The Sabbath in the New Covenant
Part 3:
The Sabbath Today in the New Covenant in Christ
HEBREWS
4 SHOWS WHAT THE SABBATH IS TO US TODAY. JESUS BROUGHT THE ACCEPTABLE
DAY OF THE LORD, WHICH IS THE CULMINATION OF THE SABBATH.
Seven Sabbath Years led to the Year of Jubilee or the
Acceptable Year of the Lord. Luke 4 tells us that Jesus was the walking
embodiment of the Acceptable Year of the Lord.
Colossians 2:16-7; 20-23
– If
you are dead with Christ to the world and the Law, then you are not
subject to the ordinances of the Law anymore. You will not perish with
the Law after the commandments and doctrines of men, but you are under
the grace of God through Jesus Christ. Dying, you live in Christ.
Luke 4:18-19 (KJV) “
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the
brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To
preach the acceptable year of the Lord. “
He preached the acceptable year of the Lord where that which
you had lost is returned, the slave is redeemed from slavery, and you
can rejoice in the presence of the Lord and rest because God has given
the provision so that you can. That is what Jubilee is and it looked
ahead to the living Jubilee in Jesus Christ.
This is the key to
the Sabbath in the New Covenant… it is the spiritual rest that we have in Jesus Christ through
faith.
Hebrews 4:1-11 “ 1
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into
his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2 For unto
us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word
preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in
them that heard it. 3 For we which have believed do enter into rest,
as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my
rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the
world. 4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this
wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. 6
Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to
whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: 7
Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long
a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your
hearts. 8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not
afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remaineth therefore a
rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his
rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 11
Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after
the same example of unbelief. “
Hebrews
4:9-11 (AMP) “ So then, there is still awaiting a full and complete
Sabbath-rest
reserved for the
[true] people of God;
10 For he who has once entered [God's] rest also has ceased from [the
weariness and pain] of human labors, just as God rested from those
labors peculiarly His own. [Gen. 2:2.] 11 Let us therefore be zealous
and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that rest [of God, to
know and experience it for ourselves], that no one may fall or perish by
the same kind of unbelief and disobedience [into which those in the
wilderness fell].”
First, the Sabbath is really about rest and not worship.
John
4:23-24 “ 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers
shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh
such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him
must worship him in spirit and in truth. “
Hebrews 10:24-25 “ 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto
love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so
much the more, as ye see the day approaching. “
Acts
2:46-47 “ 46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple,
and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness
and singleness of heart, 47 Praising God, and having favour with all
the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be
saved.“
Truthfully, the Early Church met every single day and gathered
together to worship. We are exhorted not to forsake the meeting
with one another and having church. It’s not about a denomination or
building, we are the body of Christ.
If you are part of the body of Christ, then know that you can enter into
God’s Day of Rest. That is what it all was for anyway. God gave us the
truth that there was rest from the world and sin and troubles in
Christ. We can enter into the rest of God if we enter into it by
FAITH.
See, the traditions of men and legalists say that we are under a law
that was already fulfilled in Jesus Christ to
keep the Sabbath of that same Law of Moses. Yes, once men were under the Law to keep the
Sabbath. But through faith in Jesus, we can enter into God’s actual
rest through the Spirit. The ritual rest of the Law pointed to the
spiritual reality of the rest in God through faith.
In the end, Faith is a much better blessing than the Law. Don’t let
some tradition keep you from entering into the blessing of the
Sabbath-rest of God. Enter in through faith in Jesus Christ!
Copyrighted © 2010 by James Dale Coldiron
Voice of the Watchman Ministries
Contact “firestorm005”
at the
Warriors of God Christian Forums or at
webmaster@voiceofthewatchman.org for permission to quote or use in
your own study. Thank you. |