Old Testament Reading: Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 31:12–18

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” (Genesis 2:1–3, ESV)

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’ ” And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.” (Exodus 31:12–18, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Colossians 2:16–17

“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” (Colossians 2:16–17, ESV)

Introduction

Brother and sisters, I want to be clear concerning my objectives in this brief sermon series on the Sabbath. 

My first objective is to convince you that our confession of faith is correct in what it says  concerning the Sabbath day. I believe that our confession (the Second London Baptist Confession) provides a faithful and true summary of the teaching of Holy Scripture concerning the Sabbath day, and my objective is to convince you of this.

And what does our confession teach about the Sabbath day? 

First of all, it asserts that the law of nature – or the moral law written on man’s heart at creation (see Romans 2:15) – shows that a proportion of time is to be devoted to the worship of God. Listen to chapter 22 paragraph 7 of our confession where is says, “it is the law of nature, that in general a proportion of time, by God’s appointment, be set apart for the worship of God…” This Adam and Eve knew naturally. This they knew, having been made in the image of God. They knew that they were to give worship to their Maker and that a proportion of time should be devoted to it.

Secondly, the confession rightly teaches that God has appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath to be kept holy unto him. Paragraph 7 continues “…so by [God’s] Word, in a positive moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men, in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath to be kept holy unto him…” 

Notice that Sabbath command is said to be “positive”. In other words, man, by nature (that is, by virtue of his having been made in the image of God) knew (and knows) that God is to be worshipped. Man also knows by nature that proportion of time is to be devoted to the worship of God (simply look at how every world religion worships according to some calendar). But God did not leave man to wonder, or to invent for himself, what proportion of time is to be devoted to worship. He positively declared what time was to be devoted to worship, namely one day out of every seven. This command was added to the natural law written upon man’s heart from creation, and so it is called a positive law.

When did God do this? When did he “[appoint] one day in seven for a Sabbath to be kept holy unto him”? Answer: He did it at creation when he made the heavens and earth in six days, rested on the seventh, blessed the seventh day and made it holy. All of this he did, not for himself, but as a pattern for man made in his image to follow. The seventh day was blessed by God so that man would find blessing in it. The day was set apart as holy so that man might approach it as holy – a day unique from the other days, set apart for the worship of God. And so the pattern of six and one was established by God at creation. 

How long will this pattern of six and one remain? Our confession is right to say that it is “perpetual”. This pattern of six and one will remain until the end of time. 

And who is bound follow this pattern? Again or confession is right to say that this commandment is “binding [on] all men, in all ages”. How can this be so? Well, it is so because God instituted the Sabbath, not in the days of Abraham (as if it were for his offspring only), nor in the days of Moses (as if it were for Israel only), nor by Christ (as if it were for the Christian only), but at creation. All who descend from Adam, therefore, are obligated to worship their Maker in this way. All people ought to worship God, who is Creator of all things in heaven and earth! And they are to worship him, not according to the inventions of men, but according to the word of God. 

All men ought to keep the Sabbath day, but we should not be surprised when the non-believer does not. What should surprise us is when the one who claims to belong to God through faith in Christ violates the Sabbath day by neglecting to gather for worship with the saints, and by approaching the day as if were common, being consumed with ordinary work and ordinary pursuits on that day. 

Indeed, the unchanging moral principle at the core of the Sabbath commandment is that God is to be worshiped by all, and that one day in seven is to be devoted to rest (that is ceasing from ordinary work) and to worship.

We must then ask, which day of the seven is the Sabbath day?  

Again, our confession correctly summarizes the teaching of holy scripture when it says, “from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ [the Sabbath day] was the last day of the week…” So from Adam to the resurrection of Christ the seventh day – Saturday – was set apart as the Sabbath day.  

And our confession is also correct when it says, “… and from the resurrection of Christ [the Sabbath day] was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord’s day: and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week being abolished.”

I have grown to love our confession of faith, brothers and sisters. I believe, as do you most of you, that what it says is true. It provides us with a good and faithful summary of the teaching of holy scripture on major points of doctrine. 

Indeed, the Old Covenant seventh day Sabbath has been abolished, having been fulfilled by Christ. This is indeed true! The Old Covenant Sabbath that was given fist to Adam and the again to Israel is no more! Saturday is no longer the Sabbath day because Christ finished his work, entered into his rest when he raised from the dead and ushered in a new creation. The Old Covenant Sabbath, therefore, is gone! But a Sabbath rest does remain for the people of God. The pattern of six and one continues, though it has undergone change. Who change the Sabbath? Christ did by his finished work, his resurrection from the dead, and his work of a new creation. 

Indeed our confession is right in what it says. At the resurrection of Christ the “Sabbath was changed into the first day of the week…”  It is now “called the Lord’s day: and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week being abolished.” 

But notice this: our confession is just that – a confession. It is a very brief declaration of what we believe the scriptures teach. But it does not provide an explanation of these doctrines. It is not called, therefore, an explanation of the faith, or even a defense of the faith, but a confession of faith. It states succinctly the primary doctrines contained within holy scripture. And it is indeed very useful! But these doctrines which are so beautifully stated in our confession do also need to be explained and defended from the word of God if they are to be believed.  

And so my first objective in this brief sermon series on the Sabbath is to explain to you from the scriptures why it is that we believe what we confess to believe concerning the proper worship of God and the Sabbath day. 

My second objective in this series is to then motivate you to keep the Lord’s Day Sabbath holy and unto the Lord. It is important that this be the second objective, and not the first. How important it is for you to, first of all, believe from the heart that the Sabbath is to be kept, and then afterward to go on keeping it! 

Notice that this is the order in which things are stated in our confession. Paragraph seven of chapter 22 states what we believe concerning the Sabbath day (this I have already read to you), and then paragraph eight states how we should keep it. There we read, 

The Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering their common affairs aforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all day, from their own works, words and thoughts, about their worldly employment and recreations, but are also taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.

This statement is also right. But teaching on the practical side of things will need to wait a bit longer, for I am still occupied with the first objective, which is to explain to you from the scriptures why it is that we believe what we believe concerning the Sabbath day. 

A few very important truths have been established already in this sermon series. They are foundational truths and most be remembered. 

One, remember that the Sabbath was instituted at creation. 

Two, remember that the Sabbath was made for man so that he might be blessed in the keeping of it as rested from his labor to draw near to God in holy worship. 

Three, remember that the Sabbath symbolized God’s rest and also pointed forward to the rest that man was to enter into by accomplishing his work to the glory of God. The positioning of the Sabbath day on the seventh days was, therefore, very significant. Adams faithful work would lead to eternal rest, should he do it.  

Four, remember that the Sabbath day continued after man’s fall into sin. In Genesis 4 we see evidence that Adam’s children knew that they were to worship God and they did so “in the course of  time”. Also, in Exodus 16 we learn that the Sabbath ordinance was known to the people of God prior to the giving of the Ten Commandments through Moses. The Sabbath was therefore kept in the world from the days of Adam to the days of Moses. There is no way to know how many kept it, but it is clear that the Sabbath day was preserved from Adam to Moses. 

 Five, let us remember that the Sabbath is in some ways unchanging, and yet it is also flexible. That one day in seven is to be approached as holy unto the Lord will never change – not until Christ returns and we do enter into the rest that the Sabbath typified from the beginning. But the Sabbath ordinance is also capable of undergoing change. For example, the Sabbath for Adam in the garden held forth the promise of eternal life should Adam accomplish his work to the glory of God. After the fall the Sabbath day took on new meaning. It reminded Adam and his posterity that they had come short of that rest. But it also brought with it the good news that eternal rest was still a possible. It would be earned, as we know, not be sinful man, but by Jesus the Christ, who is the Savior promised from long ago.   

And so the Sabbath has been considered now from the time of creation up until the days of Moses. But what about under Moses? What should we say about the Sabbath day from the time of Moses to resurrection of Christ?

Can you see what I am doing in this series? I am following the Sabbath ordinance through the pages of Holy Scripture and I am attempting to explain how it developed along with the progression of the history of redemption. That some things about the Sabbath remained the same is undeniable. And that some things about the Sabbath changed is also undeniable. But I want for you to see that the changes were not random, nor were they man made, but they were ordained by God to correspond to the work that he was doing to accomplish the salvation of his people. In other words, the Sabbath day has always been linked up with the particular convents into which God did enter with man. With every covenant there is a Sabbath day, but the Sabbath day does also adjust to match the peculiarities of the particular covenant.

I have five brief observations to make concerning the Sabbath as it was from the days of Moses onward. We are here considering, what some have called, the judicial Sabbath, called such because it was the Sabbath in the days where the people of Israel were governed by the law of Moses. Sometimes it is referred to as the Jewish Sabbath, for it is the Sabbath as it was given parculiurly to the Isr. It is the Sabbath as contained within the law of Moses. The Sabbath was instituted at creation, it continued in the world from Adam to Moses, but in the days of Moses the Sabbath did undergo change. 

Under Moses The Sabbath Day Remained Substantially The Same

Notice first of all that under Moses the Sabbath day remained substantially the same as when it was given to Adam in the garden.

Here I am highlighting the fact that the Sabbath remained on the seventh day under Moses just as it was from the time it was instituted by God at creation, and for good reason. 

Shortly after God created man he entered into a covenant of works with him. “Do this and you shall live” was the principle under which Adam lived. And the Sabbath day corresponded to and signified this covenantal order. “Do this work and enter into rest”. The seventh day Sabbath given to Adam agreed with the covenant of works which God into with Adam shortly after he created him. 

Notice also that the covenant into which God entered with Israel after he rescued them from bodge in Egypt was a covenant of works. “Do this and you shall” live was the principle under which Israel lived. The Mosaic covenant was a kind of republication of the Covenant of Works that was made with Adam in the garden. I am not saying that it was exactly the same, for Israel could not earn their salvation through obedience to the law, but only blessing and life in the land which God would give them. Also, it is clear that the grace of God was present and active within the Mosaic Covenant. It had to be! For if the grace of God was not present and active Israel would not have lasted a day! But the grace of God was present and active through the promise that a Messiah would one day come. The people of Israel were saved by believing the promises of God. True as this is, the Mosaic Covenant was substantially a covent of works. “Do this and you shall live” was the principle that governed them. And their seventh day Sabbath corresponded to that principle – work leads to rest, obedience leads to life, do this and you shall live. 

Eventually we will come to deal with the question, why did the Sabbath day change from day seven to day one? And in part the answer will be, the day changed because the covenant changed. We are not under a covenant of works as Adam was and as Israel was, but we live under the Covenant of Grace. The paedobaptists who say that the Covenant of Grace was instituted shortly after the fall are wrong. The promise of the gospel was given shortly after the fall. The grace of God was present and active in the world from the time of the fall to the resurrection of Christ (how could it not be?). But the Covenant of Grace was inaugurated by the Christ. The New Covenant ratified in his blood is the Covenant of Grace. The seventh day Sabbath fits hand in glove with the Covenant of Works under which Adam and Israel lived; the first day Sabbath fits hand in glove with the Covenant of Grace under which we now live. The principle is we live by is not, do this and you shall live, but you live because Christ has done it. 

I have said it before, and I will say it again: the seventh day Sabitarians, though they claim to have Jesus as Lord and to be partakers of the Covenant of Grace with their mouths, do in fact deny him and the power of his resurrection by continuing in their observance of the seventh day Sabbath which has the works principle at its core. While claiming to be New Covenant Christians living under the Covenant of Grace, they wear the badge of the Old Covenant and the Covenant of Works when they gather for worship on the seventh day.  

Friends, please recognize that under Moses the Sabbath day remained substantially the same as when it was given to Adam in the garden, and this because the Mosaic Covenant was a kind of republication of the Covenant of Works made with Adam in the Garden, of which the seventh day Sabbath was a sign. 

Under Moses The Sabbath Day Contained A Gospel Promise And A Word Of Condemnation

Secondly, notice that under Moses the Sabbath day contained both a gospel promise and a word of condemnation just as it did for Adam and his descendants after the fall.  

I will not spend much time on this point given that I elaborated on it in the previous sermon. The point here is that with each Sabbath observance under the Mosaic economy there was a reminder, one, of the fact that the people of God still had come short of the rest typified by the Sabbath day, and two, that the rest of God was still open to them and in their future. In this was the Sabbath day functioned both as a law which condemned and a proclamation of the gospel. 

It was as if God were saying to Israelite on the Sabbath day, remember that you have fallen short of the rest and glory of God, and also, remember that I have been gracious to you and will provide rest for you despite your sin! This we know would come by way of a Redeemer, the second Adam, Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Under Moses The Sabbath Day Was A Day For Convocation

Thirdly, notice that under Moses the Sabbath day was a day for holy convocation. A convocation is a public gathering, or an assembly of the people for religious worship. The people of God were to assemble together to worship God on the Sabbath day.

Listen to Leviticus 23:1-3. “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.’” The first of the feast days, or days for holy convocation that the Lord mentioned was the weekly Sabbath. Verse 2: “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places” (Leviticus 23:1–3, ESV).

I am not saying that this was not unique to the days of Moses. It was true before, I’m sure, and it is certainly true now. The people of God were (and are) to gather together in holy convocation on the Sabbath day to give worship to God.  

This is why the writer to the Hebrews says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24–25, ESV). The Sabbath day is day for holy convocation. On it the people of God are to gather for worship. 

I have noticed that many Christians today give little thought at all to the Sabbath day. And among those who do consider it I have found that many have turned it into a highly individualistic thing. Many have misconstrued the words of Christ when he said, “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath”, to mean that the Sabbath is day is their day. It is a day for them to rest, and nothing more. This was the tradition that many of us came out of. The teaching concerning the Sabbath was, Christians do not need to keep the Sabbath on a particular day but they should still make a practice of taking a break from work. In other words, the whole point of the Sabbath given at creation and written in stone on Sinai was to provide man with some rest from his toils. What a shallow understanding of the Sabbath! It should be plain to all that the Sabbath is about more than you taking a break from work. No! It is filled with symbolism, as we have seen. It is to be observed on a particular day according to the command of God, for the day is significant. And it is to be observed, not by you alone, but by us together. It is a holy convocation. Please don’t ever say what I heard others say in the tradition that we came out of – “I don’t take my Sabbath on Sunday, but on Thursday. Thursday is my day of rest.” Is Thursday a day off you? Great! I hope you are able to rest on that day. But it is not the Sabbath. Not for you, and not anyone. Only Sunday, which is called the Lord’s Day is the Sabbath day now that Christ has risen from the dead. 

Indeed the Sabbath day is a gift for man. God did bless the Sabbath day so that we might find blessing in it. But there is blessing found in the Sabbath day only when we approach it aright. The Sabbath day is not our day but it is the Lord’s Day. It is a day, not for idle rest, but of holy activity. It is not to be observed by the individual, but as a community. Though it is a day to rest from our ordinary labors and pursuits, there is a kind of work to be done on the Sabbath day. Remember that God rested from his work in creation, but he took up the task of reflecting upon his works to take pleasure in it. God’s people are to convene on the Sabbath day. Worship is to be offered up to God. Our thoughts are to be directed towards his so that we might take pleasure in him and in his works of creation and redemption. It is on this day that we are to give special attention to his word, to hear it, to reflect upon it and to apply it to our lives. It is a day for the people of God to enjoy God and to enjoy one another. This it was in the days of Moses, and this it is today.  

“Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places” (Leviticus 23:3, ESV). Do not neglect to “meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:25, ESV).

Under Moses Sabbath Observance Was More Rigorous

Fourthly, notice that under Moses Sabbath observance was, in some ways, made more rigorous. 

Now, we must be careful here. Many imagine, I fear, that Sabbath observance was substantially different for Old Covenant Israel than it is for New Covenant Israel, that is, all who believe upon Christ today. I would imagine that this idea arrises from peoples incorrect reading of the gospels where Christ is often found confronting the Jews concerning their incorrect observance of the Sabbath day. The error in interpretation arrises when people assume that Jesus was attacking the teaching of the Old Testament when he was confronting the Jewish leaders. No, Christ  never opposed the Old Testament, but only the religious leaders of his day who wrongly interpreted it. The Pharisees, for example, heaped layers upon layers of man made laws and traditions upon the Sabbath ordinance. Christ was confronting their traditions and their extra scriptural laws, but never the actual scriptural  teaching concerning the Sabbath day. Jesus had a lot to say about the Sabbath in his teaching. And he said what he said to rescue the Sabbath. He never opposed it, but sought to restore to its proper place. This he did, not so that he might throw it in the trash when he rose from the dead, but so that he might give it to his people all shinned up and restored with the gunk of man made religion having been striped away. 

When I say that “under Moses Sabbath observance was made more rigorous”, I do not mean that the Sabbath was essentially different, but that the law of Moses, which added to, expanded and strictly enforced God’s moral law, made Sabbath observance more rigorous. 

The law that God is to be worshipped, and that a proportion of time is to be devoted to worship, namely one in seven, is moral and unchanging. But under Moses judicial or civil laws were also given along with a whole host of ceremonial laws. This is what Paul is referring to when he says, “Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary” (Galatians 3:19, ESV). Why the law (here he is referring to the law of Moses)? His answer: “It was added because of transgressions…” The law of Moses was added (to the moral law which existed from creation) to make our sin most obvious and our need for a savior most clear. 

The moral principle at the core of the Sabbath command was not itself made more rigorous in the days of Moses, but the civil laws which were given to Israel along with the ceremonial laws did add to the rigor of the Sabbath day. 

Take, for example, the text that we read from Exodus 31:12: 

And the Lord said to Moses, “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’” (Exodus 31:12–17, ESV)

What has changed here with the giving of the law of Moses? Not the Sabbath ordinance itself, but the enforcement of it. For the Israelite to Sabbath breaking was punishable by death. This was not so from Adam to Moses, nor it so for us today, but it was so for Israel under Moses. So here is what I mean when I say that under Moses Sabbath observance was more rigorous. 

Something similar can be said about the ceremonial law that was given to Israel. Israel was to keep, not only the weekly Sabbath, but also a whole host of Sabbath days that were added to it. Read, for example, Leviticus 23 in its entirety sometime. There, “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts” (Leviticus 23:1–2, ESV). And what is the first thing that he mentions? God first mentions the weekly Sabbath. It is called a feast and a holy convocation. But then after this the Lord also commands that Israel the Passover, the Feast of First Fruits, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths. The feast days were days of convocation that were added to the weekly Sabbath which was instituted at creation. 

Will you please pay special attention to this. To whom was the weekly Sabbath given? Not to Israel alone, but to Adam, and thus to all of humanity. But to whom was the law of Moses given, which included the moral law written on Adams hear along with man other civil and ceremonial laws? The law of Moses was given to Israel. This simple observation is so very important. 

For the purpose of our study here I want for you to recognize that while you are bound to keep the weekly Sabbath, you are not bound to keep the law of Moses, for you are not under the law, but under grace. 

Sabbath keeping was made more rigorous under Moses, not because the Sabbath principle itself was changed, but because to the moral was added the law of Moses with all of its demands. 

Some have referred to the Sabbath under Moses as the judicial or legal Sabbath, and I think this right and helpful. 

Under Moses There Was An Expectation That The Sabbath Would Remain And Yet Be Altered With The Coming Of The Messiah And The Establishment Of The New Covenant

Fifthly and lastly, see that the prophets who ministered under the Mosaic Covenant taught that with the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of the New Covenant the Sabbath would both remain and the Sabbath would be altered. 

This might sound contradictory at first, but it is not. It is the clear teaching of the Old Testament and it corresponds perfectly to what we see happen in the New Testament – the Sabbath remains, but it is significantly altered. 

First, understand that Old Testament prophets taught that the Sabbath would remain under the New Covenant. Consider, for example, Jeremiah 31:31. There we read,

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:31–33, ESV)

What would happen when the New Covenant was instituted according to the prophet? Among other things, God would “put [his] law within [his people], and… write it on their hearts.” Which law? Here he is referring to the ten commandments written on stone at Sinai by the finger of God. There at the ratification of the Old Covenant God wrote on stone. Under the New Covenant God would write that law on the hearts of his people.  And what is the fourth of the ten laws? “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8, ESV). 

There is no reason at all to think that the Sabbath commandment passed away with the establishment of the New Covenant. 

Second, understand that the prophets did speak of day when the Sabbath would be altered and even abolished. Consider Hosea 2, for example. There the Lord is speaking of the judgements that would come upon Israel in the future. God would divorce Israel for her spiritual adultery, for her continual breaking of the convent. And in that context he says, “And I will put an end to all her mirth, her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts” (Hosea 2:11, ESV).

What does the Lord say he will do away with? Now the pattern of one day of rest out seven which was established at creation, but the rather the Mosaic, judicial, Jewish Sabbath along with the feast days that were given, not to Adam but to Israel as recorded in Leviticus 23. 

Friends This is why the New Testament speaks of the Sabbath both as if it has been abolished and yet remains. 

The judicial, Jewish, Mosaic, seventh day Sabbath has been done away with having been fulfilled by Christ. And this is why Paul says, “let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ” (Colossians 2:16–17, ESV). By the way, “Sabbath” is in the plural in the Greek. The ESV says, “a Sabbath” – “let no one pass judgment on you in questions of… a Sabbath.” It is not incorrect, but neither is it clear. I think the King James Version is better here when it says, “Let no man therefore judge you… in respect of… the sabbath days” (Colossians 2:16, KJV 1900). Paul is referring, not to the weekly Sabbath given at creation (that certainly has not be abolished), but he is referring to the judicial, Mosaic, Jewish Sabbath along with its feats days, which are also called Sabbaths. All of that has passed away having been fulfilled by Christ.

But the New Testament also teaches that a Sabbath resting remains for the people of God under the New Covenant – “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God…” (Hebrews 4:9, ESV).

Conclusion 

Brothers and sisters, I hope you can appreciate what we are doing in this series on the Sabbath. We are laboring to understand the Sabbath day by starting at the beginning and moving forward from there. Today we have given special attention to the Sabbath day as it was under Moses. True, we do not live under Moses! We live under Christ. We are under the New Covenant and are, therefore, under grace. But it is impossible to understand the Sabbath as it applies to us without first understand why it was given to Adam and how it applied to Moses, and so we have begun there. 

My prayer is that we would understand the Sabbath and come to love the Lord’s Day. My prayer is that we would keep holy from the heart and find blessing in at God has intended. Indeed, the Spirit has written the law of God on our hearts if we are in Christ. May we love his law more and more and keep it from the heart. Christ himself said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15, ESV). May our love for him increase, and may it be manifest in our obedience to his most holy word. 

Old Testament Reading: Genesis 2:1-3

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” (Genesis 2:1–3, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Mark 2:23-28

“One Sabbath [Jesus] was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?’ And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?’ And he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.’” (Mark 2:23–28, ESV)

Introduction

Last week I stated that we were entering into a prolonged consideration of the Sabbath. How long this focus on the Sabbath with last, I’m not entirely sure. 

Of course it is Genesis 2:1-3 which has prompted this focus, for it is here in this passage that the Sabbath principle is first introduced to us. God, having created the heavens and earth in six days, ceased from his work of creation on the seventh day and entered into rest, blessing the seventh day and making it holy. This he did, not for himself, but for man. Man made in the image of God was made to imitate his Maker by working six days and resting from his work to give special worship to God on the seventh day. The Sabbath is as old as creation, therefore. To speak with more precision, the Sabbath is one day younger than man. Man was made on day six, and the Sabbath on day seven. Indeed, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

But why the need for a prolonged study on the Sabbath? I’ll give three reasons:

One, there is a great deal of confusion that exists within the church today concerning the Sabbath. Clear teaching is needed. 

Two, the confusion that exists concerning the Sabbath has led many to neglect the Sabbath day entirely, and this has been going on in our culture for some time. The situation is such that even if one were convinced that the Sabbath day is to be kept, few understand how to go about keeping it. Instruction is needed. First, a biblical argument for Sabbath keeping must be made, and then instructions for Sabbath keeping must be presented. This takes time.

Thirdly, it must be acknowledged that what the Bible has to say about the Sabbath is complex. And by “complex” I do not mean that the Sabbath is impossible to understand, or even exceedingly difficult to understand, but that the doctrine is multifaceted – it has layers to it.

The Sabbath is Simple

At its core the doctrine of the Sabbath is very simple. 

The simple and unchanging moral principle at the core of the Sabbath ordinance is that God the Creator is to be worshipped by his creatures, and that man is to worship in the way that God has prescribed. Man made in the image of God is to worship God in the whole of life by living in perpetual submission to him. Man is to do his work to the glory of God, and man is also to rest and worship to the glory of God. From the beginning, therefore, it was established by God that time be devoted to the worship of God. Man is to glorify God in his work for six days, and he is to rest and offer up pronounced worship for one. This pattern is unchanging – work for six, rest and worship for one.

The symbolism of the Sabbath day is also, in some respects, simple and unchanging. What reality does the Sabbath day point to? It reminds us that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and entered into rest on the seventh day. And what does the Sabbath day typify or point forward to? It points forward to a higher form of life for man – life characterized by true and eternal rest. The Sabbath day is a picture, a type, a foretaste of an unending, glorified, and truly restful life. This is what the writer to the Hebrews so clearly teaches when he says, “For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his” (Hebrews 4:8–10, ESV). We will give more careful attention to this passage at a later time, but for now see that it clearly states that a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people. In other words, there remains a Sabbath day or a Sabbath observance for the New Covenant people of God, for this is what the word σαββατισμός means – it refers to a  “special religiously significant period for rest and worship (Louw Nida, 67.185). A Sabbath observance remains for God’s people, why? Because we have not yet entered into the eternal rest that the Sabbath has typified or symbolized from the beginning of time.

And so at its core the Sabbath is simple. God instituted it at the beginning for man. It reminds man of God the creator. It provides man with a pattern to follow. It points forward to the promise of a higher quality of life – life characterized by unending rest. The Sabbath day is a blessed day and a holy day, and has been from the seventh day of creation.

The Sabbath is Complex

But the Sabbath is also complex. 

The Sabbath ordinance is nimble. There are some things about it that will never change, but there are other things about it that are able to adapt and change with the developments of the history of redemption. The Sabbath is both ridged and flexible –  unchanging, and yet able to change. It is complex. 

The pattern of six days of work and one day of rest will never go away – not until God’s people  enter fully into the rest typified by the Sabbath day. But if we pay close attention to what the scriptures say about the Sabbath as it progresses with the history of redemption one will notice subtle, and sometimes radical, changes. These changes are not random and arbitrary but correspond to the development and progression of God’s work of salvation. 

Changes at Resurrection of Christ 

The most radical change to come to the weekly Sabbath was its transition from the seventh day of the week to the first. We will consider the change of days more carefully at another time, but for now let me simply ask, when did this change take place? The answer is that the change took place at the resurrection of Christ from the dead? What remained the same? The pattern of six days of work and one day of rest remained. The Sabbath as a blessed and holy day, set apart for the worship of God remained. The pointing forward to eternal rest remained. But what changed? The day changed! And why? Because Christ ushered in a new creation by his life, death and resurrection. Now the Sabbath day reminds us, not only of the creation of the heavens and earth, but also of our redemption, which the scriptures call, a new creation. He is risen! He is risen indeed. 

Do you see, therefore, that the Sabbath is complex. It is both ridged and nimble. It is both unchanging and yet capable of change.

Changes in the Days of Moses

The Sabbath also underwent changes in the days of Moses after Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and upon the giving of the law. Granted, the day did not change then, but remained on the seventh as it was from the time of creation. But the Sabbath did take on greater significance. Begging with Moses the Sabbath day was to remind the people of Israel, not only of God’s creation, but also of their deliverance from Egypt. 

In Exodus 20 we have our first exposure to the ten commandments. And the reason given for Sabbath observance in that place is God’s creation. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy, “for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:11, ESV). But when we come to the ten commands as recorded in Deuteronomy 5 we see that the people are urged to “remember” something else when the observe the Sabbath. 

Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. (Deuteronomy 5:12–15, ESV)

Here Israel is commanded to remember, not God’s creation and rest, but God’s deliverance. They were “slaves in Egypt” and “God brought them out”, “therefore the Lord [their] God commanded [them] to keep the Sabbath day.” It was not that Israel was no longer to observe the Sabbath on the basis of God’s work in creation and his subsequent rest, but now that Israel had been redeemed the Sabbath day was to remind them also of their redemption!

So do you see that the Sabbath is flexible? The moral principles at the core of it never change – God is to be worshipped, and particular time is to be set aside for work and for rest and worship according to God’s command, specifically one day in seven. But the Sabbath is also able to adapt to take on greater meaning and significance as the history of redemption progresses. Israel was to remember not only creation when she observed the Sabbath day, but also her redemption from Egypt. In the days of Moses the Sabbath day took on greater significance than it had before. 

Changes at Man’s Fall From Innocency

And something similar happened to the Sabbath at the time of man’s fall from innocence and into sin. While the essence of the Sabbath remained unchanged, its significance was altered. Adam and Eve were to work six days and rest and worship for one inside the garden of Eden when they stood upright before God. And they were also to work for six days and rest and worship for one having been expelled from the garden of Eden. But clearly the Sabbath took on a slightly different meaning for man after the fall than it had prior to sin entering the world. 

 

What did the Sabbath signify for Adam and Eve while they were upright and in the garden? It communicated that they were to finish the work given to them by God and thus enter into eternal rest just as God finished his work of creation and entered into rest.

But what did the Sabbath signify after man’s fall into sin? In other words, what did the Sabbath day communicate to Adam and Eve after having been expelled from of Eden because of their sin? 

First of all, the Sabbath day must have reminded Adam and Eve of their sin. When they observed the Sabbath day over and over again it would have reminded them that eternal rest was offered to them and that they came short of it. 

This was not a part of the original function of the Sabbath. The Sabbath did not in any way condemn Adam and Eve in the garden, but only held before them the promise of eternal rest should they finish the work that God gave them to do. I suppose it would be right to say that the Sabbath did threaten Adam and Eve in the garden. It communicated the potential of failing to finish the work. But the Sabbath did not condemn them while in the garden, only held forth the potential of entering into rest. 

But after man’s fall into sin, the Sabbath day reminds us of our sin, for our lives are not characterized by rest, but by toil, trial and tribulation.  Paul says in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” The Sabbath day from the fall of man into sin on to the second coming of Christ brings with it a very similar message. “All have sinned and fall short of the rest of God”, the Sabbath day now says. Each and every Sabbath day from the fall onward is a reminder that we have not entered God’s rest (at least not in full), but have come short of it.

But in the moment we emphasize the way in which the Sabbath confronts us with having fallen short of eternal rest, we must also emphasize the way in which the Sabbath gives us hope, though we are fallen. 

Indeed, the weekly Sabbath reminds us that we have not entered into God’s rest (in this way it condemns us) but it’s permanent presence in this fallen world also communicates that rest is still possible. Think of it! Though we rebelled against God and fell into sin,  there is still one day in seven that is blessed by God and set apart as holy. On the Sabbath day we are invited to rest from our labors as a foretaste of the rest that will be enjoyed by all of God’s people for eternity. The only reason that a day of rest remains for the people of God after the fall is that God has been gracious to us. By his grace he has determined to provide rest for his people by a Redeemer. 

What do our sins deserve? The answer: no rest at all, but only eternal torment. And indeed this is what those not in Christ will endure – eternal torment. Do you remember how the book of Revelation describes the punishment that those not in Christ – those who worshipped the beast and his image – will endure? Listen carefully to Revelation 14:8ff:

And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” (Revelation 14:9–11, ESV)

Contrast that with the way Revelation speaks concerning those in Christ. Revelation 14:12ff:

Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” (Revelation 14:12–13, ESV)

What do our sins deserve? No rest, but only torment. What has God graciously provided? Rest for his people. The weekly Sabbath communicates that this rest is still available. The way to rest typified by the Sabbath day has not been closed off entirely, but is still open.  

 

To put it differently, if God had determined to leave all of mankind in their sin – if God had determined not to save sinners at all – then the Sabbath day would have ceased with Adam’s transgression. Men and women would have been given over to a new pattern of only work, with no rest. But a Sabbath rest remains, which means that it is still possible to enter into rest, by the grace of God, through faith in the Redeemer. 

The Seventh Day Sabbath Pointed Forward to Future Rest 

How appropriate it was for the Sabbath day to remain on the seventh day prior to the death, burial and resurrection of the Christ and his session at the Father’s right hand.  

The Sabbath day was on the seventh day (Saturday) prior to man’s fall into sin, and rightly so. Adam’s faithful work would have lead to eternal rest, and the so the pattern was work and then rest, rest and then rest. The rest was in the future and was to be entered into through the accomplishment of work. 

And the Sabbath day remained on the seventh day (Saturday) from man’s fall into sin up until the resurrection and ascension of Christ, and rightly so. Again, the rest of God could still be obtained, but only through work. The law of God had to be obeyed. Eternal life had to be earned. The obtainment of this west was yet in the future. And so the pattern remained six days of work which would lead to one day of rest. 

And how appropriate it was that the Sabbath day was changed from the seventh day to the first when Christ rose from the grave and ascended to the Father, taking his seat in the heavenly places. Why did the day change from the seventh day to the first? Because Christ entered into rest. He did what Adam failed to do. He kept God’s law, earned rest through his faithful and finished work, and entered into it, being seated in the heavenly realm. 

Conclusion 

The title of this sermon is “The Sabbath: From Adam to Moses”. My desire is that you recognize what wonderful testimony the Sabbath day is to the mercy and grace of God. How wonderful it must have been for Adam and Eve and their children to rest and worship on the seventh day. Yes, it would have reminded them of what they came short of, but how wonderful it must have been for them to observe the Sabbath day and to hear it say, there is still a way. You may still approach God in worship. You may still find rest in him. And the hope of eternal rest has not been be lost, but remains. 

Of course we know that the way to rest is through faith in the Christ. We must be united to him by faith if we are to enjoy the rest that he has earned. He himself did say, “Come to me, all who labor 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 for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28–29, ESV)

Application

Brothers and sisters, my desire for you is that you would keep the Sabbath day. 

Why should we?

To give glory to God (because it is right). 

For our good (there is blessing in the Sabbath day).

Consider what the Sabbath does for the soul. 

It centers our life upon God and upon Christ. 

It reminds us to diligently work to the glory of God. 

When we observe the day we find a blessing it. 

We find rest for our bodies. 

We find rest for our souls.

Our minds and hearts are directed heavenward where Christ is now seated.

Our affections are directed to the new heavens and earth, where we will enjoy consummate rest. 

Truly, the Sabbath day, which is called the Lord’s Day, is good for the soul. 

Old Testament Reading: Genesis 2:1-3

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” (Genesis 2:1–3, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Hebrews 1:1–4

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.” (Hebrews 1:1–4, ESV)

Introduction

Today it is important for us to recognize that the seventh day of the creation week was the most important day of the seven, for on it God’s creative activities were brought to a conclusion and were filled with meaning.  

This might sound strange to you at first as you notice that nothing at all was made on day seven. One might wonder, therefore, how the day on which nothing was made can be called the most important day of the creation week? 

This also might sound strange if you consider that man made in the image of God, the pinnacle of God’s creation, was made on day six. Again, one might wonder how day seven could called the most important day of the creation week when the most important thing in God’s creation was made on the previous day?

But true as it may be that nothing was made on day seven, and true as it may be that man made in the image of God on day six was the pinnacle of God’s creation, it is also true that day seven was the most important day of the days of creation. Day seven was the most important day of them all, for it was on day seven that God’s creative activities were brought to a conclusion and filled with meaning. It was on day seven that God entered into rest. It was on day seven that God pronounced a blessing on the seventh day and made it holy. Take special notice this: of the seven days of the creation week only day seven is said to have been blessed by God and set apart as holy. Truly, the creation week would have been left incomplete and unfinished without the activities of day seven. And indeed, the significance or meaning of the creation week would have been lost entirely apart from the activities accomplished by God on the seventh day.

All that I am now saying concerning the work of God in creation can be compared to the work of Christ in the accomplishment of our redemption. We might ask, what was the pinnacle of Christ’s work of redemption? What was the high point of the accomplishment of our salvation? Was it the birth of Christ? Was it his sinless life? Was it his death, his burial, his resurrection? 

I would imagine that the impulse of many would be to say that the resurrection of Christ was the pinnacle event! But as important as the resurrection was, Christ’s work was not truly complete until he ascended to his heavenly throne to sit down at the Father’s right hand. It was the session of Christ, as it is called, that brought the work of Christ to it’s conclusion. It was when Christ sat down at the Fathers right hand that he began to rest from his labors, the work of redemption having been accomplished in full. It was Christ seated in the heavenly realm that completed the circuit, as it were. 

True as it may be that the “heavy lifting” of the work of redemption was accomplished by Christ in his life and death, in reality it was his resurrection, and finally his ascension and session at the Fathers right hand that brought the work of Christ to its full conclusion. Christ, the eternal Son of God come in the flesh, descended to the lower parts of the earth to redeem those given to him by the Father. But having made atonement for their sins, “He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things” (Ephesians 4:10, ESV). “After making purification for sins, [Christ] sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3, ESV), and is now resting from the work of redemption as he rules and reigns over all things forever and ever. 

The session of Christ, as it is called, marked the very end of the work of Christ. Having descended to accomplish our salvation, he also ascended and entered into rest. And one can understand the true significance of the work accomplished by Christ in his life, death and resurrection only when he considers it in light of his ascension and finally his session. What did Christ do in his earthly ministry? He accomplished our salvation. He conquered the evil one, sin itself and even death and had “bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Philippians 2:9–10, ESV). How do we know that he accomplished these things? We know it because he was raised from the dead, he ascended, and was “seated… [at God’s] right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come” (Ephesians 1:20–21, ESV).

In like manner, God accomplished the “heavy lifting” of the work of creation on days one through six. All that was made was made by God on those days. But on day seven everything was brought to a conclusion. On day seven God, having completed his work of creation sat down, as it were, and rested from his work. On day seven God pronounced a blessing on the seventh day and declared it to be holy. These activities of God accomplished on day seven made clear the significance of the work accomplished on the other six days. 

I have five points to make today. And when all is said and done my hope is that you will agree that the Sabbath was instituted by God at creation, that from the beginning the Sabbath day held out the promise of unending rest to man made in the image of God, and that man would enter into that rest by accomplishing the work given to him by God – namely the filling and subduing of the earth to the glory of his Maker. Man – even man in his upright state and in the garden – was to work for six days and rest for one in imitation of his Creator. Sabbath keeping was, therefore, a sign even for Adam and Eve that they were living in submission to and for the glory of the God who made them. The Sabbath day was also a type for them. The rest that they would enjoy on the Sabbath day typified, or was an small foretaste and example of, the eternal, consummate, full and final rest that was promised to them should they accomplish their work.  

Friends, here is the foundation for our view that the Sabbath, which is now called the Christian Sabbath or the Lord’s Day, is to be kept by God’s people today and until Christ returns. The Sabbath – the pattern of six days of work followed by one day of rest – was instituted, not in the days of Abraham, nor in the days of Moses, but at creation. If it were instituted in Abraham’s day, or in Moses’s day then a case could be made for the Sabbath belonging to the Old Covent people of God alone, but not to those of us who live under the New Covenant. But we must say no, the Sabbath was instituted by God at creation! It is, therefore, for all people at all times. All should worship God. And the Lord ordained from the beginning how it is that he is to be worshipped. Man, made in the image and likeness of God, is to work to the glory of God and in the imitation of God for six days, and he is to rest and worship for one. This pattern is to be maintained until God’s people are brought into the eternal rest of God which is so beautifully typified by the Sabbath day. The Sabbath is the one institution, therefore, which transcends all of human history. Sabbath keeping unites, therefore, all of God’s people living in every age. All of those who belong to God in this world are to  follow this pattern instituted by God at creation – six days of work followed by one day of rest – six and one, six and one. This will go on until the Lord returns when the rest typified by the Sabbath day comes in full. We agree with the written to the Hebrews when he wrote to New Covenant Christians, saying, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:9–11, ESV).

I plan to spend a few weeks on the subject of the Sabbath. It is a doctrine that is found throughout scriptures, from Genesis through Revelation. It is not possible to deal with the subject of the Sabbath thoroughly in one sermon. Today my objective is simply to establish that the Sabbath was instituted at creation. This simple observation has profound implications for us today. 

So here are five points for today:

I. Let us remember that God took six days to create the heavens and earth and entered into rest on the seventh, not for himself, but for man. 

God did not need six days to create all things seen and unseen, but could have created in an instant. Therefore, we should not say that it took God six days to create the world, but that God took six days for our sake. He chose to create progressively in six days in order to reveal truth to man made in his image. 

Also, it should be obvious to all that God did not need to rest on the seventh day. God was not fatigued. He was not panting. He did not perspire when he made heaven and earth. This is what the prophet Isaiah says: 

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28–31, ESV)

God does no faint or grow weary. He does not need to rest. When the scriptures say that God rested on the seventh, we are to understand that God ceased from his work of creation and transitioned to his work of providence – God now upholds the world that he made! And t he rested, not because he needed rest, but for our sake so that we might find our rest in him.   

II. Similarly, when God blessed the seventh day and made it holy he did so, not for himself, but for man.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. (Genesis 2:1–3, ESV)

God pronounced a blessing on the seventh day, not for himself, but for man. 

This is not the first time that God pronounced a blessing on something in the creation week. God blessed the sea creatures and the birds saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth” (Genesis 1:22, ESV). And “And God blessed [man]. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth’” (Genesis 1:28, ESV).

But here God is blessing, not a living creature, but a day. It should be obvious that the day is blessed by God, not for God’s sake, nor for the sake of the day itself, but so that man might find a blessing it. The seventh day was blessed by God so that man would be blessed in the honoring of the seventh day as a day for rest – a day to cease from labor to give worship and thanks to God. 

Also, God set the day apart as holy, not for himself, but for man. At the time of creation the first six days of the week were designated as ordinary or common days, but the seventh day was designated by God as a holy day. The seventh day was set apart by God (for that is what the word holy means – to be set a part) as unique and distinct from the beginning.  

It should be obvious that the seventh day was made holy, not for God, but for man made in his image. Man was to approach the seventh day as a holy day – a day unique and distinct – a day to cease from the ordinary and to engage in that which is holy.  

III. Do you see, therefore, that the six days of creation followed by one day of rest provide a pattern for man, made in the image of God, to imitate?

God did not need six days to create. God did not need to rest. God took six days to create realms and to fill those realms with creature kings as a pattern for man, made in his image, to follow. 

Man, having been made in the image and likeness of God, was to do his work of creation in imitation of God. Man was to fill the earth, just as God filled the realms that he had created. Man was to exercises dominion over the world just as God has dominion over all things. How was man to accomplish his work? Like God accomplished his! Man was to work six days, and rest for one, just as God worked for six days and rested on the seventh. This man was to do until his work of filling and subduing was accomplished. 

Adam, even in the garden and before his fall into sin, was to approach the seventh day as a blessed and holy day. On that day he was to cease from his work to give special worship to the God who made him. Eve also was to follow this pattern. So too were their descendants.   

That man was made to imitate God is clear from from Genesis 1. Man was made in the image and likeness of God so that he might imitate God. Man was given work to do similar to the work God had done. Man was to procreate. He was to fill the earth. He was to exercise dominion. Man’s work was to a mirror God’s work. He was to work six and rest one, approaching the seventh day as a blessed and holy day, according to the word of God. 

All of this becomes exceedingly clear when the law of God was given to Israel through Moses thousands of years later. The law of God written upon man’s heart at creation was delivered to Israel on two tables of stone in ten commandments. The first four commandments have to do with man’s relationship to God; the last six have to do with man in relation to man. Commandment one states that God alone is to be worshiped. Commandment two forbids the use of idols in the worship of God. Commandment three prohibits man from bearing or using the name of God in an empty and vain way. And commandment four explicitly states that man is to work six day and rest one. This is the way that God is to be worshipped. It was true prior to the days of Moses, but under Moses this moral law was written on stone. Exodus 20:8:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. (Exodus 20:8–10, ESV)

And what was the reason given for the command to keep the Sabbath day holy? Verse 11: “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:11, ESV).

The command to keep the Sabbath day holy was not new to Moses and to Israel. Indeed, the Sabbath was instituted at creation and it was kept by God’s people in the world up until the days of Moses. Though it is true that not much is known about the people of God from the days of Adam to the days of Moses, the scriptures do provide us with some information. 

For example, the children of Adam and Eve knew how to worship. In Genesis 4:3 we read “In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions…” (Genesis 4:3–4, ESV). Here I simply wish to draw attention to the phrase “in the course of time”. Cain and Able knew to bring sacrifices to the Lord as an act of worship at an appointed time.

It also interesting to note that Israel was keeping the Sabbath prior to the giving of the ten commandments. The giving of the ten commandments are recorded for us in Exodus 20, but in Exodus 16 in the passage about God providing manna from heaven for the people of Israel, we find out that Israel was honoring the Sabbath day prior to the giving of the ten commandments. 

Remember that the people were instructed to to gather a days worth of manna each day, and no more. If they tried to keep more for the next day it would rot and stick. But in Exodus 16:22 we read,  

On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘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.’” So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.” On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” So the people rested on the seventh day. (Exodus 16:22–30, ESV)

Did you notice that Moses did not at first command Israel to keep the Sabbath day, but that some within Israel simply knew to keep it. And as some “naturally” honored the Sabbath day (without Moses first commanding it), “the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses”, and it was then that Moses said, “tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord… etc.”. In other words, Moses did not invent the Sabbath day in that moment, but confirmed that it was right that the people keep the Sabbath, for it was “a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord”, and had been from the creation of the world. 

IV. It should be clear to all, therefore, that the Sabbath was instituted by God, not in the days of Moses, but at creation. 

Indeed, the sabbath is as old as creation. The sabbath was to be kept by Adam and Eve and their descendants in the garden, It was to be kept by the righteous line that proceeded from Eve outside the garden, It was to be kept by God’s people in the days of Abraham and in the days of Moses, and it is to be kept by God’s people today. Indeed, all should keep the Sabbath day, which today is called the Lord’s Day. We should not be surprised  to find that the those without faith do not keep it. What should surprise us it is to find those who claim to be God’s people neglecting the Lord’s Day, which his the Christian Sabbath.

The moral principle at the core of the Sabbath is that the Creator is to be worshipped by his creatures. When God created in six days and rested on the seventh he, by his actions, and by his blessing the seventh day and making it holy, gave a positive command to worship him in this way and according to this pattern.   

V. Let is recognize that the sabbath had symbolic force from the begging. It symbolized God’s rest, and it typified the rest that man was to enter into after completing the work that God called him to accomplish. 

Symbols point to things that as they are now. God finished his work of creation and entered into rest on the seventh day. The Sabbath day has always symbolized this reality.

Types are also symbolic but they are forward looking. They point forward to things yet to come. A prototype is an example of something that will be made in the future. The Sabbath day is a type of the rest to be enjoyed by God’s people at the end of the age. The Sabbath day is a foretaste of the rest to be enjoyed by God’s people in the new heavens and new earth. 

Do you see, then, that rest – eternal, unending rest – was offered  to Adam in the garden. Adam had work to do. He was to rest one day out of seven. But that day of rest typified the eternal rest that he was to enjoy forever and ever once he had completed his work. God finished his work and entered into rest. Adam was to finish his work and enter into rest. 

Later in Genesis 2 we will see that God entered into a covenant with Adam. We call it the covenant of works, the covenant of life, or the covenant of creation, and rightly so, for Adam had to work to keep it, would have earned life had he kept it, and it was made shortly after the creation of man. Two trees functioned as sacraments in this covenant – the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We will talk about these things extensively when the time comes. For now notice that the thing typified by the tree of life and the thing typified by the Sabbath are the same. 

The tree of life pointed forward to quality of life not yet enjoyed by Adam and Eve in the garden. They were alive in paradise, but they could fall. Had they eaten of the tree of life instead of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they would have entered into and enjoyed that higher form of life. They would have entered into glory.  

Similarly, the Sabbath day pointed forward to a higher form of life – life characterized by rest. Had Adam of faithful finished his work he would have entered into rest – he would have entered into glory. 

Do you see, therefore, that there is a kind of gospel call embedded within the Sabbath day? The Sabbath day, when it is rightly understood and rightly observed, calls us to look forward to eternal rest. This was true for Adam and Eve, but it is especially true for those of us living after mans fall into sin. 

Adam was called by God, and by the Sabbath day instituted by God, to enter into rest, and so are we. The Sabbath day points forward. It holds out the promise of future rest by giving us a taste of it now. But we should remember, and never forget, that the way for Adam and Eve to enter that rest (prior to the their fall into sin), and the way for us to enter that rest now that man is fallen, couldn’t be more different. Adam and Eve in the garden were to enter into that full and final and consummate rest by working. But Adam and Eve after the fall, along with their descendants, including you and me, can only enter into that rest by trusting in another, namely Jesus the Christ. He finished his work. And having atoned for the sins of his elect by his death, he rose from the grave, ascended to the Father’s right hand, where he is now seated. Christ, the second Adam, has entered into rest. All who are united to him by faith will also enter into the rest that he has earned in the new heavens and new earth. This is the rest symbolized by the Sabbath day, which was instituted by God at creation. 

Listen to Hebrews 4:1-2 and 6-11: 

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened… Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, ‘Today,’ saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.’ For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:6–11, ESV)

Conclusion 

Brothers and sisters, the more I study the doctrine of the Sabbath the more convinced I am that we ought to keep the Sabbath day. We are not called to keep the Jewish Sabbath, which is on Saturday, but now that that the Christ has come, has risen on the first day, and has entered into rest, we keep the Sabbath on Sunday, the first day of the week, for he is risen! He is risen indeed. We do not keep the Old Covenant Sabbath then, but the Lord’s Day, which is the Christian Sabbath. All of this we will discuss more thoroughly at another time. 

For now, recognize that pattern of six and one, six and one, six and one remains. How could it not? For we have not yet entered into the rest symbolized and typified by that day from the beginning of time. 

Friends, the Sabbath day is a blessed day. The Sabbath day is a holy day. All who belong to God should honor it! And I trust that we will be blessed when we do. May the Lord help us to understand these things and keep these things in the weeks to come. Amen. 

Old Testament Reading: Genesis 1:26-31

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’ And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.’” (Genesis 1:26–31, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Matthew 28:18-20

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” (Matthew 28:18–20, ESV)

Introduction

There are three questions of supreme importance to man. One, who is God? Two, what is man? And three, what does God require of man? The Bible begins to answer theses three questions in it’s opening chapter.  There God is first introduced to us, and then man whom he created in his image, and then God’s purpose for man is set forth. It is not hard to see that the answer we give to these three questions – Who is God, what is man, and what does God require of man? – will impact greatly the trajectory of our lives. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1, ESV), but “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10, ESV). The denial of God will 

What do we learn in the opening chapter of Holy Scripture except (among other things) that God is. He is supreme, the Creator of all things seen and unseen, including man. We also learn that man was unique in all of God’s creation, being made in the image God. And, as we will see today, man, being made in the image of God, was given the unique responsibility of exercising dominion over the world that God had made. 

Here is the principle that I wish to drive home today: God created man in his image and after his likeness so that man would fill the earth with his offspring and exercise dominion over the created world. God made man to image him on earth. God has authority over heaven and earth, and man, made in the image of God, was given authority on earth. He was to imitate God as one who had dominion. But it is clear that man’s authority was never absolute as God’s is. Instead, man’s authority was, from the beginning, derived from God. Man was given authority, but he was to go on living in constant subjection to and in service of the God who made him. Man was created to be a king, but as king he was to forever serve the King of kings and Lord of lords. Put differently, man was created in the image and likeness of God and was given dominion, not so that he might promote the advancement of his own kingdom, but so that he might further the kingdom of God on earth. Adam and Eve, having been made in God’s image, were to work towards the establishment and expansion of a culture on earth where all of their offspring would worship and serve their Creator,  just as they were created to do. 

In the previous sermon I attempted to give an answer to the question, what does it mean that man is made in the image of God? Today I wish to walk through the text of Genesis 1:26-31 with you more methodically to show that man was made in the image of God so that he might fill the earth and have dominion over it, all to glory of God the Creator of all things seen and unseen.

“Let Us…”

Notice, first of all, the words “let us” at the beginning of verses 26: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…’” (Genesis 1:26, ESV).

The question we must ask is, who was God speaking to when he said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…’” The use of the plural “us” and “our” is striking, isn’t it? It grabs your attention.

We have heard God speak throughout the creation week – this is not new – but so far we have heard declarations, and not deliberation. 

“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:3, ESV). “And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters’” (Genesis 1:6, ESV). “And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so.” (Genesis 1:9, ESV). Etc. etc. These were the declarations of God. God spoke the heavens and earth into existence, and God formed the world by the power of his word.

But here we encounter, not a simple declaration from God, but God engaged in deliberation. In verses 26 God is heard speaking to someone as if he were making a proposal concerning the creation of man. When God says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” it is made very plain and clear that when man is made, he will be made, not by a singular person, but by a plurality of persons. “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…”, God said.

Who is God speaking to? 

Some very good men have claimed that God is here speaking to the angels, that is, to the heavenly counsel. 

Indeed, God created the heavenly realm and the angels prior to the creation of the earthly realm (see Genesis 1:1). So it is true that the angels we there to witness the creation of man (see Job 38). But according to this view God is counseling and deliberating with the angels when he says, “let us”. If this view were taken then we would have to say that man is made in the image of God and of angels, for when man is made he is indeed made in the image of the persons referred to by the pronouns “us” and “our” of verses 26. 

Though possible, I do not believe that this view holds up to close scrutiny. I will not take the time to argue against this view extensively. But a simple and brief argument can be made by saying two things. One, nowhere in scripture is man said to be made in the image of angels. And two, in verse 27 it is explicitly stated that man was made in the image of God. There we read, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27, ESV). The plural pronouns “us” and “our” in verses 26 are indeed striking – and they are meant to be. They grab the readers attention and cause us to ask, who is God speaking to? If God were speaking to the angels – to the heavenly counsel, so called – verse 27 would be the place to answer that question by saying, “So God created man in his image and the image of the angels…”. But verses 27 is emphatic that man was made “in the image of God.” “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27, ESV).

Who then was God speaking to? 

Though mysterious and difficult for our minds to comprehend, the answer is that God was speaking to himself. Man was created in the image of God – the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I am not saying that we find a fully developed doctrine of the Trinity in Genesis 1, but the certainly the Trinity is evident. What subsequent scriptures texts say directly matches perfectly with the creation narrative of Genesis 1. In the beginning  God the Father created through the God the Word, or Son, and by the power of the Holy Spirit. God, who in the beginning created the heavens and earth, is Triune. He is one God eternally existing in three subsistences or persons, Father, Word and Holy Spirit. Nowhere is this more clear in Genesis 1 than when it comes to the creation of man, for it is here that God deliberated and counseled within himself. The counsel, therefore, is not the heavenly counsel (angels), but it is the divine counsel (the Triune God taking counsel with himself). 

A further question that we might ask concerning the “let us” of verse 26 is, why did God need to deliberate prior to the creation of man? When God created all other things, there was no deliberation – there was no “let us…”, but only “and God said…” Why the need for deliberation when it came to the creation of man? 

The answer, of course, is that God did not need to go through a process of deliberation in order to create man, but that he deliberated so that he might reveal truth to us – truth concerning himself, truth concerning man and his purposes for us. So, just as God did not need six days to create the earth, so too he did not need to deliberate. Clearly the process of creation and deliberation is not for God, but it is for us. 

Calvin puts it this way in his commentary on Genesis: 

Hitherto God has been introduced simply as commanding; now, when he approaches the most excellent of all his works, he enters into consultation. God certainly might here command by his bare word what he wished to be done: but he chose to give this tribute to the excellency of man, that he would, in a manner, enter into consultation concerning his creation. This is the highest honour with which he has dignified us; to a due regard for which, Moses, by this mode of speaking, would excite our minds. For God is not now first beginning to consider what form he will give to man, and with what endowments it would be fitting to adorn him, nor is he pausing as over a work of difficulty: but, just as we have before observed, that the creation of the world was distributed over six days, for our sake, to the end that our minds might the more easily be retained in the meditation of God’s works: so now, for the purpose of commending to our attention the dignity of our nature, he, in taking counsel concerning the creation of man, testifies that he is about to undertake something great and wonderful. (Calvin, Commentary on the First Book of Moses Called Genesis, 91–92).

“Make Man…”

Secondly, let us consider the word “man” in verse 26: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…’” (Genesis 1:26, ESV).

As this text develops it will become clear that when God said, “let us make man in our image” he meant, let us make mankind in our image, and not, let us make the male humans in our image. 

The word man, as you know, can be used to refer either to male humans in particular or to humankind more generally. The same is true in the Hebrew language. The word translated “man”, which his adam in the Hebrew, can be used to refer to “a male, any human being, or generically the human race (The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament, 15). Here the meaning is clearly the more generic one. Man is to be understood as a reference to human beings, male and female. Look with me again at verse 27: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27, ESV). And so in the beginning God created a male adam (human), and a female adam (human). 

It is important to recognize that both men and women were created in the image of God.

In Genesis 2 we will encounter a more up close and personal account of the creation of man. There we see that Adam (the male human) was formed by God first from the dust of the ground, and then Eve (the female human) was formed by God from Adam’s side. This order is important and it should not be ignored. Christ and his Apostles do make reference to the order of the creation of man and woman when speaking to the role of men and women, husbands and wives in the family and in the church. 

The differences and uniqueness of men and women should never be minimized or ignored, but neither should we ignore what the two share in common. Men and women are both made in the image of God. They are both image bearers. Similarly, men and women are equal in Christ. They are co-heirs, and therefore, stand on equal footing before God in Christ Jesus. This is why Peter warns husbands, saying, “husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered” (1 Peter 3:7, ESV). Men and women are therefore the same in some important ways. They are both human. They are both made in the image of God. They are both heirs of the grace of of life found in Christ Jesus. This is why Paul says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28, ESV). Paul is not here denying the uniqueness of men and women. He is not denying the specific roles that they are to take in the church and in the home. Were he doing this he would be contradicting what he says so plainly in other places, namely, Ephesians 5. Instead, in Galatians 3:28 Paul is emphasizing what males and females share in common. “There is… no male and female, for [they] are… one in Christ Jesus.” They are both human beings, made in the image of God, fallen, but then redeemed, the image of God having been restored in them through faith in Christ, who is the image of the invisible God. 

It is amazing how difficult it is for us to get this right. It seems that throughout the history of the world, and even in our culture today, men will tend to emphasize either the differences between men women, or their essential oneness. How common is has been for men to domineer women, to abuse their God given power and authority within the church and home and thus do violence to women made in the image of God and co-heirs in Christ. The opposite error is being made in our day when oneness or sameness of the male and female is being emphasized, to the neglect of the particular roles assigned to them by God at creation to be fulfilled within the church and family until the Lord returns. Indeed, our sinful natures do fight against the word of God at every turn. In fact, things are far more perverse in our culture. Not only are the God given roles of men and women being ignored, but even the fundamental distinction between male and female is in our day denied. Lord, have mercy on us.

It should be noticed that man was not divided by God into species as the plant and animal kingdoms were, but only by gender. The animals and plants were created by God “according to their kinds”, but there are no “kinds” within the human species, only male and female, and they are both fully human, image bearers. It should be plain to all that the scriptures leave no room at all for racism, that is, hatred or prejudice against people on the account of race. In the beginning God made two human beings, one male and one female, and from them the whole human race did descend. 

It should also be noted that the unity and diversity that exists within God is reflected by the unity and diversity that exists within creation, and supremely within man. God created trees, and there many kinds of trees. God created birds, and yet their are many kinds of birds. And God created man, male and female. One can clearly observe unity and diversity within creation and supremely within man, and this reflect the unity and diversity that exists within the Triune God. Man is one, and yet man is many. God is one, and yet God is many. 

Baptist Catechism Q. 8. Are there more gods than one? A. There is but one only, the living and true God.

Baptist Catechism Q. 9. How many persons are there in the Godhead? A. There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one God, the same in essence, equal in power and glory.

While it is true that each individual human is an image bearer of God, it is also true that humanity in it’s entity, consisting of males and females, does collectively image the Triune God. 

“In Our Image, After Our Likeness.”

Thirdly, let us say a brief word about the phrase “in our image, after our likeness”, found in verse 26: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’”

Some think that there is a great difference between the meaning of the words “image” and “likeness”. Clearly the words are different and, therefore, carry a slightly different meaning. But if we consider the way that the words are used in reference to man in the rest of scripture we will find that they are nearly synonymous. To be made in God’s “image” is to be made in his “likeness”, and to be made in his “likeness” is to be made in his “image”. When man fell from innocence, both the image and likeness of God were in some way retained by man, and yet both were greatly marred and distorted leaving man in need of redemption and renewal. Does man still possess the image of God? In general, yes. But it is all bent out of shape and distorted by sin from birth. Does man still possess the likeness of God? In general, yes. But it is all bent out of shape and distorted by sin from birth. The image and likeness of God in man are renewed through faith in Christ who is the image and likeness of God. 

Anthony Hoekema in his book, Created in God’s Image, says,

Although these words are used generally as synonyms, we recognize a slight difference between the two. The Hebrew word for image… is derived from a root that means “to carve” or “to cut”… When it is applied to the creation of man in Genesis 1, the word… indicates that man images God, that is, is a representation of God. The Hebrew word for likeness… comes from a root that means “to be like”. One could therefore say that the word [likeness] in Genesis 1 indicates that image is also likeness, “an image that is like us”. The two words together tell us that man is a representation of God who is like God in certain respects. 

“And Let Them Have Dominion”

Fourthly, let us consider that man made in the image and likeness of God  was given dominion over the earth which God had made. 

Verse 26: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth’” (Genesis 1:26, ESV).

Verse 28: “And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth’” (Genesis 1:28, ESV). 

The fact that man was made in the image and likeness of God, and the fact that man was given dominion over all the earth are intimately related. And here is how: man was made in the image and likeness of God so that they would exercise dominion over all the earth. Put differently, man was made in the image and likeness of God in order that they might imitate and image God on earth through the process of filling, and ruling and reigning over the earth that God had made and placed under their authority. Just as God himself had created realms, filled those realms with creatures, and then faithfully rules over those realms and the creatures that he placed there, so too man, made in the image and likeness of God, was to faithfully fill the earth and rule over the earth all to the glory of the God who made them.   

Notice that man was created, therefore, as a responsible person. Man was created with the capacity to make true and real decisions. Man was created with the capacity to rule over his domain. Man is not an animal being driven by instinct, but is higher than the animals. Certainly he is not a robot. Those free-willers who accuse the Calvinists and the Reformed of denying freewill should take note of what we are saying here. Man was created by God as a rational creature capable of making free choices. He, like God, is a person. He, like God, is capable of ruling, reigning and having dominion. 

Listen to our confession in Chapter 9, which is has the title “Free Will”, paragraph 1: “God hath endued the will of man with that natural liberty [freedom] and power of acting upon choice, that it is neither forced, nor by any necessity of nature determined to do good or evil.” 

Where does our confession begin except by asserting that man, as a person, has free will. He makes real choices. He, therefore, is capable of exercising dominion. Of course we are talking about man prior to the fall here, as he came from the hand of God. But even after the fall I would still say that man has freewill. He still possess that “natural liberty [freedom] and power of acting upon choice”. He, as an image bearer of God, still has the capacity of having dominion, of ruling and reigning. The trouble is that, with the heart, mind and willing having been darkened by sin, he does naturally choose that which is evil. Having lost true knowledge, righteousness and holiness, man does not rule and reign, not to the glory of God, but to the glory of self. He labors, not for the kingdom of God, but for the kingdom of this world. He has, not God as Father and Lord, but Satan, to quote the words of our Savior.

God, in the beginning, created man in the image of God with the capability of functioning as a king upon the earth. 

But in the moment we emphasize man as person created by God to freely rule, we must also remember that man is a creature. Man is not God. Man was not given authority over all things in heaven and on earth. Man’s authority, therefore, has never been supreme. But man was to from the beginning rule and reign upon the earth, fill and subdue, as an under lord to the King of kings and Lord of lords. 

Man’s subordination to God is made clear throughout Genesis 1. One only has to remember that God is Creator and man is creation. But man’s subordination to God is also made clear in this text, for it is here that we read of God’s continual provision for man, and man’s continual dependence upon God. Verse 29: “And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food’” (Genesis 1:29, ESV). Man was to rule as king, but living in constant dependence upon the King who is far greater than him. Man was not created autonomous. He was not created to live independent of God. God gave him life in the beginning, and God would also sustain the life of his vassal king. It was as true in the garden as it is today. It is in God that we “‘live and move and have our being’…For we are indeed his offspring” (Acts 17:28, ESV). Therefore Adam and Eve were to pray to God in the garden of Eden, saying, “give us this day our daily bread”, just as we pray this prayer living now east of Eden. Gordon Wenham notes in his commentary on Genesis that this stands in stark contrast to the Mesopotamian view in which man was created to provide for for the god’s. No, according to God’s word it is not God who stands in need of provision, but man. God created man. And God also sustains man day by day.

It is true that God created man a responsible person capable of ruling and reigning by free choise. But it is also true that God is supreme over man. He is sovereign. His will will be done. Man is not purely autonomous, therefore, but lives continuously under the sovereign will and plan of the Almighty. Here is where the Arminian stumbles and falls. When emphasizing the freedom of man he goes too far and makes man absolute, supreme and autonomous, while at the same time denying the absolute, supreme and autonomous nature of God. 

Man was created in the image and likeness of God so that they might exercise true dominion upon the earth under God’s authority and to his glory. God’s kingdom was to be advanced on earth. The worship of God was to be promoted. The service of God was to be maintained. Were they kings? Yes! But they were created to function as kings living for the glory of the King of kings and Lord of lords. 

Adam and Even and their offspring were given dominion.  They were to fill the earth (expand God’s kingdom) and subdue it. But how were they to exercise dominion? How were they to go about the process of subduing? They were to do so, not harshly, but tenderly, carefully, and faithfully. The nature of man’s dominion – He would be Lord of all must be servant of all. It was as true in the garden and before the fall as it is today. What did our Lord say concerning the exercise of authority? “Whosoever would become great among you, shall be your minister; and whosoever would be first among you, shall be servant of all. For the Son of man also came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43–45, ASV 1901). Adam and Eve were to have dominion over the world, but never were they to exploit it or abuse it. 

Application

Look how far we have fallen/come short of the glory of God.
When we come to the account of the fall in Genesis 3 we will see that it was, at it’s core, a failure to subdue and exercise dominion.
We do not live in Eden. Instead we see sin and rebellion manifest in every realm.
Man is harsh, irresponsible and misguided in his:
Relation to God.
Relationships with others. Parents, spouses, pastors, bosses, etc.
Relationship to the earth.

This is renewed in Christ.
A Christian should:
Have s proper appreciation for and use of the created world.
Seek to promote God’s moral law within society.
Pursue godly marriages, godly offspring.
Promote the proper worship of God.

The Great Commission
This cultural mandate that was give to Adam and Even in the garden cannot be accomplished by the simple expansion of culture now that human culture is fallen.
Culture, and the men and women who fill it, must first be renewed and redeemed.
This is accomplished through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ and by the power of the Spirit.
This is accomplished through the planing of churches.
Filling and subduing the earth is now accomplished through the fulfillment of the Great Commission.
“My kingdom is not of this world”, Jesus said! 

Do you long for he new heavens and new earth when the earth will be filled with those who live in ongoing submission to the King of kings and Lord of lords?

Old Testament Reading: Genesis 1:26-27

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:26–27, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Colossians 1:1–17

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:1–17, ESV)

Introduction

I stumbled across a news article the other day which reminded me of how much confusion exists within our society, and even amongst those who claim to be Christians, concerning basic biblical doctrines, such as the doctrine of God and the doctrine of man. 

The title of the article was, “What Does God Look Like? Liberals and Conservatives Have Different Views, NC Study Finds” (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). Attached to  the article was a sketch of the face of a man. This was the “composite mugshot…” “created from the… responses” of the 551 people who were asked what they thought God looked like. Now keep in mind, all 551 of those included in the study claimed to be “Christians”. Some identified as “liberal”, and others “conservative”. 

The point of the article was to say to that “liberals and conservatives see God differently…a lot differently” (I could have told them that). Also, they found that our view of God is impacted by race, gender and socioeconomic status (this too is not surprising).  

Now my concern with the results of this study was not that the composite mugshot created from the responses of those interviewed was something other than what I though it should be, but that any Christian would describe God in such a way that a “mugshot” could be drawn at all, for God is a most pure spirit. He does not have a body. He is not composed of parts. Even a most basic understanding of what the scripture say concerning God would lead one to say, “I cannot describe God’s appearance, for he is invisible. He is not made up of matter as we are, but is something like the angels, who are spirits, or the soul of man, which, though real, cannot be described so as to draw a picture of it.” Draw a picture of a soul, friend! Can you do it? Neither can a picture of God be drawn, for God is not composed of mater. He is spirit. 

To be fair, the study did not say how many Christians replied correctly to the question, what does God look like?, by saying, God is invisible, a most pure spirit, without, body, parts, or passions. It very well may be that 10,000 Christians were asked this question and 9,449 gave a good reply. But it is still troubling that 551 who name the name of Christ would describe God in such a way that a sketch could be drawn of him.

The article did also acknowledge that some verses in scripture indicate that God is a spirit, and does not, therefore, look like a man at all. John 4:24 was cited where Christ himself says, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24, ESV). But right along side that the article insinuated that the scriptures also teach that God looks like a man. And what text do you think they appealed to? Genesis 1:27 was cited, which says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27, ESV).

This is a common misconception, I think. When people read, “So God created man in his own image…” they mistakenly interpret it to mean that God himself has an image, and as if man were made to look like God. In fact, what the text says is that man is the image of God. It is man that is image, not God. God is spirit. He does not have a body. He does not have a visible appearance. But God, when he made man, male and female, he made them to image himself. Man was created by God in such a way that something of the invisible God might be known from looking upon man. Indeed, this is, in some respects, true of all creation. But it is particularly and supremely true of man – man, made by God as male and female, is alone called “the image of God”. 

I wish to linger here in this passage and on this subject for two or three weeks to ensure that we have a firm grasp on what the scripture mean when they say that man was made in God’s image. There is much confusion on this subject. There is confession within our culture, and also within the church. Brothers and sisters, this is a foundational doctrine. If we get this doctrine wrong, it will have a negative effect upon many other doctrines.

Today I will make some general observations concerning man being made in the image of God.

God is Spirit

First of all, let us say something, not about man, but about God. God is not a man; he is God. He is not human; he is divine. God does not have a body, but is most pure spirit. He is invisible. 

Jesus said it in a most plain way when he said, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24, ESV). There you have it! But Jesus’ statement concerning the spiritual nature of God was not made out of the blue, but was something known from the creation of the world, a truth preserved and promoted by fathers and by the Jewish people who descended from them. 

The second of the ten commandments forbids idolatry when it says, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Deuteronomy 5:8, ESV). The foundation for the prohibition against the making of an image to represent God is that God himself does not have an image, but is invisible. Listen to Deuteronomy 4:15-19, which comes before the listing of the ten commandments. Moses spoke to Israel saying, 

“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.” (Deuteronomy 4:15–19, ESV)

Did you hear it? The reason the Israelites were forbidden from making images to represent God was that they did not see a “form” when God spoke to them “at Horeb”. The Israelites were to understand that God, in his essence, is formless. True, God made man to image him. And true, God made the world in such a way that the created world reveals something of the God who made it. These vestiges of God in the created world are a gift from God – in them God condescends to us to reveal himself to us. But how wrong it is to forget the distinction that exists between Creator and creature and to approach these created things as if they were divine. And how wrong it is to think that these created things are somehow to be identified with God, as if God were in fact composed of these things are looked like these things essentially. God reveled himself in the fire at Horeb, but God is not fire, friends. At other times he revealed himself in wind, but God is not wind. Indeed, God reveals himself in all of creation, but let let us not confusing God with creation in assuming that the two are one. Supremely, the invisible God reveals himself in man, who was made in the image of God. But let us not think that God is man, nor that he has the appearance of a man. God is spirit. 

How then are we to understand those passages of scripture that speak of God as if he had a body? The language is anthropomorphic. Human features are applied to God, not because he actually possess those features – a face, an arm, a hand – but so that we might understand something true about God. To understand the truth we must strip away that which is human and allow to remain the principle which is rightly being attributed to God. For example, the words of the Psalmist are beautiful when he speaks of God, saying, “You have a mighty arm; strong is your hand, high your right hand” (Psalm 89:13, ESV). Indeed our God is powerful! Indeed he is to be trusted! But all should understand that he does not in fact have arms or hands. 

Do you see, brothers and sisters, how God condescend to us. He reveals himself in lowly ways so that we might lay ahold of him. He reveals himself in the media of creation so that we might perceive him. He shows forth is power in the earthquake and in the whirlwind. His holiness and justice is seen in the fire. Indeed, his fingerprints, as it we, are scattered all about in this created world. But let us not confuse the Creator with his creation. Let us not identify the one with the other. Instead, let us appreciate the vestiges of God in creation. Let us give thanks to him that, though a great distance exists between he and us – though he be transcendent, high and lifted up and beyond our comprehension – he has come down to us – he has made himself known in and through his creation and by his word. 

When the scriptures say that God made man in his image it is not to communicate that God has a form own an image, but that man was made to be the image of the invisible God.   

The Whole of Man is the Image of the Whole of God

Secondly, it must be affirmed that the whole of man is the image of the whole of God. 

When I say that the man is the image of the whole of God I mean that man images the Triune God, and not a particular person within the Godhead. Some have claimed that man was made in the image only of the second person of the Trinity. Others have claimed that man was made in the image of Christ. But neither of these views find support in scripture. Man is the image of the whole Triune God, Father, Son and Spirit. 

When I say that the whole of man is the image of God I am saying that we must fight the impulse to equate the image of God with some particular aspect of man. Some claim that the image is found in the intellect of man, others the moral capacity of man, and others the relational capabilities of man. Some have identified the soul of man as the image of God, to the exclusion of the body. But any attempt to reduce the image and to strictly identify it with one particular aspect of man will be found wanting. No, man in his entirety – man as a whole person, body and soul, is the image bearer of God.   

Whereas God is simple, without body and without parts, man is complex. Man is composed of parts. And these parts do together make constitute man made in the image of God. Let us briefly consider the various ways in which the parts of man image God. 

1. Man is a soul. There is a part of man that is non-material and invisible. Man, in this respect, can be compared to the angels who are in heaven. The angels are spirit and man has a soul or spirit. Man shares this in common with God, then. Just as God is spirit so too man is spirit or soul. The personhood of man is situate in the soul. When the body goes into the grave, the soul goes on living, and the person remains. By this we can under something of God who, although invisible, is a true and living person. 

2. Let is also consider the faculties that man possess. Man has a heart, a mind and a will. The heart in the scriptures refers to the center of man’s life. It is the center of man’s emotions and passions, desire and will. The heart of man effects the mind of man – his thinking. The heart and mind of man drive the will of man – what motivated man to do what he does. The scriptures speak often of the importance of keeping the heart holy and pure, of thinking thoughts that are true, so that we might will and do that which is right before God. Man possesses a heart, mind and will. Saint Augustine saw in this an image of the Triune God. Just as the heart, mind and will of man can be distinguished from one another and yet are inextricable bound up together in the person, so too the Father, Word and Spirit can be distinguished, and yet they are one God. The Father can be compared to the heart, who enlivens the mind (the Son), who in turn enlivens the will (the Spirit). It seems to me that there is some truth in this. 

3. Man when he was originally created was endowed with the virtues of knowledge, righteousness and holiness. Bavinck points that man was created “physically and ethically mature”. Adam and Eve were created physically mature as full grown adults. Ethically they were mature in that they possessed true knowledge, righteousness and holiness. This corresponds to what has just been said concerning the faculties of man. Man, as he and she came from the hand of God, possessed true knowledge in the mind, true righteousness in the will,  and true holiness in the heart.  They knew God and themselves truly. The they were able to will that which was right, and they hearts were upright, pure and holy. In this way the first man and woman imaged God. 

4. It would be a mistake to assume that the body of man is unrelated to the image of God. We have already established that man was not made to look like God. But he was made to image him! It is through the body that man’s faculties are exercised. It was through the body that the first man and woman were to live according to their true knowledge, righteousness and holiness. Man’s was made to dwell on earth. He was to have dominion upon the earth. He was to serve God in this world, advancing his kingdom here and promoting his worship here. This he was to do in body. Man is a whole person only when he is body and soul. The soulish existence that the saints who have departed from this world is indeed a blessed existence, but it is not ideal. Man was created by God body and soul. This is how the redeemed will live for all eternity after Christ returns – body and soul will be reunited for all eternity. The body of man is also in the image of God, therefore. It is not that God looks like man, but that man was made to represent and image God on earth through the body that which God prepared for him at creation. 

5. Consider that man’s capacity to enjoy God in paradise was greater than any other creature that God had made. Man was made to dwell on earth given his physical features. He was also made to commune with the God of heaven by his spirit or soul. No other creature enjoys a privilege like this. The angels in heaven are spiritual and heavenly beings. The animals of the earth do not have souls. But man, made in the image of God has the ability to dwell upon the earth and to relate to his God in heaven.  Not long from now we will see that God entered into a covenant with the man that he made in his image. Man has the capacity to relate to the God who made him.

Do you see that the whole of man is the image of the whole of God?

The Image of God and the Fall 

Thirdly, we should ask the question, was the image of God lost when man fell from his state of innocency and into sin?  

The answer is both yes and no.  

Image lost at the fall? (Bavink 554 substance, quality) Bavink 551 blind man sight, sick man health), lame man  

Broadly considered we must confess that man retains the image of God even after his fall into sin.

Genesis 9:6 can be held forth as a proof of this. Capital punishment is put forth as the just consequence for murder on the basis of man being the image of God. “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image” (Genesis 9:6, ESV).

James 3:9 can also be put forth. Here James, speaking of the power of the tongue, says, “With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God” (James 3:9, ESV). The words “likeness” and “image” are nearly synonymous both in Genes 1:26-27 and as they are used throughout scripture. James says that people are still the likeness of God.  

So, does the image of God remain in man after the fall? Broadly considered, the answer must be yes. Man retains the image of God substantially.  

But more narrowly considered, we must say that the image of God in man has been lost with mans fall into sin. Here we considering the image, not in terms of its substance, but in terms of the quality of it. 

Does man possess knowledge still? Yes he does! But the mind of man is now dark. He thoughts concerning God and self are not true, but he is ignorant of God and the things of God by nature. 

And what should we say of man’s righteousness? It was lost at the fall so that none is righteous, no not one. 

And what of man’s holiness? It lacking altogether. Man’s heart, far from being holy, is sick and bent towards all evil – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9, ESV)

Substantially, man still possess the image of God, but in regard to it’s quality it is gone. A blind man may still have his eyes, but he has lost his ability to see. A lame man may still have his legs, but he has lost his ability to walk. A deaf man still has his ears, but he cannot hear. So it is with man made in the image of God. His body, his soul and his faculties remain, but they are all bent out of shape and corrupted so that they do not function as God made them to function, namely to bring glory to his most holy name. 

Christ is the Image of the Invisible God

Lastly, let us say a word about the image of God as it relates to Christ Jesus our Lord. Whereas Adam was made in the image of God, Christ is the image of God par excellence. 

Adam fell from his state of innocency, came short of the glory of God, marred and misused the image of God with which he was endowed. Christ, having been born without sin, fulfilled God’s purpose for him, lived according to true knowledge, righteousness and holiness, and entered into the glory of God. Truly Christ “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” (Colossians 1:15, ESV)

If you are in Adam, you bear the image of God marred by sin. It is there, but it is twisted up, distorted and bent towards evil. If you are in Christ, the image of God has been and is being renewed in you. It is one or the other! You are either in Adam or in Christ!

If you are in Christ you are “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and… be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:21–24, ESV).

No longer are you to live in sin “seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:9–10, ESV).

The work of Christ might be described as a rescue mission and renovation project. The eternal Son of God took on human flesh, came in the likeness of sinful man, and was, therefore, the image of the invisible God. This he did so that he might redeem fallen man. And having redeemed those given to him bu the Father, he is now renovating them after the likeness of God, after the image of our Creator.

Application 

Think of man as he is today. Can you see remnants of the image of God in him? But can you also see how he is, from birth, all bent out of shape and distorted. 

Image man (male and female) as God created him to be. Can you picture it? Men and women upright, living according to true knowledge, righteousness and holiness. What a blessed existence this would be! Men and women loving right, feeling right, thinking right, doing right in body and soul, worshipping and serving God and one another in perfection. 

Are you having trouble visualizing it? Think of Christ who is the image of the invisible God, the redeemer and restorer of the image in us.  

Do you long to be renewed? Do you long to live in a world that has been renewed? Look to Christ, the God-man, our brother, redeemer and friend. 

Old Testament Reading: Genesis 2:1-3

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” (Genesis 2:1-3, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Hebrews 4:1–11

“Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, ‘As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’’ although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.’ And again in this passage he said, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’ Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, ‘Today,’ saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.’ For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.” (Hebrews 4:1–11, ESV)

Introduction

This is now the third sermon devoted to the days of creation of Genesis 1:1-2:3. The first two sermons were big picture sermons. I was flying at 30,000 feet and making general observations about this text. 

If I were to briefly summarize the first sermon I would say that the process whereby God created the world reveals that God is God Most High – he is Lord of all creation. 

If I were briefly summarize the second sermon I would say that the created world itself reveals the glory of God Most High. In other words the world was made in the beginning to be filled with the glory of God; and the world was made to declare the glory of the God who made it.

This third sermon will also be a big picture sermon. We will fly together at 30,000 feet to make some general observations concerning the days of creation as they are recounted in Genesis 1:1-2:3. When all is said and done we will again walk away from the text seeing God as God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth, the only one worthy of our devotion and praise. 

In this sermon, we will give special attention to what God did on each day of creation. Again we will ask the question, why did God create in this way?

We have already admitted that God could have created the world as we know it in an instant. But Genesis 1 declares that God chose create progressively. First he created the realms of heaven and earth.  The earthly realm, we are told, was at first without form and void and was clocked in darkness. And then God formed the earth to be a place suitable for human habitation. This he did in six days time. When we noticed that God created progressively we began to ask the question, why the process? Certainly God could have created in an instant. Why did he take time to create the world? The answer given was that the process of creation reveals truth about the Creator and his relationship to his creation. 

Today we are looking more closely at the process of creation. And as we consider the days of creation we will ask, not only, why the process?, but more specifically, why this process? Why did God choose to create in six days and to rest on the seventh, blessing the seventh day and setting it apart as a day to be treated as holy? Why did he make what he made in the order that he made them?

Again, the general answer to the question, why this process? is that the process of creation was revelatory. God was saying something when he created the world in this way. God was making a statement, as it were. But today I intend to be more specific.  

Elohim

First, I want to remind you of something. Remember that the name used for God throughout Genesis 1:1-2:3 is, in the Hebrew, Elohim. This is the more generic name for God. This is the name used for God when his supremacy is being emphasized. The God of Genesis 1:1-2:3 is the one true God, Maker of heaven and earth. He is God Most High. This will become even more significant when we move to Genesis 2:4 and following and see that a different name for God is used in that passage. 

In Genesis 2:4 and following God is called, in the Hebrew, Yahweh Elohim. This is not a different God, of course, for there is only one God. But the change in name indicates a change in focus. In Genesis 2:4 and following it will be God, the covenant making and covenant keeping God, who is in view. There the view is of God drawing near to man and entering into covenant with him. Elohim – God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth – is also Yahweh Elohim – the relational, covenant making and covenant keeping God. 

But let us keep things in their proper place. The truth being emphasized here in Genesis 1:1-2:3 is that God is God Most High. He is the Supreme One. He is Creator of heaven and earth. All of his creation, therefore, owes to him devotion and praise by virtue of their existence. If you are alive and breathing today you must know that you are in a relationship with God. This is even true of those who deny his existence. You are his creation, and he is your Creator. You opinion of him does not alter this reality. Elohim is supreme over you. Therefore, you owe to him obedience and praise. 

Realms and Rulers

Not only does the name “Elohim” communicate that God is God Most High, so too does the narrative. 

Notice that God made all things seen and unseen. There is God and there is his creation. Nothing else exists to compete with God. He is supreme.

Notice that when God created he did so by first creating realms, or territories, and then he filled those realms with rulers who were to do his bidding. These rulers were to function as vassal kings or under lords in the place that God had placed them. 

In ancient times when a king would conquer another king, a treaty would sometimes be made between the kings. In these treaties the conquering and supreme king would tell of the victory he had won,  he would communicate what was expected of the conquered king, who was taking the position of vassal  king, or under lord, and then sanctions  would be communicated should vassal king rebel against the supreme king. 

Something similar happened at creation. The Lord Most High accomplished his creative work. He called realms into existence. Afterwards he filled those realms with rulers. As we will see, man is the pinnacle of creation. He was given dominion over all creation. But he was to exercise his dominion in perpetual submission to and in obedience to God Most High. Man was indeed made to rule as king, but not as supreme king. He was made to live as a vassal kings who would live in perpetual submission to and in service of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. The covenant made between God and man is described in Genesis 2. There the sanctions of the covenant are communicated. If king Adam rebels against the King of kings, he will experience death. These things we will consider in great detail when we come to them in the text. Today I want for you to recognize that God created as he did in order to establish this relationship between himself and his creation. He is God Most High. He is King of kings, and Lord of lords. Whatever dominion man has, it is not absolute and supreme, but is to be exercised in perpetual submission to our Creator. 

Realms Created

As we consider the days of creation, please recognize that God Most High first made realms and then filled those realms with rulers who were to function as vassal kings. 

Day One

On day one God created light and separated the light from darkness.  

Verse 3: “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.” (Genesis 1:3–5, ESV)

Some have wondered if we should take the days of creation as ordinary 24 hour days, or if each of these “days” might instead represent ages or eons. I will not bore you with the exegetical details, but I will say that there is no reason at all to think that the days of creation are anything other than ordinary 24 hour days. 

Yes, it is true that the word day, which is in the Hebrew is yom, can be used to refer to a period of time. In fact, the word yom is certainly used in that way in Genesis 2:4 where we read, “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens” (Genesis 2:4, ESV). The days of creation having been descried to us in 1:1-2:3 are now referred to as “the day”. In 2:4 the word yom is clearly referring, not to an actual day, but to a period of time, namely the seven days of creation that have just been described to us in 1:1-2:3. 

There are many reasons to take the days of creation of Genesis 1:1-2:3 as referring to ordinary days. 

One, the word yom is ordinarily used to describe an ordinary day. If it is being used in an unusual way (in reference to a period of time) then the context will make it clear.

Two, the repeated phrase “evening and morning” found at the end of each of the days of creation (with the exception of the seventh, which is itself significant), shows that these are to be taken as ordinary days.

Three (and I think this is most telling), when later scriptures look back upon the days of creation they speak of the days as if they were ordinary days. Indeed, as we will see, the way in which God created serves as a pattern for us. Because God created in six days and rested on the seventh, we too are to live according to that pattern. We are to work six days, and rest from our labor and worship one. Six and one, six and one. This is the pattern we are to follow until the consummation. More on this later. 

More arguments could be given. E.J. Young in his, “Studies in Genesis One” makes some rather detailed exegetical arguments which, though very good, are not well suited for presentation in a sermon. 

Some, having noticed that the sun and moon and stars are not created until day four, have wondered how days one through three could be considered ordinary 24 hour days, given that it is by the rising and setting of the sun that we tell time. 

Well, first of all, notice that it is was not “we” who were tracking time in the days of creation, but God. And God is able to keep track of time without the sun. And secondly, notice that the sun is not needed to track seconds, minutes, and hours. All that is needed is matter and movement. Remember that Genesis 1:1-2 informed us that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form, was void and dark. There is no reason to think that the globe was not at that time spinning on it’s axis, which is, in fact, how a day is measured. It is not the rising of the sun, but the rotation of the earth which makes a day a day. Your watches and phones track time without any consideration of the sun, but rely upon the movement of material.

And so what was accomplished on the first day? The answer is that the invisible heavenly realm was made on the first day, and so to was the material world. The material world was at first without form, void and dark. And the first act of God’s formative creation was the calling of light into existence. The creation of light did not happen at the beginning of day one, but in the middle of it. The first day began cloaked in darkness. The first morning dawned when God said, “Let their be light.” Thus the pattern is not, morning and evening, the first day, but evening and morning. For the Jews a new day began not with the the rising of the sun and the in breaking of light, but with the setting of the sun and darkness. And so it is for us. Each of our days begin cloaked in darkness and after some time dark day gives way to the morning light. Day one of creation began with the activity described in Genesis 1:1. Day one of creation was at first dark. And then God said, “‘Let there be light,’ and there was light… And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.”

And so in this way God created the realms of day and night by separating the light from the darkness. 

Day Two

Let’s move a little more quickly now. On day two God created the realms of the sky above and the oceans below as he separated the waters from the waters. 

Verse 6: “And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.’ And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.” (Genesis 1:6–8, ESV)

Notice that three things are in fact called heaven in Genesis 1. The invisible spiritual realm is called heaven in 1:1. Outer space, as we call it, is called heaven in 1:15. And the sky where the birds fly is called heaven here in 1:8. And so according to the scriptures there are three heavens. And this is why Paul wrote as he did to the Corinthians saying, “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven…” (2 Corinthians 12:2, ESV). In other words, Paul saw something of the heavenly and spiritual realm.  

On day two God created the realms of the sky above (the first heaven) and the oceans below when he separated the waters from the waters. 

Day Three

On day three God created the realm of dry land and he also filled that realm with vegetation in preparation for the creatures that would soon be placed there. 

Verse 9: “And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said, ‘Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.’ And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day” (Genesis 1:9–13, ESV).

And so by the end of day three theses realms had been created by God. Light had been separated from darkness, day from night. The sky above and oceans beneath had been formed, the waters above and the waters below having been divided. And the dry land had also been formed and given the power to bring forth vegetation. 

Rulers Created

Next God created rulers or creature kings to have dominion over each of these realms. 

Day Four

On day four God created the luminaries – the sun, moon and stars. 

Verse 14: “And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.’ And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day [the sun] and the lesser light to rule the night [the moon]—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day” (Genesis 1:14–19, ESV).

I do want for you to notice the word rule. The sun, moon and stars were created on day four to rule over the realms created on day one, namely, the realms of light and darkness, day and night. 

Day Five

On day five God filled the waters below and the sky above with creature kings. 

Verse 20: “And God said, ‘Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.’ So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.’ And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day” (Genesis 1:20–23, ESV).

Though the word “rule” is not found in here in verses 20-23, it is implied that theses creatures are exercise a kind of dominion over these realms when God commands them saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill” the realms to which they have been assigned.  

Day Six

On day six God filled the dry land with creature kings. 

Verse 24:  “And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.’ And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:24–25, ESV). 

In verse 26 we read of the creation of man: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (Genesis 1:26, ESV).

Notice two things. First, man is unique in that he alone is said to be made in the image and likeness of God. Secondly, notice that man is supreme over all creation. Man is given dominion “over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” This is why the language of ruling was not directly applied to the fish and birds nor the land animals. They do have a kind of dominion. It is right for us to say, for example, that the birds rule the air and that the tiger is king of the jungle. But it is man who was in the beginning crowned by God as king of the earth. 

That man was created to function as a vassal king or under lord  on earth is made clear in the narrative that follows. 

Verse 27: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27, ESV)

Now listen to the kingly language of verse 28: “And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth’” (Genesis 1:28, ESV). 

Man was created to function as king of the earthly realm. His task from the beginning was to fill the earth. He was to subdue it and to have dominion over it. This he was to do, not independent from the God who made him, but in perpetual subordination to him. He was to rule as a king, but more specifically, as a king under the authority of the King of kings and Lord of lords. Adams task was to fill the earth and to expand, not his own kingdom, but the kingdom of God who had created him, who had prepared this place for him, and who had blessed him. 

Much more could be said about all of this. And much more will be said about it in the weeks to come. But for know I want to you to see that God first created realm and afterwards he  filled those realms with creature kings and commissioned them to fill those realms and to exercise dominion within them. Furthermore, if we consider what God made and the order in which he made it we see a progression from the more basic and lower forms of life to the more complex and higher forms of life with man being the pinnacle or apex of God’s creative activities. Man, being made in the image of God, was blessed by God and given dominion over all the earth as God’s vassal king. 

Day Seven

Let us now consider very briefly day seven of the creation week. We will return to this text in the future and we will engage in a prolonged study of the Christian Sabbath. But for now would you notice the importance of the seventh day. On it God, having created the invisible heavenly realm and having finished the earthly realm, “rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation” (Genesis 2:1–3, ESV).

God rested from his work of creation, not because he was tired, but because he was finished. Having made a temple for himself – his heavenly throne and his earthly footstool – he sat down, as it were. He ceased from his work of creation but he continued with his work of providence. This is what kings do. After winning a great battle they rest from war and go on with the ruling and reigning of the kingdom. After building the palace, they sit on the throne. After securing the kingdom they rest from the process of securing it and begin the process of ruling and reigning as king. This is similar to what is described to us in here in Genesis 2:1-3. God, having finished his work of creation, ceased from his created work and entered into rest. He took his seat on his heavenly throne. 

His newly created kingdom was to be advanced on the earth. And who was to do the advancing? King Adam was to do the advancing. He had a task to accomplish! Fill, subdue exercise dominion over the earth. And he was to do so living in perpetual submission to the King of kings and Lord of lords. 

We will come to conserver the Sabbath much more carefully in the future. For now please see that, “The Sabbath rest of the Creator [as described in Genesis 2:1-3]… is an invitation for Adam to be like his Maker, working as a temple-builder and then, upon final completion of the task assigned to him, entering the rest  of God. It is a symbol of a state of creaturely existence to be entered into after the creature’s faithful work.” (Barcellos, GTGR, 112)

God created in six days time and entered into rest in the seventh day in order to reveal something and in order to establish a pattern for man to follow. Adam was to work six days and he was to rest on worship on the seventh in imitation of his Maker. This he was to do until his work was completed. And once completed, he would enjoy eternal Sabbath rest along with the God who made him. 

Notice that not only did God rest on the seventh day, but he blessed the seventh day and made it holy. This he did, not for himself, but for the man and woman whom he created and for all their posterity. He made the seventh day a blessed day for them! He set the seventh day apart as distinct from all of the other days and holy for them! They were to follow the pattern established by God in creation. And following the pattern faithfully would mean they two would enjoy the unending Sabbath Rest of God.

Application

Truly, we must take care in our application of this text to our lives today, for we do not live in Eden.  

For example, it would be very wrong to suggest that we are capable of entering into the Sabbath rest of God by fulling the task that was given to Adam at the beginning. That way of obtaining eternal rest was closed off to man in the moment that man fell from his state of innocency and into sin. Genesis chapters 2 and 3 will help us understand that.

But this text must be applied! 

One, we must see that this eternal Sabbath rest is still available to us by God’s grace. Adam didn’t earn it. He failed very quickly. But God y his grace provided a redeemer, Christ Jesus our Lord. He was faithful to keep the covenant of made with him. He earned Sabbath rest, and he has entered into it! Having accomplished his work of recreation, he sat down at the Fathers right hand. And all who have faith in him also enjoy this rest! We have tasted of it. All who have faith in Christ will indeed enter into the fulness of the rest that he has earned when Christ returns and makes all things new. Then we will forever cease from our labors. Then we cease in our struggle with sin. Then we will no longer we tormented by sorrow, sickness and death. We must trust in Christ. In the first Adam there is no rest but only death. In the second Adam, who is Christ our Lord, true rest is found.   

Two, we must recognize that we were created by God in the beginning to live in subordination to our Maker. At the very heart of sin is pride. At the very core of sin is the desire to be autonomous, to decide for ourselves what is right and wrong, true and false. In our sin we insist on gong our own way. Oh that we would truly submit to God and to his word to live in subjection to him. Oh, that we would truly live with God as King over us, with Christ truly as Lord. Here is where find life abundant. Friends, “put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word [of God], which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21, ESV).

Three, let us serve the Lord faithfully in the places that he set us, living in perpetual obedience to our Maker. Are you a husband? Serve the Lord faithfully in your home. Are you are wife? Fulfill God’s calling upon by living according to his word. Are you a child? Obey God and show honor to your parents. Are you single? Walk in purity day by day trusting in the Lord always. Are you employed? Work to the glory of God exercising dominion in the place that God has set you, never for your own glory and according to your own wisdom, but in perpetual submission to your Maker and to his glory alone. 

Old Testament Reading: Genesis 1:1-2:3

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.’ And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said, ‘Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.’ And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.’ And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. And God said, ‘Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.’ So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.’ And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.’ And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’ And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” (Genesis 1:1–2:3, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Romans 1:18–25

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” (Romans 1:18–25, ESV)

Introduction

Have you ever asked yourself the question, why is the world as it is? I’m not here thinking of the state or condition of humanity, but have in mind the physical universe. Why is the world – that is, the physical universe – as it is? Why the sun, moon, and stars? Why this planet with this atmosphere, these lands and these oceans? Why the mountains, rivers and trees? Why this world filled with these creatures? Why is the world as it is?

The atheist will respond to this question by saying, the world is as it is by chance. This world, the atheist says, is the one that worked out – this world is the one that simply came to be.

I find this answer to be very unsatisfying intellectually and also spiritually. Intellectually, the idea that this world came into existence by chance, by some unguided process of evolution, doesn’t square well with the intricacy that we find in the natural world. This world is very complex. Everywhere we look we see evidence of design. Spiritually, this answer is unsatisfying because it strips life of all meaning. If indeed the world is at it is by chance, then there is no meaning at all to our existence. But this is the only answer that the atheist can give to the question, why is the world as it is? It is as it is by chance, the atheist must say.

But the Christian will respond to the question, why is the world as it is?, by saying, this is how God designed it and then made it to be.

This is true. But let us think a little more deeply about this.

For The Manifestation Of His Glory

Tell me Christian, did God have to create the heavens and the earth? Was he compelled or bound or obligated to bring this world into existence? The answer is that God did not have to create. Before the creation there was nothing external to God compelling him to create, nor was there anything lacking within him which moved him to create. God was not lonely, friends. He was not in need of companionship. There was nothing lacking within God that moved him to create. But rather the Triune God was complete and perfectly satisfied within himself when he determined to create as he did, being driven only by his good pleasure and the counsel of his will (see Ephesians 1:5, 9 and 11, for example).

And tell me, once God determined to create could he have made the world different from the one that he has made? Of course God could have a made the world different from the one in which we now live. God is most free. He is all powerful. He can do whatever he pleases. The only thing impossible for God is for him to act contrary to his nature. God is most holy – never can he do evil. God is true – never can he lie. God is faithful – never can he leave a promise unfulfilled. But certainly God was free and capable of making a world different from the one that he made.

Why then this world? All Christins will answer saying, the world is as it is because God designed it and made it this way. But why did he make it this way? The better and more developed answer to the question, why is the world as it is?, is that God made the world this way, one, simply because it pleased him to do so, and two, because this world effectively reveals something of the God who made it.

This is exactly the point that our Confession of Faith makes when it address the subject of creation. Listen to Chapter 4 of our Confession, Paragraph 1: “In the beginning it pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for the manifestation of the glory of his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness, to create or make the world, and all things therein, whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days, and all very good.”

First of all, notice that our Confession states that the Triune God created what he created because it “pleased” him to do so. Secondly, notice that he created “the world, and all things therein, whether visible or invisible” for the “manifestation of the glory of his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness.” God was please to create all things so that he might manifest his glory within his creation.

What is meant by the word “manifestation”? I use the word often, so I suppose it would be good to define it. The word “manifest” means to display or show forth something. It describes the process whereby something that is invisible is made visible and apparent. If I have an idea in my head you cannot see it, but if I write it down or draw it our build it, then that idea is made manifest. The writing or drawing or building is a visible manifestation of that which was once invisible.

Our Confession rightly asserts that the invisible heavenly realm (invisible to us, mind you, but not to the angels nor to the souls of the departed saints) and the visible earthly realm were created by God so that “the glory of his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness” might be manifest there.

Tell me friends, when did God begin to be infinitely powerful, wise and good? Was it is at creation that God began to be these things? No, God’s “power, wisdom, and goodness” are “eternal”. So it is with all of God’s essential attributes. Just as God is eternal, without beginning or end, so too are all of his essential attributes. God simply is. He cannot be divided up into parts. He does not gain qualities or loose them with the passing of time, for he does not change, but is the same yesterday, today and forever.

What then happened at creation? Did the act of creation bring about a change in God? Certainly not! But rather it is in the creation that God’s eternal attributes are gloriously manifest! God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is unchanging. But who saw God’s infinite “power, wisdom, and goodness” prior to the act of creation? Only the Triune God was aware the Triune God. But in the beginning God created the heavens and earth “for the manifestation of the glory of his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness”.

In the previous sermon I made the point that the way in which God created revealed truth concerning himself and his relationship to the world that he made. By considering the process whereby God brought the heavens and earth into existence we learn that there is a distinction between the Creator and his creation. There is God, and there is creation. We see that God is supreme and sovereign over all his creation. We understand him to be good. We learn that he is relational. Certainly God is to be served and worshipped by his creatures because he is their Maker. All of this can be gleaned from the way in which God created.

Here I am saying something different. I am saying that the creation itself reveals truth concerning the Creator. The world which God made reveals something of the glory of God.

The Heavenly Realm Is Where God’s Glory Is Manifest

When God called the heavenly realm into existence he did so to manifest his glory there before the angels. Do you remember how in the book of Revelation John the Apostle tells us of the visions that he saw of the heavenly realm? Consider, for example, Revelation 4:1-6:

“After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven!… At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.” (Revelation 4:1–6, ESV)

Do you see that the heavenly realm was created for the “manifestation of the glory of his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness”? Heaven is a realm or dimension where God, who is “infinite in being and perfection… a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions… (2LBC, 2.1)” manifests, or makes visible and apparent, his glory to his creatures. John was shown this glory. Throughout the book of Revelation, he is found laboring to describe the glory of God that he saw in heaven.

By the way, where is this heavenly and spiritual realm? Is it a territory situated just beyond the edge of our ever expanding universe? Is it tucked behind a star somewhere, hidden from sight? Of course there is mystery here, but I think it is best to view heaven, not as a territory tucked away in some corner of the universe, but as another dimension that is ever about and before us, but is now hidden from our sight.

You would do well to remember the story of Elisha and his servant. In 2 Kings 6:15 we read,

“When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, ‘Alas, my master! What shall we do?’ [Elisha] said, ‘Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ Then Elisha prayed and said, ‘O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.’ So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:15–17, ESV)

This story illustrates the point. The heavenly realm is not a territory set far off, but is all about us and is hidden from our sight. From to time to time this heavenly dimension is shown to men. Here in 2 Kings 6 Elisha and his servant saw it.

Do you remember what I said in our or study of the book of Revelation how in the end heaven and earth will become one. When Christ returns we know that he will establish the new heavens and new earth. When those in Christ die their souls go to heaven now. But at the end of time those in Christ will be brought body and soul into the new heavens and the new earth. The heavenly realm that is invisible to us now where the glory of God is manifest before his elect angels and the souls who have died in Christ, and the renewed earth, will become one. It is not that God will take a the heavenly realm from a far of place and bring it to the earthly realm to press the two together, but that heavenly, which is around and about us always, will be visible in the new heavens and earth. The glory of God which is manifest in heaven now, will fill the earth. All will be aglow with God’s glory. Indeed, “we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” (2 Peter 3:13, ESV)

As we progress in our study of Genesis we will see that this was God’s design from the beginning – that the heavenly realm and earthly realm be one. God’s design from the beginning was that his glory which was manifest in the heavenly realm from the start would fill the earth too. The book of Revelation makes it clear that this was the end goal. Christ, the second Adam earned it. Which proves that this is what was offered to the first Adam through the covenant made with him and symbolized by the tree of life. Should Adam have passed the test by abstaining from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and eating from the tree of life, Adam would have been confirmed in glory. He would have passed from life to life, from paradise to glory. Adam fell “short of the glory of God…” (Romans 3:23, ESV), But Christ, after suffering as he did “[entered] into his glory?” (Luke 24:26, ESV).

The Earthly Realm Was Created For Glory

So not only did God create the heavenly realm to manifest his glory, but also the earthly realm. Heaven is a place created by God where his glory is now manifest so that his creatures may bask in his glory. There the angels in heaven give praise to God and enjoy him continuously. And earth is also a place created by God for that purpose. It too is capable of housing the glory of God. It was designed by God to be a place filled with his glory where his human creatures would give praise to him and enjoy him forever and ever.

But never has the earth been filled with the glory of God. It will be at the consummation! But never has it functioned in full according to God’s design. God’s glory has been shown forth upon the earth. The glory of God was shown on Mount Eden. The glory of God was shown on Mount Sinai. And the glory of God was shown on the Mount of Transfiguration. But these were but isolated foretastes of the glory that is to come. When all is made new, God’s glory of God will fill all. “Night will be no more. [Those who occupy the new heavens and earth] will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:5, ESV). Brothers and sisters, please recognize that God created the world in the beginning so that his glory might be manifest in it just as it is manifest in the heavenly realm now.

The Earthly Realm Declares The Glory Of The Lord

We long for that day, do we not? We long for the day when heaven and earth will be filled with the glory of God. But for now we live in a world that is fallen. We live in a world which has come short of the glory of God.

But though it is true that world has not reached its telos, or the end for which it was created, this world does still reveal the glory of God. God made this world in such a way that it tells of his glory. The world, even in it fallen condition, declares the glory of the God who made it.

Psalm 19 says,

“The heavens [here it is the starry heavens that are in view] declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” (Psalm 19:1–4, ESV)

What is the meaning of this? Psalm 19 teaches that God has designed the world to declare or to reveal his glory. Why is the the world as it is? It is as it is so that it might show forth the glory of God. The word, even now in fallen condition, manifests “the glory of [God’s] eternal power, wisdom, and goodness.”

Heaven And Earth: Distinct, Yet Corresponding

Let us make a few observations from the text of Genesis 1:1-2:3 to prove that this was God’s intention from the beginning, that the earth reveal and declare the glory of the God who made it.

Notice that in Genesis 1:1 a distinction is made between the heavenly realm and the earthly realm. Some have referred to this as the upper and lower registers (Kline). This distinction is maintained throughout Genesis 1:1-2:3 and, given the fall, the distinction between heaven and earth is maintained throughout the rest of scripture unit the two become one in Revelation 21.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, ESV).

In 1:2 All attention then goes to the earthly realm, or the lower register. “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep…” But we are told that “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2, ESV). To which realm does the Spirit of God belong? The earthly and visible, or the heavenly and invisible? The Spirit belongs to the heavenly realm, but he seen here hovering like a bird over the earthly realm, ready to create.

And then a word is spoken? God says, “Let there be…” This he says again and again in the days of creation. And where is God when speaks? He is in the heavenly realm.

And to every “let there be…” there is a corresponding, “and it was so…” God’s word spoken from heaven has an effect on earth. The two realms, though distinct, correspond to one another and are interrelated.

All of this creative activity being accomplished by the Triune God, Father, Word and Spirit, culminates on the seventh day. “God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation” (Genesis 2:1–3, ESV). God rests, therefore, in the heavenly realm. He sat down, as it were, having accomplished his work of creation, as king would sit upon his throne after building palace for himself.

There is heaven and there is earth. The two are distinct, but they correspond. What God said in heaven was accomplished upon the earth. And if we look as bit closer we see that what was made upon the earth was made to reveal heavenly realities.

Man Made In The Image Of God

Nowhere is this more obvious than in the creation of man, who is said to be made in the image of God. There is God in the heavens, and there is man on earth, but man is made in the image of God. Man is like God in some respects. He was made to correspond to him. When we look at man, therefore, something may be known about God. This we will consider in much greater detail in the weeks to come, but for now simply see that it is so. God made man in such a way that something of God may be known by looking at man. Man was created in the image of God.

The Second And Third Heaven

Isn’t it also interesting that the word “heaven” is used to refer both to the spiritual and invisible heaven, and also the heavens that belong to the natural world. This is true in Hebrew, Greek and English. The word heaven can be used to refer to either the invisible or visible heavens. The same is true of the word “hosts”. The word “hosts” as it appears in Genesis 2:1 can be used to refer either to the armies of heaven – that is, the angels – or to the sun, moon and stars.

I do not think that this is coincidence. The heavens above and the sun, moon and stars that reside there are called “heaven” and “hosts” because they were created by God to image the invisible heavenly realm and hosts that worship and serve God day and night.

When you see the sun rise, and you feel it’s heat, and observe how it makes the plants grow, you are to to be reminded of God, who is himself the source of light. When you look up at the starry skies you are to be reminded of the heavenly hosts who worship and serve God perpetually.

The two seem most obvious to me: man made in the image of God, and the physical heavens and hosts being called by the same name as the spiritual heaven and hosts. But many, many other observations could be made concerning how the created world declares the glory of the Lord.

The creation of light reveals something of the God who created it, who is himself light. In him there is no darkness at all. The mountains lift our eyes to heaven. The trees function like a kingdom for the birds. They are place for them to rest, just as God is our resting place.

Friends, it is not that the universe came is at it is by chance and that God made analogies from the things that happened to be, but that God created the world to be analogous. The world was made by God to reveal God. The world was made in such way to show how things are in the heavens.

Adam’s Ability To Know God In And Through The World

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like for Adam and Eve to engage with the created world in their uprightness? The world that they the observed was the same world that we observe in terms of its features (sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, plants, tree, and animals). How did they perceive it?

Our Ability To Know God In And Through The World

In our sin we do not see the glory of God in the created world. It is not as if it is not there. But in our sin, we twist it all up.

“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things… they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” (Romans 1:21–25, ESV)

But in Christ our ability to see the creation aright has been restored. God, by his grace, has regenerated the Christian by his word and Spirit, and now the Christian is able to look upon creation and appreciate as God intended – as a world designed to declare the glory of the Lord who made it.

Application