Tale of two institutions before the fall! This is the history of two institutions established by God our heavenly Father before the fall of man. Before the fall man was perfect - a perfect man amidst perfect surroundings in the company of a perfect God. For it is written “God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” (Gen. 1:31). Everything was flawless including the man created in the image of God, without any tinge of sin. One was a monument in love, while other was a monument in time. One was for love between the only two human beings, while other was for love between these human beings and their Creator, the Father. One was instituted on the sixth day, while the other was the seventh day itself. In His answer to the Pharisees about divorce Jesus said that God in the beginning “made them male and female…the two shall become one flesh…what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matt. 19:4-6). When every animal, bird or creature was brought to Adam for naming “there was not found a helper comparable to him.” (Gen. 2:20). God also said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” (Gen. 2:18). It is written “the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.” (Gen. 2: 22). Thus God is the originator of the marriage institution. When all the creation was finished “on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day” (Gen. 2:2), establishing an entirely new extra day without any creation or work, thus creating a monument in time. When the earth rotated on its axis that extra 24 hours, it was counted as the seventh day of the week. Otherwise our week would have been made up of only 6 days. There is no astronomical event to support the 7 days count of one week. We know that one day is made up of the time required for earth to rotate on its axis one time. The moon takes roughly one month to revolve around the earth once, and earth takes one year to revolve around the sun once. The only evidence which support the origin of 7 days of the week is from the description given in the Bible about creation of the earth by God. It is written “God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it” (Gen. 2:3). Therefore this extra day of the week, the seventh day is specially blessed by God. “Blessed” means to set apart for special holy purpose. We know that marriage also is blessed by God “what God has joined together” (Matt. 19:6). “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled…” (Heb. 13:4). Two special gifts, instituted by the Creator have come down to man from Eden, in the very beginning itself. In the perfection of the newly created earth God performs the first marriage and then invites the newly-wed couple to rest and commune with Him on the Seventh day! Then He sanctifies it. That is , He sets both marriage and Sabbath apart as Holy. Both these institutions were made by God for the welfare of man. We are sure God started marriage for man. “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper…” (Gen. 2:18). Jesus said “The Sabbath was made for man…” (Mark 2:27). That means the seventh day of holy rest is also made for the welfare of man. We cannot say that marriage is only for Israelites, as some say that seventh day Sabbath is only for Israelites. When God established this Sabbath institution Israelites were not even in the picture – many centuries before even Jacob came into the picture. Just like only Adam and Eve were in existence when marriage was instituted, they were the only witness when Sabbath was founded. There were no Jews in the world for at least 2,000 years after creation. Jesus used the term “man” (Mark 2:27) in the generic sense, referring to mankind. The same word is used in connection with the institution of marriage that was also introduced at creation. Woman was made for man just as the Sabbath was made for man. Certainly no one believes that marriage was made only for the Jews. The fact is that two beautiful, original institutions were set up by God Himself before sin ever came into the world—marriage and the Sabbath. Both were made for man, both received the special blessing of the Creator and both continue to be just as holy now as when they were sanctified in the Garden of Eden. But at this end times, these are the two institutions which come under attack from Satan. When we the rising number of divorces, broken families, and children born to broken relationships we can see how much Satan has eroded this marriage institution. In the say way also Satan attacks the institution of Sabbath. He wants to mislead the majority of Christians on the wrong path keeping the wrong day, which God has not ordained. When we read John 1st chapter, we know that Christ is the actual person in the Godhead who did the creation, “without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3). Therefore it is Jesus only who “rested on the seventh day” (Gen. 2:2) and “blessed the seventh day and sanctified it” (Gen. 2:3). That is why Jesus, our Lord, claimed to be the Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28). If He is the Lord of the Sabbath day, then the Sabbath must be the Lord’s Day. John had a vision on “the Lord’s day,” according to Revelation 1:10. That day must be the Sabbath day. It is the only day so designated and claimed by God in the Bible. In writing the Ten Commandments, God called it “the Sabbath of the Lord” (Exodus 20:10). In Isaiah He is quoted as saying, “The Sabbath, my holy day” (Isaiah 58:13). When Christians try to separate Jesus from the Sabbath is a tragic mistake. For He is the Author, the Maker, the Sanctifier, and the Architect of the Sabbath. We know that whenever God interacted with man, it was through the Messianic form of God head, Christ. It must surely be Christ who handed over the two tablets of stone to Moses, on which the Ten Commandments were “written with the finger of God”. (Exodus 31:18). Then whose finger was it? Surely, it must have been Jesus’ finger, who also wrote the 4th commandment about Sabbath. Some say that Sabbath is just a type or shadow of something to come, and therefore existed only for a limited period of time following creation. But is this a fact? Actually, the Sabbath could never be just a type or shadow of anything, for the simple reason that it was made before sin entered the human family. Certain shadows and typical observances were instituted as a result of sin and pointed forward to Christ, the deliverer from sin. Such were the sacrifices employed to symbolize the death of Jesus, the Lamb of God. These sacrifices were abolished when Christ died on the cross, because the types had met their fulfillment (Matthew 27:51). The Sabbath could not be included in this type of ceremonial laws and We now know why God said “Remember the Sabbath day” (Exodus 20:8). Man traveling centuries along the path of deception led by Satan, will forget this commandment from God. When the Jews were under the slavery of sin and Egypt, they forgot most of the God’s Ten Commandments, which were given orally to their forefathers. That is why God put them into writing, with his own handwriting, on tablets of stone, to show permanence, when He entered into a covenant relationship with them. Just imagine the combination of these two institutions together. Just imagine how beautiful it will look, if the husband and wife in marriage, in communion with God on His holy Sabbath. They will surely get the double portion of His blessings in abundance. We should be on the safeguard against Satan, who is trying to destroy these two institutions established by God. Both marriage and Sabbath were blessed by God. Both marriage and Sabbath were safe guards against sinning. Let us pray to God to open our eyes, and understand God’s ways and know the truth. Let us say like Peter and others said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29). Welcome to this page for more messages https://facebook/SomeTruthsThatYouShouldNotMiss
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 00:10:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015