This message was given at Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. At the end, we will give information about how to contact us to receive a copy of this or other messages. Well, let's turn to Genesis chapter 2 for the reading of God's holy word. Genesis chapter 2, and we'll read verses 1 through 3 together. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed 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." This is the word of the Lord. Amen. Well, we come to a milestone in our study in the book of Genesis. We come to the completion of creation. We come to the last day of the first week of creation, and it's absolutely marvelous. One of the great joys in my life, of course, is being able to study God's Word, and there are times where I read something And it just grips me, and this week reading Gordon Wynnum's observations at the end of Genesis chapter 1 and through 2-3, he makes these observations. He says, from this creation week, this is what we see clearly. Number one, God is without peer or competitor. He alone is God. He alone is creator. Of course, the surrounding nations, remember, as Moses writes this, all the surrounding nations had their pagan creation myths, but God has no equal. He is the uncreated creator. Second observation Wynnum made is that God is more than creator. He in fact is lawgiver. And so what we see is we see God bringing the universe into existence. We see him bringing the created order into existence. But what he's doing is he brings it into existence is that he's ordering it, he's arranging it, he's setting laws into motion which will then in turn govern under his authority the world which he himself has made. This is no creator that just simply made the world and then threw it out there and went to do something else. This is a God who actually has made the world and now governs it with tender care. third observation Wynne made was this, is that the world reflects its creator, remember that refrain, And God saw that it was good. God saw that it was good. And then, of course, on the sixth day, and God saw that it was very good. Both of those expressions, good and very good, capture the reality that everything that God has brought into existence now fulfills God's purpose and everything that he's brought into existence now actually reflects the character and the glory of God. Fourth observation, the nature of man is disclosed. As we've seen for the last three Sundays, he is made in the image of God and he is to image God. So creation is made for man and the Sabbath is made for man. And what God does is he takes man and says, now I've worked, you are to work, I rested, You are to rest. And so in this really glorious passage of Scripture that really we take for granted so often, we need to let it sink in really when you think about it. This creation that God has made is a gift. It's a gift to us as human beings and image bearers. So yesterday I did something that I never ever really wanted to do in the first place, but I was cajoled into it. I went parasailing with the old people. And don't like heights, that's a problem. But we're up there, we're looking down, straight down to what could have been our shore death. But anyway, we look down and you just see this blue water. It's absolutely just magnificent, right? Lake Tahoe is really just something. And I didn't really talk too much while I was up there, but I had a lot of thoughts. And what a gift. The beauty of it is a gift from God. What God makes, he makes as a gift. So creation is a gift. But here's the other thing about the text that really should stand out to us. It's not just creation as a whole that is a gift. God then turns around and he takes one of the days of creation and makes that day a gift. That is something that should really strike us, because to look out at the Sierra Nevadas, or to look at Lake Tahoe, or to see beautiful places in the world, and to enjoy nature, and to enjoy creation, and to say, you know what, this is God's gift, and to enjoy God's gift is really a wonderful thing, but then to turn around and to realize that that's not the only gift in creation, but God actually gives us a day, which is a gift, should actually cause us to stop and to think, how do I use that gift? So we sang it this morning when we said these words, O day of rest and gladness, O day of joy and light. And so to be sure, all of creation is God's gift to man. God creates, he orders, separates, makes this world a fit habitation for man. Creation's a gift, but then he turns around and he says, now, one day in seven is going to be a gift for you, because what God's going to do is he's going to do something very different on that seventh day that he does not do with any other day. So let us look. At chapter 2 verses 1 to 3, in some ways it's probably an unfortunate chapter break because the creation account goes from 1-1 through 2-3, but what we see right away in verse 1 is really a summary statement. And in fact, there's a terse-ness to it. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed and all their hosts. And so really what Moses is telling us in chapter two, verse one, is he's telling us, here's the finished product. Here is the finished product. Here is the result of God's workmanship. The heavens, the earth, all their hosts were completed, were finished. Now really what chapter 2 verse 1 does for us is it gives us somewhat a very nice bookend to 1.1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and now in 2.1 we have a declaration that it's all finished. So when commentator makes the beautiful observation he says all that God has willed and designed for his canvas of the universe is now in place. 2-2, the seventh day. By the seventh day, God completed his work, which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work, which he had done. So you get to verse two, and there is a very different structure to the chapter. description of the seventh day as opposed to the first six days, and in fact that structure in the Hebrew text is easier to see, but that structure has this idea of the seventh being absolutely central to the way that the verse unfolds. So you could translate it like this, so God finished by the seventh day his work which he did, and he rested on on the seventh day from all his work which he did and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because on it he rests from all his work which God created to do. And one of the things that should be obvious to us as we read this, if we read it slowly enough, is to see the repetition of words. I've told you before that the biblical writers didn't have, you know, hit italics or bold or underline, so they would emphasize things in a different way than what we do today. And one of those ways was repetition. And what we have in this text is the repetition of the verb to complete or finish, the word work, the word to rest or cease, which is the verb form of the noun Sabbath, and then the repetition of seventh. Now, if you have an ESV, congratulations. I don't bag on the ESV, not at all. It's wonderful, but they do something here that's a little misleading. ESV, along with some other translations say, on the seventh day, God finished the work. Now, the reason why they translate it on the seventh day, now what does that sound like? Well, it sounds like, He got done on the seventh day, right? But you have to understand that that's not the implication at all. There was no work done on the seventh day. And so most of our English translations will translate the idea by the seventh day, God had completed, and so sort of do a, for you grammar nerds, an English pluperfect to indicate that by the seventh day all the work was actually already done. And so again Gordon Wynnum says there really is no implication in the Hebrew text of 2.2 that God was working on the seventh day before he finished. And so we get to the seventh day, God's work is all done. In other words, he wraps up day six, finishes the work. Once the work is finished, he enters in to the seventh day, and then we have this amazing statement, God rested on the seventh day. Well, I can tell you that if you would have done all that God did in the first six days, you would have been tired. I mean, just think about how much energy would have been expended bringing the stars into existence, and the sun, and separating land and sea, and bringing out all those animals into existence. And of course, we think he finished his work and he rested, and we relate to that in terms of what? in terms of being tired, all right? And so I've been doing a little bit of work at the house, and Zach's actually been doing more, and David too, don't wanna leave David out, and they've done a lot of work, but I carried some OSB in, and I put it down, and I did that, and by the time I was done, I was really, really tired, and I was sore, and I realized, that through the course of the week, I exercise this muscle, but other muscles I don't exercise so much, right? You can go for a run, you can go to the gym and all of that, but you start doing other stuff, you're exerting yourself, and boy, you get tired. And here's God, and he's all done with all of this work, and we might be tempted to think that God was fatigued. But the fact of the matter is, is that the word rested just simply actually means to desist or to cease, verb form of the word Sabbath, and so all Moses is telling us in 2-2 is that on the seventh day, God's special work of creation was over, it was done, and he ceased from his labor of creation. God doesn't need to rest. God is absolutely infinite. His power is unlimited. And so Isaiah says, do you not know? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. So, God rests, but he doesn't rest because he's worn out. He rests because he has stopped that particular aspect of that work. And then, God actually didn't even just stop, it's not like, I worked six days, God says, after six days, I retired. God didn't enter into retirement on the seventh day. In fact, God continues to work and we know he continues to work because he didn't take up a life of leisure, he continued to work. He continued to work in the works of providence and in the work of creation and so Jesus heals a sick man on the Sabbath and John chapter five says, for this reason, the Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath, but Jesus answered them, my father is working until now and I myself am working. So here's what you have to understand. God works for the six days. He stops on the seventh and he rests, not because he's tired, not because he's fatigued, not because there's nothing else to do, but he's giving us a pattern. In other words, God rests more for our benefit than certainly for his. He gives us a pattern. So he labors for six days, ceases that labor on the seventh, rests Sabbaths on the seventh day, and demonstrates to us two great things. One, the sanctity of both work and rest. By God working for six days and then resting on the seventh, He actually gives us a pattern, a demonstration that work is sanctified because God works and rest is sanctified because God rested. Now, some of us, some of us are really good at the work part, but not so good at the rest part. Now, some of you are too good at the rest part. and not good enough at the work part, all right? But for the most part, I find that sanctity of work, sanctity of labor, yes, that's what God made us to work. Understand, God made us to work. We'll see that later in chapter two as God puts Adam in the garden to cultivate it, to keep it, to guard it. But God also sanctified rest for our benefit. Now, verse three. the blessing and the sanctification of the seventh day, and God blessed the seventh day. These are striking words, says Gordon Wynnum, to apply to a day. Think about this. Has God blessed anything up to this point? Yes, he blessed the animals, the birds of the sea, the fish of the, birds of the sea, yeah, the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, blessed them on the fifth day, and then he blessed man as male and female on the sixth day. but he's not blessed a day yet, but now he gets to the seventh day, and he doesn't bless animate living creatures. What he does is he blesses the day. It's absolutely striking. And so now, you think about, well, what does it mean for God to bless the day? Well, in order to understand what it means, you have to look at the next part, and he sanctified it. This is why the day was blessed, because that was the day that God sanctified. Again, I think that the idea that these are striking terms to apply to a day, you have to make this sink into your head. God actually looks at the seventh day, and he blesses that day, and he sanctifies that day. Doug Kelly makes this observation, he says the incomparable significance of the Sabbath day is shown in that this is the very first time the word holy is used in the Bible. The very first time God does something and makes it holy is a day. And so to sanctify the day, although it's a striking term, it means that the day is hallowed. It means the day is set apart. It means that the day properly belongs to God. It means that the day is special. It means that the day stands out in a way that the other days don't. In a real sense, when God blesses that day and sanctifies that day, He's declaring that that day is specially devoted to Him in a way that the other days are not. And so here is why God blesses and sanctifies the day. Very simple. Because He rested from the works which He had made. So man is to conduct himself as an image bearer like his creator. He's to work and then he is to cease from that work for a day. The rest that is included in the idea of Sabbathing, the rest is to be a day of refreshment. It's to be a day of delight, and it is to be a day that is different from the other days. It's a day that's set apart, that has its own special blessing for our good. It's a gift to us. Now what's amazing to us, and maybe this isn't amazing, to you, but it's amazing to me how few Christians actually take the creation ordinance of a day of rest seriously. I mean, we just dismiss it. It's almost as if we take, you know, Paul's statement, we're no longer under law, but under grace, and then just wipe out everything that God said for our good in the Old Testament. And what I want you to understand is that there are certain things that are woven into creation itself. There are certain things that should be a part of human life and existence. And so we would say, for instance, that work is a creation ordinance. God establishes the principle of work, not after the fall, not like, oh bummer, you're all sinners, now you have to go to work. Okay, but rather work is established before the fall and it is sanctified as a creation ordinance. So as a human being made in the image of God, you were made to work. Marriage between a man and a woman is a creation ordinance that doesn't just belong to Christian people, it belongs to humanity. And so the reality of marriage is a creation ordinance between a male and a female, something that's woven in at creation and in nature and is obvious to everyone. Not anymore, but it was. Creation also has woven in the idea of Sabbath. The idea of one day in seven being devoted to God for our delight, our refreshment, and for our rest. And yet we turn around and we act as if all the days are our days to do whatever we please with as long as we punch in and punch out of our workplace on time. So what do we make of this? Let me just take a few minutes to sketch this out for you because I think it's so important for us. So you have the idea of Sabbath from creation, we'll go from creation to Sinai, okay? So the seventh day is both descriptive, that is Moses is describing for us the seventh day in Genesis 2, 1 to 3, but it's also prescriptive. That is, in other words, God doesn't bless it and sanctify it simply for His benefit, He blesses and sanctifies it for our benefit, so just as He has sanctified the day, there is a latent prescription for us that we sanctify the day. Now notice this, from creation to Sinai, this is a universal principle. It's not just one that belongs uniquely to Israel. It's not just one that belongs to the covenant nation itself. It was given to man in the image of God. Not just simply something that we see in the law of Moses, but going all the way back to creation. And so when we finally, I need to tell you this, because we won't be in Genesis four for a while, and you might forget. So we get to Genesis 4, Cain and Abel are gonna go make their sacrifices and there's this, English translation is just kind of like wax over it. It's like in due time or at the right time or something like that. And the text says, at the end of days. Which some Hebrew scholars think that that's just a reference to the idea of Sabbath, at the end of days. That's when they came and brought their offering to the Lord. Now, what's also interesting is you have the children of Israel in the wilderness, okay? So what chapter in the book of Exodus do the 10 commandments come? 20, right? Exodus 20. In Exodus chapter 16, guess what's happening? God tells them they're gonna go out and gather manna, okay? So, you know how good I am at math, but I can tell you this with absolute certainty. Chapter 16, comes before chapter 20. All right? Okay, you got it? Okay, I can prove it. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, all right? Now, they're told to gather manna. You know what God instructs them to do as they gather manna? You gather twice as much on the sixth day so they wouldn't gather any on the seventh day. So I would argue there was a Sabbath principle that they were already aware of based in creation. And in fact, isn't it interesting that when the commandment finally comes, it is remember the Sabbath day. Now, Well, what about Sinai? Well, we have two very distinct commands for the fourth commandment, Sabbath commandment. And the first is in Exodus chapter 20. Let me just read it to you. This is verses eight through 11. For in six days, the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them. And he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. So why in Exodus 20 is Israel supposed to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy, which by the way is the way they image God, is by sanctifying the day as God sanctified the day. Why is it? Well, verse 11 says because God's the creator. And in six days he made everything and he rested on the seventh day. And so in other words, the fourth commandment in Exodus chapter 20 is rooted in creation itself. But now listen, Deuteronomy chapter five, where the Decalogue, 10 commandments are reiterated. Listen carefully. You shall remember, this is after the command to remember it, keep it holy. You shall remember that you were slaves the land of Egypt and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day so Exodus 20 it's you remember it because God's your creator but in Deuteronomy 5 it's you remember it because God's your Redeemer Okay? So the Sabbath command at Sinai emphasizes the reality that God is creator, God is redeemer. In the first case, God releases us from our normal work for worship, celebration, and rest. In the second case, he releases us from our bondage for worship, celebration, and rest. Now, in Christ, things look different. Aren't you glad? Nobody brought a lamb today, right? I mean, now if anybody would have brought a lamb, it would have been Lily, but Lily's in Chico right now. So, but nobody brought a lamb and she'd have brought it as a pet, not as a sacrifice, all right? Now, that's kind of significant. You think? No one brought a lamb. Why? Because when Jesus came, He fulfilled the old covenant and fulfilled the tithes and the shadows of all the sacrifices. So now under the new covenant, things are different. So in Christ, we have to think about the Sabbath differently. And this is how we think about it. First of all, Jesus Christ is Lord of the Sabbath. Remember what he says in Mark chapter two, Jesus said that then the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. Wasn't that the Pharisees' fundamental problem? is that they forgot that the Sabbath day was supposed to be a gift of God's grace to them. and instead they turned around and put all of these boundaries and hoops and rituals up all over the place. And so Jesus reminds them, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath, so the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. And so now that Jesus has come, it's very manifest, it's very clear, He's Lord of the Sabbath, and Jesus Christ transforms the Sabbath. Now, I will tell you the exact relationship between the Sabbath under the old covenant and the Lord's day under the new covenant is not an easy relationship to discern in its detail, all right? And furthermore, the Christian is not under the Mosaic law. you should be glad because under the Mosaic law, Sabbath breakers were stoned to death. Okay? And so you should say, well, thanks be to God for a new covenant. Thanks be to God that Jesus became the curse of that broken law for me, right? Okay? Although that is true, although it's not easy to discern the intertestamental relationship between Sabbath and Lord's Day, and although we're not under the Mosaic law, the Christian must recognize that the principle of Sabbath itself is rooted in creation, and furthermore, it's codified in the Ten Commandments. To me, it does not do just to say that it is some sort of, the fourth commandment is just a type or shadow. Now all the other nine you have to take seriously. So to be sure, the Sabbath under the Mosaic covenant accumulates, and I should have asked Dave for a better word. These are the only two words that I could think of. Under the Mosaic law, so understand, creation, Sabbath, from Sabbath to Sinai, okay? Then stuff happens at Sinai with the Sabbath. What happens is you have all kinds of Mosaic accretions. You like that word, Dave? Okay, I got two thumbs up. Accretions. Now, that helps. Addenda, would that work too? In other words, under the Mosaic legislation, the Sabbath itself gets bigger and bigger with more and more mosaic legislative addenda, which is plural for addendum, all right? Now, we come to that and we understand that there's a lot of mosaic addenda that's no longer morally binding, although maybe very, very fitting to give us wisdom in how we apply it, But just to prove that we don't observe mosaic addenda, we don't stone people for breaking the Sabbath. That's just the obvious one. To be sure, Jesus Christ comes, fulfills the law, and Christ fundamentally transforms the Sabbath. How does he do it? Well, first, today's not the seventh day, is it? What day of the week is it? It's the first day of the week. You know, we do that on purpose. It's not just some sort of accident. The seventh day is the day of rest and worship for the first creation or the old creation where the pattern was, listen carefully, where the pattern was work and then rest. Follow me here. Old creation Sabbath was work and then rest. The first day of the week, now transformed, goes rest and then work. In other words, the seventh day is that of the old creation, the first day is that of the new creation, which Jesus Christ inaugurated through his resurrection. He rose up from the dead on the first day of the week, by the way, sanctifying that day by his post-resurrection appearances being on the first day of the week, and further sanctified that day by Pentecost being on the first day of the week. And so there is a fundamental transformation that takes place from old creation Sabbath to new creation Sabbath. When does the new creation begin? Well, it's not been consummated yet, but it has been inaugurated through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So, see if you get this, old creation principle was work and then rest. New creation principle is rest and then work. Any theological significance to the order? profound theological significance to the order. Under the old covenant, that was the principle, work and then enter into your rest. Under the new covenant, it's you rest in Christ and work from the posture of rest. It really is a fundamental distinction between the concept of law and grace. And so, Gerhard is Vos, whom I usually don't read in a sermon because of obvious bossy and reasons like he's too hard to read says this in as much as the Old Covenant was still looking forward to the performance of the messianic work Naturally, the days of labor to it come first, and the day of rest falls at the end of the week. We, under the new covenant, look back upon the accomplished work of Christ. We, therefore, first celebrate the rest in principle procured by Christ, although the Sabbath also still remains a sign looking forward to final future rest. So Jesus transformed the day by, in a sense, transforming the covenant. He transforms the day by transforming creation. He transforms the day by inaugurating a new creation, by rising up from the dead as the last Adam. The second way Jesus transforms The Sabbath is that he himself is our rest, both now and not yet. Jesus Christ is our rest. In a real sense, the Lord Jesus is the very embodiment of what the Sabbath was supposed to picture. And so come unto me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. And then Jesus tells us in Hebrews chapter four, through the writer to the Hebrews, that it is through faith that we enter into a rest, and there still remains, Hebrews 4.9, a Sabbath rest awaiting the people of God, which is not a present Sabbath rest, but a future eternal Sabbath rest. So Jesus Christ himself is the rest that we possess right now. You're not working your way to heaven, you're resting completely in the finished work of Jesus Christ. And you are also looking forward to an eternal rest that has been purchased for you through the righteousness and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so you have rest now. And you look forward to an eternal rest, that eternal Sabbath that knows no night. That's what we're waiting to enter fully and completely, an eternal Sabbath that will know no night. And so we sang this little line. I wonder how many of you caught it. From you, the hymn writers talking, as it were, to the Sabbath day itself, from you, like Pisgah's mountain, we view our promised land. I've stood on Mount Pisgah in Jordan, the day after Diane died. And do you know what's interesting about Pisgah? Is that is where Moses stood and God says, you can't enter the promised land, but I got a spot from which you can see it. And God put him up on that mountain It was even a hazy day that day, but you could see for a long, long way. And so in a real sense, the Sabbath is like Pisgah to us from which we stand and look to an eternal Sabbath that is in fact our promised land. So brothers and sisters, The Lord's Day, the first day of the week, is a weekly reminder to us, just as Sabbath reminded the old covenant people of God that God is creator and redeemer. So the Lord's Day, the first day of the week, reminds the people of God that Jesus Christ is our redeemer and the creator of a new heavens and a new earth. And so we gather every Lord's Day, and we gather as people who both remember our past and look ahead. We are a people that's rooted in the past, We're rooted in the God's act of creation, we're rooted in God's act of redemption, but we are also a people that is moving irretrievably forward. We are a people that have a goal in front of us. And every, God says, I have a gift for you. One day in seven, I'm gonna plant this day right in your week so that you can not only think back, but think ahead and stay well aligned on your way to heaven. The Lord's day is like Les Schwab. Bad analogy, but. You get out of alignment. How easy is it to get out of alignment in this world? It's pretty easy. And you know what the Lord's Day does to us? By both the past and the present orientation it gives to us is it realigns us and keeps us moving straight ahead to heaven. I love the Lord's Day. As Isaac Watt said, Christ came forth from the dead and Satan's empire fell. That's worth celebrating. So God sanctifies work and a day of rest on the seventh day. Shabbat, Sabbath, was a day that was blessed and sanctified for the good of the people. And in Christ, although no longer under the Mosaic accretions, the church under the new covenant celebrates the Lord's day, just as sure as God finished his work and sanctified the seventh, so Jesus Christ finished his glorious work of redemption and sanctified the first by rising up from the dead. So of all the days of creation, It is only one that God blesses and sanctifies. And in light of this, and in light of the day in the history of redemption, I encourage you with two things. One, receive the day as a gift from God. He's wiser than you. And he knows what you need better than you yourself. and the gift of rest, and the gift of worship, and the gift of fellowship, and the gift of spiritual refreshment is truly a gift. And those who don't receive it, nor use it, suffer for it. When people start to go astray, there are certain things that become very obvious. One, Sunday's no longer special. Individual private Bible reading starts to fall by the wayside. You start to, God says, listen, I've given you a gift to keep you centered. I've given you a gift to keep you aligned. I've given you a gift to keep you refreshed. I've given you a gift to keep you sane. To keep you sane, yes, sane. So Marva Dawn, in her book, Keeping the Sabbath Holy, W-H-O-L-L-Y, tells this story. The story is told of a wagon train on its way from St. Louis to Oregon. Its members were devout Christians. So the whole group observed the habit of stopping for the Sabbath day. By the way, that's how people talked up until just 100, or less than 100 years ago. You can get copies of the Record Courier and see what was happening in the Carson Valley this day. And oftentimes, even in the Record Courier, it will have a little clip from that article and will say, on the Sabbath, This was just common parlance for people, not even necessarily Christian people. So here you have these devout people, devout Christians going from St. Louis to Oregon, so the whole group observed the habit of stopping for the Sabbath. Winter was approaching quickly, however, and some among the group began to panic in fear that they wouldn't reach their destination before the heavy snows. Consequently, several members proposed to the rest of the group that they should quit their practice of stopping for the Sabbath and continue driving onward seven days a week. That makes sense, right? The proposal triggered a lot of contention in the community, so finally it was suggested that the wagon train should split into two groups, those who wanted to observe the Sabbath and those who would travel to get to their destination every day. The proposal was accepted, both groups set out, traveled together until the next Sabbath day when one group continued on while the other stayed for rest and worship. Guess which group got to Oregon first? You're right. That's what she says, you're right. She assumes you got it right. The ones who kept the Sabbath reached their destination first. Both the people and their horses were so rested by their Sabbath observance that they could travel much more vigorously and effectively the other six days of the week. God honors those who honor his command. It's a gift to you. Second thing I would leave you with this morning is this. Prioritize your life around the Lord's day. We're Christians. We are Christians. Our lives have been bought with a price. and the risen Christ is Lord over all of our life. But the proof that he's Lord over all of our life and over every day is that we actually yield up one day wholly to him. You know, it is easy for us to live according to our own agendas and follow our own plans, or we can turn around and we can say, my life, the totality of it belongs to my creator and my redeemer. And so when I yield this day to him, I say, No, on that day I'm not going to do this or that. God's given me six other days to do those things. And so I have an appointment in the house of God. I have an appointment with the people of God. I have an appointment with the risen Christ. I'm gonna say, like the psalmist, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go up to the house of the Lord. It's a day of worship, it's a day of fellowship, it's a day that's set apart for the good of our souls. And it's the best day because it's the day that belongs to Jesus. So popping in for a worship service doesn't quite capture the spirit of the day. dare I say, let alone popping in on a Saturday night so you can have your Sunday as fun day. The rhythm of life that is oriented around the Lord's Day is a spiritually healthy, vibrant life. I was in Reno on Friday. I thought I had a doctor's appointment. It's next Friday. I had a little time before my supposed appointment. And I had more time than I thought. But anyway, I went over to Hobby Lobby. They got one in Reno now, right? You know, there's a sign on the door. It says, we're closed on Sundays. So our families can worship and have a family day together. I imagine retail makes a lot of money on Sundays. But thanks be to God for people with enough conviction to say there's something more important than profit. Thanks be to God for families who say there's something more important than skiing. Thanks be to God for people who say, I have an appointment with the King of heaven, and I will not miss it. I leave you with the words of Isaiah the prophet from the Tanakh, which is the Jewish translation of the Hebrew scriptures. The prophet Isaiah says this, if you refrain from trampling the Sabbath, from pursuing your affairs on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath delight, the Lord's holy day honored, and if you honor it, and go not your way, nor look to your own affairs, nor strike your own bargains, then you can seek the favor of the Lord. I will set you astride on the heights of the earth. and let you enjoy the heritage of your father Jacob, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the book of Genesis, and we thank you for the days of creation, and we thank you today for that day. in which all of your work was done, and you rested, and you blessed it, and you sanctified it, and you did it for our good. Father, we pray that we would look at the Lord's day not as a day of burden, but a day of delight, a gift from you in which our hearts and souls can be refreshed with your people under your word. And we ask, Father, that your Son, Jesus Christ, would be exalted in the way that we observe the day. In his name, amen. We hope you've enjoyed this message from Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. To receive a copy of this or other messages, call us at area code 775-782-6516 or visit our website gracenevada.com.