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
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.
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....
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