“Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” Gen. 2:1-3. God had just finished making a beautiful paradise for man. In six literal days He made the light, the waters, the grass, the trees loaded with fruit, the sun, moon, and stars. In this same time He also made the fish, the sea creatures, the birds, the mammals, and the insects. Man, the crowning act of creation, He made in His own image. Next God provided man with the best possible diet of fruits, nuts, and grains. Vegetables were added later after sin. See Genesis 3:18. And after all this He blessed man and all of His creation with a weekly holiday of the Sabbath. The seventh day was made a special and blessed time to celebrate His perfect creation.
Jesus said concerning the Sabbath, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27,28. A lord is someone who is a ruler or master over something. The only ruler or master over the Sabbath is its Author. Jesus was the One who wrote the Ten Commandments and through whom God created the world. (See John 1:1-18.) In John 8:58 Jesus declares Himself to be the “I AM.” That is the exact title that God claimed for Himself when speaking to Moses in Exodus 3:14. Jesus is the God of Old Testament and the New. It was our precious Redeemer who said in the fourth commandment, “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: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11.
The Bible speaks of the Ten Commandments as the Perfect Law of Liberty, the Law of Love, and as the apostle James declares “The Royal Law.” One of the worst heaven-daring lies that Satan has spread abroad in our time is the lie that the Law of God was done away with at the Cross. Every nation has laws that govern its people. Does not the King of the Universe have laws to govern His subjects? To do away with law would cause complete anarchy and chaos. Listen to what Jesus says, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” Matthew 5:17,18. Jesus did not abolish or change the Ten Commandments in anyway at the Cross or at any other time. If God could have changed the Law or if man was not held accountable by its standard then Jesus did not need to suffer and die. But it was for our transgressions that Jesus died. He died for our violations of the Law; which ever will be unchangeable. (See Isaiah 53) It still is just as horrible and wrong to murder, steal, and commit adultery now as it was before the Cross. Jesus died on the Cross to grant every sinner forgiveness who would come to Him by repentance and faith, confessing and forsaking his sins. He did not come to do away with the Law. What kind of God would that be? The Law is holy, just, and good. (See Romans 7:12; & 3:31.)
In God’s eyes it is just as bad to break the Sabbath as it is to murder, steal, or commit adultery. Jesus says, “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” John 14:15-17. Acts 5:32 plainly declares, “And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.” When we ask and give all our earnest effort to obey God, He empowers us to keep His law. By the blood of Jesus He offers us complete and full forgiveness for sins of the past and then, besides all these things, offers us the Holy Spirit to be our Helper.
Let it be stated that the only true motive for obedience to God is love. “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” And 1 John 5:3 says “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” The New Covenant says, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Hebrews 8:10.