Why God said REMEMBER (Part I): What could He do? Numerous surveys and questionnaires have confirmed that the most popular form of modern skepticism is to deny the creation story. Seventy-two percent of ministers interviewed expressed varying degrees of doubt that God actually spoke the world into existence according to the biblical account. This fundamental disbelief has led to the rejection of other foundational doctrines of Christendom such as the virgin birth and the atonement. It is interesting to note that God apparently anticipated a lot of controversy over the Genesis record of fiat creation. His claims of manufacturing all the staggering mass of matter by merely commanding it to exist –well, there would certainly be doubters and disbelievers of such an account. And even those who read about it and believed it would soon forget the miraculous fact under the confusing influence of a million false gods who would arise. So God needed to do something unusual to preserve the knowledge of His mighty act of creation. That power to speak heaven and earth into existence would distinguish Him from all the counterfeit gods and their deceptive claims. What could He do that would constantly point mankind back to the focal week of creation when He forever established His divine authority? Creation – The Mark of God`s Sovereignty God chose to memorialize that convincing display of creative power by setting aside the seventh day of creation week as a holy day of rest and remembering. It would constitute a tremendous safeguard of God`s sovereignty –a mark of His right to rule as the only true God. It would, at the same time, stand as a devastating debunking of every god who had not created the heavens and earth. The writings of Old Testament prophets are saturated with reminders of God`s peculiar powers of creation. King David wrote, “For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens” (Psalm 96:5). The prophet Jeremiah expressed it: “But the LORD is the true God, He is the living God. …The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish. …He hath made the earth by His power” (Jeremiah 10:10-12). Did God Himself demonstrate an extreme urgency in keeping the truth of creation vividly before the eyes of the world? Yes. To such a degree that He wrote into the heart of His great moral law the binding obligation of every living soul to keep the Sabbath holy, and thus, to acknowledge His divine authority. Within those eternal principles forming the foundation of His government and reflecting His own perfect character, God wrote these words: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work.. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them… therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hollowed it” (Exodus 20:8-11). What an act to highlight the omnipotent work of creation! Once a week, as the earth rotated on its axis, the Sabbath reminder would travel around the earth reaching every man, woman, and child with the message of an instant creation. Why did God say remember? Because to forget the Sabbath is to forget the Creator also. Conversion – Creative Power at Work Parallel to the accounts of a physical creation we find the record of God`s power to recreate the human heart. Evidently, the two processes stem from the same omnipotent source. It requires just as much power to effect conversion or recreation as to call something into existence by creation. Said the apostle Paul, “Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). Since the new birth is the most basic identifying mark of the justified believer, it is no wonder that the Bible writers constantly remind us of the creative power that distinguishes the true God from all counterfeits. Pointing beyond the mere fact of a physical creation, God spoke these words also, “Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them” (Ezekiel 20:12). Please note that a sanctified Sabbath was to be the mark of a sanctified people. The word, “sanctify,” meaning to set aside for a holy use (a day which spoke of God`s creative power), served also as a reminder that God could set people apart for a holy use through regeneration or recreation. In the light of these facts, it is easy to understand why the devil has waged a continuing, desperate battle against the seventh-day Sabbath. For almost six millenniums he has worked through pride of tradition, misinformation, and religious bigotry to destroy the sanctity of God`s special sign of authority – the Sabbath. As a sign of God`s right to rule, the Sabbath challenged Satan`s boast that he would take God`s place. Said the adversary, “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God… I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:13, 14). Satan actually wanted to be worshiped. To accomplish this, he had to nullify God`s claim as the rightful ruler. God`s authority rested on His claim to be the Creator, and the Sabbath was the mark of that authority. By destroying the Sabbath, Satan would prepare the way to set up a counterfeit government based on counterfeit claims of authority symbolized by a counterfeit day of worship.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Jun 2013 16:34:04 +0000
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