Monday 25 March 2013

Grace Notes - John 5 v 16


John 5:16, "And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him because he had done these things on the Sabbath day."

Through Christ’s finished work on the cross, the Sabbath is a New Testament reality. It is not a day, a specific time but it is entering into a relationship with Christ and living in all that grace has provided.

The New Covenant is a seventh day covenant. It is a Sabbath covenant. It is a rest covenant. The New covenant is a finding covenant. An arrival. An enjoyment of the Promised Land that we have already entreted.

Christ has found me, I am united with him and I enter into the rest his sacrifice has provided. Resting in his finished work and resting from my own efforts.

Andrew Wommack explains how the Sabbath is God’s provision, a picture in the Old Covenant of all that God’s grace gives us in the New Covenant:-

The Sabbath was first mentioned in Scripture in Exodus 16, when the Lord started miraculously providing the children of Israel with manna in the wilderness. The Israelites were commanded to gather twice as much manna on the sixth day because God would not provide any on the seventh day. Shortly after this, the Lord commanded the observance of the Sabbath day in the Ten Commandments that were communicated to Moses on Mt. Sinai on the two tablets of stone (Ex. 20:8-11). In this command, God connected this Sabbath day with the rest that He took on the seventh day of creation.

As revealed in Colossians 2:16-17, the Sabbath was symbolic. According to Exodus 23:12, one of the purposes of the Sabbath was to give man and his animals one day of physical rest each week. Today's medical science has proven that our bodies need at least one day of rest each week to function at our peak. Deuteronomy 5:15, also clearly states that the Sabbath was to serve as a reminder to the Jews that they had been slaves in Egypt and were delivered from bondage, not by their own efforts, but by the supernatural power of God. However, in the New Testament, there is an even clearer purpose of the Sabbath stated. In Colossians 2:16-17, Paul reveals that the Sabbath was only a shadow of things to come and is now fulfilled in Christ. Hebrews 4:1-11, talks about a Sabbath rest that is available to, but not necessarily functional in, all New Testament believers. This New Testament Sabbath rest is simply a relationship with God in which we have ceased from doing things by our own efforts and are letting God work through us (Gal. 2:20; Heb. 4:10).

The Sabbath is not a day, but rather a relationship with God through Jesus. Rest in His love and let Him use you today.

1 comment:

  1. the sabbath is not a day but a relationship...def a fresh perspective on that alan...i like it much...and there is rest to be had in him....

    ReplyDelete

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