The beneficent Creator, after the six days of
Creation, rested on the seventh day and instituted the Sabbath for all
people as a memorial of Creation. The fourth commandment of God's unchangeable
law requires the observance of this seventh-day Sabbath as the day of rest,
worship, and ministry in harmony with the teaching and practice of Jesus,
the Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a day of delightful communion with
God and one another. It is a symbol of our redemption in Christ, a sign
of our sanctification, a token of our allegiance, and a foretaste of our
eternal future in God's kingdom. The Sabbath is God's perpetual sign of
His eternal covenant between Him and His people. Joyful observance of this
holy time from evening to evening, sunset to sunset, is a celebration of
God's creative and redemptive acts. (
Genesis 2:1-3;
Exodus 20:8-11;
Luke 4:16;
Isaiah 56:5, 6;
Isaiah 58:13, 14;
Matthew 12:1-12;
Exodus 31:13-17;
Ezekiel 20:12, 20;
Deuteronomy 5:12-15;
Hebrews 4:1-11;
Leviticus 23:32;
Mark 1:32.
)