, and trust in his works – and even this ability to believe is a gift from God.
Now, here is yet another question. How were sinners saved and forgiven prior to the life, death, burial and resurrection of Christ? Christ lived, died, and rose again nearly 2,000 years ago. It was at that time that he accomplished our redemption. Ever since then, sinners have been saved through faith and by hearing the good news about what Christ had done, as the Spirit works. But what about before that time? What about those who lived in the days of Abraham, some 2,000 years before Christ was born? And what about those who lived in the days of Moses, some 1,600 years before Christ was born? How were those people saved from their sins? Answer: In much the same way that sinners are saved after his life, death, burial, and resurrection.
The scriptures are very clear that Abraham (along with everyone who lived in his era) was justified (saved) through faith, by the hearing of the gospel, and the working of the Holy Spirit. Listen again to Galatians 3:3-9: “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith” (Galatians 3:3–9, ESV). In this one passage, Paul insists that Abraham was justified (forgiven, declared not guilty, saved) in the very same way that those who live after Christ are saved, namely, through faith, by the hearing of the gospel, and by the working of the Spirit, and not by the keeping of the law.
There is one difference though: the gospel that is preached after the life of Christ looks back, whereas the gospel that was preached before the life of Christ looked forward. Do you see the difference? It is the same gospel but from a different vantage point. The gospel preached in the days of Adam, Abraham, Moses, and David said, here is what the Lord will do! But the gospel that is preached after his life, death, burial, and resurrection, says, here is what the Lord has done! It is the same gospel but proclaimed from a different perspective. The gospel under the old covenant was delivered as a promise – God will provide a Savior! God will send his Messiah to defeat the evil one, to overthrow his kingdom and his works, to set the captives free, to pay for sins, and to make all things new! The gospel under the new covenant is delivered as an announcement – the Savior of the world has come, he has paid for sins, etc, and it is finished! Under both the Old Covenant and the New sinners are called to do the same thing: then and now they must believe this gospel, turn from their sins, and trust in this Messiah for the forgiveness of sins and the hope of life everlasting. It is the same Messiah! But the details concerning his person and work were a mystery before he came. Those who lived before his first coming could see him dimly through promises given to them. Now the veil has been lifted. We see him clearly now, for he has come to accomplish the work the Father gave him to do.
As we continue on in our study of the book of Exodus I will attempt to show you how the gospel of Jesus the Messiah was delivered even to those who lived in the days of Moses. You have probably heard me say in previous sermons that the gospel was delivered to them in the form of promises, prophesies, types, and shadows. Those are important terms. And they are biblical terms.
The word promise appears throughout the New Testament. It is often used to speak of the guarantees that God gave to Abraham concerning the Messiah he would bring into the world through his offspring to bless all the nations of the earth. The language of promise is found throughout the New Testament, but it is especially concentrated in Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, and Hebrews. For example, Hebrews 11:17 says, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named’” (Hebrews 11:17–18, ESV). The good news concerning the Messiah – his person, his work, and his reward – that was delivered to those who lived prior to the life of Christ is referred to as “promise” because it was, one, guaranteed by God and, two, its fulfillment was in their future. Promises have to do with the future, don’t they? If I promise to do something I am giving you my guarantee that I will surely do it in the future. And so it was with the gospel of Jesus Christ from the days of Adam to Christ. The gospel was proclaimed to those who live in those days in the form of a promise. God guaranteed that he would accomplish redemption through the Messiah, the seed of Eve and of Abraham, in the future. And according to 2 Corinthians 1:20, “all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory” (2 Corinthians 1:20, ESV).
In addition to the precious and very great promises made to Adam, Abraham, and entrusted to Israel, the gospel of Jesus Christ was also communicated through prophecies. Here I am thinking of those declarations that were made by God to and through the prophets of Old concerning the coming Messiah. Moses himself spoke to Israel saying, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—” (Deuteronomy 18:15, ESV). Indeed, there were many prophets who arose within and ministered to Israel. Under the inspiration of the Spirit, they spoke of many things, one of them being the coming Messiah. But when Moses said, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—”, it had ultimate fulfillment in Christ himself. He was a prophet like no other, being the eternal Word of God come in the flesh (see John 1:21, 25, 45; Acts 3:22; 7:37).
So then, the good news of Jesus Christ was delivered to those who lived prior to the life of Christ in the form of promises and prophesies. Let us also consider the revelation of the gospel through “types”. Types are people, places, events, and institutions that have a prophetic, forward-looking quality to them. In Romans 5:14 Adam is said to have been a “type” of Christ. Adam and Christ share this in common: they both were appointed to live as representatives of others. We may also say that Isaac, the only begotten son of Abraham, was a type of Christ. The Hebrews 11:17 passage that was read a moment ago suggests this. Just as Abraham offered Isaac up on the altar and received him back from the dead, metaphorically speaking, so too God the Father offered up his eternally begotten Son to die as a substitute for others and to raise from the dead in victory.
Now, what about shadows? Shadows are similar to types. But it seems that this word is used more exclusively to refer to those aspects of the law given to Israel through Moses which pointed forward to the coming Messiah and to his work. Listen to Colossians 2:16-17: “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (Colossians 2:16–17, NKJV). The same word is also used in this way in Hebrews 8:5 and 10:1. Hebrews 8:5 says, “Now if [Christ] were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, ‘See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain’” (Hebrews 8:4–5, ESV). And Hebrews 10:11 says, “For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.” (Hebrews 10:1, ESV)
What do these New Testament texts mean? Well, they clarify that when God gave Israel the law through Moses (the moral law, the civil law, and the ceremonial law which regulated Israel’s worship) they were designed to indicate truths about God in heaven, and truths about the Christ who was to come.
I’m sure you understand how shadows work. When light hits something of substance, like your body, or a tree – it casts a shadow. The shadow itself is not the material thing but is an image or a copy of the material thing. In Hebrews 8:5, the law that was given to Israel through Moses is said to have been a shadow and copy of heavenly realities. Clearly, this was the case with the tabernacle. The tabernacle was built according to the pattern shown to Moses on the mountain. In other words, the physical tabernacle was a shadow of heavenly realities. In Hebrews 10:11 the law is said to have been a shadow of the good things to come. In this text, the law is not a shadow of heavenly realities, but of future realities (from the vantage point of those who lived under the Old Covenant). The Colossians 2:16-17 passage says something similar. Paul wrote to Christians living after the life of Christ, saying, “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” The festivals, new moons, and sabbaths of which Paul speaks were those holy days that Israel was commanded to keep under the Old Covenant – for example, the Passover and Day of Atonement, and all of the sabbath or rest days associated with these holy days. Paul says they were “a shadow of things to come”. So then, these holy days of Old Covenant Israel were forward pointing. They were a shadowy picture of something future. And what was that future thing? Paul says, “but the substance is of Christ.” Jesus Christ was the substantial thing whose shadow was cast back into the Old Covenant.
Brothers and sisters, I present this teaching to you regarding the gospel of Jesus Christ being proclaimed to those who lived prior to the life of Christ in the form of promises, prophesies, types, and shadows, because you cannot properly read the Old Testament or the New apart from this truth. The gospel of Jesus Christ was proclaimed back then. It was not an announcement of what Christ had done, but of what would do, for the redemption of his people and the forgiveness of their sins.
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The Sabbath Command
Now, as we continue on in our study of the book of Exodus, my intention is to show you how the gospel was put on display in the tabernacle of the Old Covenant. Yes, the people of Israel did really worship there. Yes, the people were really purified there – not in the soul, but in the flesh. And yes, the priests did really intercede between Israel and YHWH as his presence was manifest in that place. But the tabernacle did also point to the future to Christ and his finished work. It was a shadow of the good things to come. The substance was Christ. And so in the weeks to come I will talk about the good news of the tabernacle, the good news of the ark, the table, and the lampstand, the good news of the altar of incense and the altar of burnt sacrifices, and so on. We have considered the tabernacle and all of its accouterments in detail in previous sermons. But in the weeks to come we will have the opportunity to consider each of these aspects of the tabernacle that was given to Old Covenant Israel and to ask, how was Christ pictured there? How was Christ, his finished work, and his final reward foreshadowed in these things? The repetition of the book of Exodus concerning the instructions given for the building of the tabernacle and then the actual building of the tabernacle gives us the opportunity to consider the text in both of these ways – first, up close and in detail, and then second, from afar back and in a general way.
But before we consider the tabernacle, its furnishing, its priesthood, and its filling, let us consider the Sabbath. In Exodus 35:1-3 the people of Israel are commanded yet again to observe the Sabbath day.
Verse 1: “Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them, ‘These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do. Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day’” (Exodus 35:1–3, ESV).
When we read that “Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel” we are to remember that the Lord had graciously reinstituted the covenant that he made with them at Sinai which they had already broken by their corporate idolatry. Moses assembled them to recommission them to move forward with the building of the tabernacle according to the design that was shown to him on the mountain.
The very first thing that Moses commands is that the people observe the Sabbath day. Six days were to be devoted to work. The seventh day was to be a day of holy rest. This even applied to the work of building the tabernacle. Also, the tabernacle and the Sabbath day were intimately related things. The people were to worship corporately at the tabernacle on the Sabbath day. It was a day for assembling together. It was a day for rest. It was a day for worship. We should not be surprised, therefore, to see the instructions for building the tabernacle, and the command to observe the Sabbath day, closely related. If the Sabbath day was properly observed, the tabernacle would be properly used. If the Sabbath day was neglected, the tabernacle would be neglected too. Notice that the Sabbath day is here called a day of “solemn rest” and a day “holy to the LORD”. The Sabbath day is a special day. It is a day to cease from normal labor and normal recreation. It is a day set apart for worship with the people of God.
And then in verse 3 we find this law: “Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.” In Old Covenant Israel, the civil penalty for Sabbath-breaking was death. The people of Israel were not even to kindle a fire in their dwelling places on the Sabbath day. This command takes us back to the first mention of the Sabbath in the book of Exodus when it was said “Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning’” (Exodus 16:23, ESV).
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The Gospel Of The Sabbath
I have said a lot about the Sabbath in previous sermons. Today I wish to draw your attention to the gospel of the Sabbath.
First, let me explain what I do not mean by this phrase.
One, I do not mean that men and women can be justified before God through Sabbath-keeping. I will simply site Galatians 2:16 to refute that idea: “yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:16, ESV). Sabbath-keeping cannot save you.
Two, I am not denying the strictness of the law of the Sabbath under the Old Mosaic covenant. The penalty for Sabbath-breakers was death. Indeed, the law was a harsh schoolmaster and a strict disciplinarian for Old Covenant Israel.
So what do I mean when I speak of the “gospel of the Sabbath”?
One, I wish to emphasize that the Sabbath day was a gift to Israel. Indeed, it was and is a gift for all humanity, and the people of God in every era ought to see it as such. It is a day to cease from common labor. It is a day to worship God and to assemble with the people of God. It is a day to be refreshed in God, in the worship and contemplation of his glorious name. The Sabbath was a gift for Israel. It was something for them to enjoy and to delight is, just as it is for us.
Two, I want for you to see the good news communicated by the Sabbath day. In order to see the good news we must first understand what the Sabbath signified in the beginning. The Sabbath day was not first given to Israel, but to Adam in the garden even before sin entered the world. It communicated to Adam that through his faithful work he would enter into eternal rest in the presence of God. The Sabbath day was sacramental, therefore. It symbolized something similar to what the tree of life symbolized. Adam was alive in the garden. Indeed, we may call that garden “paradise”. But according to the terms of the covenant of works, it was a place of testing for Adam. Were he to have passed the test – were he to have obeyed God’s commandments faithfully and from the heart – he would have been permitted to eat of the tree of life and to enter into that which the tree of life symbolized, namely, life eternal – life in glory. The Sabbath day symbolized something similar. Were Adam to have obeyed God faithfully – were he to have accomplished the work that God gave him to do while resting and worshiping God from the heart according to the pattern established for him – then he would enter into the thing which the Sabbath day signifies, namely, eternal rest – God’s rest, that is to say, glory. In other words, the weekly Sabbath day communicated something to Adam. It communicated that eternal life and eternal rest were available to him. Through his faithful obedience under the covenant of works, he would enter into eternal life and rest.
Now we know that Adam broke the covenant of works. We know that all of the curses of that covenant fell on him. And not only did they fall on him, but on all who descended from him, that is to say humanity. Adam and Eve were banished from the garden and barred from the tree of life. All of Adam’s children were born outside of Eden and under the curses of that broken covenant of works.
That is bad news. The question is this: is there good news? Answer: yes, there is good news. Shortly after the fall, God promised to send a Savior, one who would be born of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head. And as you have learned today, this good news was not only communicated in the form of promise, but also through prophecies, types, and shadows.
We could spend a very long time talking about all of the promises, prophesies, types, and shadows through which the good news of Jesus Christ was communicated from the days of Adam to the days of Christ. Indeed, Christ taught his disciples that the “Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms” all found their fulfillment in him (Luke 24:44). But today I want you to consider the way in which the continued presence of the Sabbath day communicated good new.
Think with me. If there was no hope for humanity to enter into God’s eternal rest after Adam, our federal head, fell into sin, then there would be no Sabbath-keeping in the world after the fall, for the observance of the Sabbath day does not only benefit the people of God week after week, it also communicates something about our future hope. It told Adam that through his faithful obedience to God’s commands in the garden he would enter into rest. And when God’s people continued to observe the seventh-day Sabbath from Adam to Moses, it communicated good news – entering into the thing of which the Sabbath was a sign was still a possibility.
Now, not all agree that the Sabbath was observed by God’s people from Adam to Moses. I believe it was. And I have put Exodus 16 before you as evidence of this. The Sabbath was observed prior to the giving of the Ten Commandments, the fourth of which says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8, ESV). But it is clear to all and beyond all dispute, that in the days of Moses when God entered into a special covenant with the people of Israel at Sinai, he commanded his people to keep the Sabbath day holy. It has been commanded over and over and over again in the Exodus narrative. And we see the importance of Sabbath-keeping – those who violated the Sabbath in Old Covenant Israel were to be put to death.
What did this communicate to Israel, and through them, to the world? It communicated that God was doing something in and through Israel that would result in rest. Through obedience, there would come rest.
The question now is this: whose obedience and what rest?
First, whose obedience would bring about the rest? It should be clear to all that it would not be Israel’s obedience, for as soon as this covenant of works was made with them t Sinai, they, like their father Adam, broke the covenant through their corporate adultery. Instead of listening to the word of God, Aaron, the priest of Israel, listened to the voice of the people and led them into idolatry. Whose obedience would lead to rest? If we are following the storyline of Genesis and Exodus we will know. It will not be the obedience of Moses, Aaron, or Isarel, but of the Messiah whom the LORD promised to bring into the world through them to bless all nations.
And what rest did the seventh-day Old Covenant Sabbath signify? Did it signify the rest that the people of Israel would enjoy in Canaan once they took full possession of that land that was promised to them? Or did it signify the rest that Israel would enjoy under King David and the kings that would descend from him? Partially, yes. But not fully. The book of Hebrews makes this very clear in chapter 4:8 where it says, “For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on” (Hebrews 4:8, ESV). Yes, Israel was given a type of rest through Joshua and even through David. By that rest was only a type. The weekly Sabbath day signifies something much, much greater than rest on this earth. From the beginning, the seventh-day Sabbath has signified eternal rest in the new heavens and earth.
Can you see it, brothers and sisters? The presence of the weekly, seventh-day Sabbath in the world from the fall of Adam into sin to the resurrection of Christ preached the gospel of Jesus Christ in a shadowy, symbolic way. As the cycle of six days of work followed by one day of rest repeated in world from Adam to Christ, it proclaimed something! And what did the Sabbath proclaim? In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth. He created in six days and rested on the seventh as a pattern for us. When he created, everything was good – very good. But man fell into sin. Here is the good news. The hope of entering into the eternal rest that was offered to Adam but forfeited by him remains. Therefore, the practice of Sabbath keeping remains for the people of God.
The seventh-day Sabbath did not find its fulfillment in Moses, Joshua, David, or in the victories that God worked through them. The seventh-day Sabbath found its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, the second Adam, the mediator and federal head of the Covenant of Grace, the seed of the woman who has bruised the serpent’s head. Jesus Christ obeyed the Father perfectly and perpetually. He finished the work the Father gave him to do in the Covenant of Redemption. He lived for those given to him by the Father. He died for these and rose again for these to reconcile them to the Father. And having accomplished his work, he ascended into glory and set down at the Father’s right hand. In other words, he entered into rest, and find our rest in him.
Can you see that the seventh-day Sabbath which was observed in the world from Adam to Christ proclaimed the good news of Jesus? In a shadowy and symbolic way, it proclaimed that the promised Messiah would earn the eternal rest that was offered to Adam but lost. He would do the work that God gave him to do, he would enter into rest as his reward, and he would bring all who have faith in him into that rest in the new heaven and earth which he has earned.
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The Gospel Of The Sabbath Today
I have one last question. Does the practice of Sabbath keeping remain for the people of God today? Yes, indeed. Why? Because the thing that the Sabbath has always signified, namely eternal rest in the presence of God, has not yet arrived. According to Hebrews 4, it is because we have not yet entered that eternal rest that the practice of sabbath-keeping remains for the people of God.
But do not miss this very important point. We do not observe the Sabbath day on the seventh day, but on the first day of the week. It is the Lord’s Day – the day on which Christ was raised from the dead.
You see, whereas the seventh day Sabbath reminded the people of God of the original creation, of Adam’s fall into sin (his failure to enter into rest), and of the hope that our rest would one day be earned by the Messiah, the first day Sabbath reminds us of the original creation, of Adam’s fall into sin, and of the fact that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the second has finished the work of our redemption and has entered into his rest. We rest in Christ now, and we have this sure hope, that we will enter into the fullness of his rest when he returns to make all things new.
Observing the Lord’s Day Sabbath is so very important, brothers and sisters. It is important because God has commanded it. It is also important because it is good for our souls. When observing the Christian Sabbath, we remember that Christ has come to accomplish our redemption. We remember that he has entered into his rest, that we rest in him in an inaugurated sense now, and that we will rest in him in a consummate sense when he returns. In other words, by thoughtfully and faithfully observing the Lord’s Day Sabbath, we center our lives on the gospel of Jesus Christ.
So you can see then, that Sabbath day preached the gospel to those who lived prior to the life of Christ in a shadowy, mysterious, and symbolic way. The Lord’s Day Sabbath still preaches the gospel, brothers and sisters, but no longer in a shadowy way, for the substance which once cast the shadow back into the history of redemption has come. We see him clearly now. And so, when we honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy, we remember that Jesus Christ lived for his people, died for his people, rose for his people, and ascended for his people. And by this finished work of his, he has inaugurated a new creation. The old Sabbath reminded the worshiper of the original creation. The new Sabbath reminds us of the original creation and of the new creation. That new creation is here now in an inaugurated sense. It will be here in a full and consummate form when Christ returns. Until that day, a Sabbath-keeping remains for the people of God, and in this, the good news of Jesus Christ is proclaimed.
