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Sabbath Rest and Joy in Eternity, May 31
“And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one
Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the
Lord.
Isaiah 66:23
, NKJV.
At last Jesus was at rest. The long day of shame and torture was ended. As the
last rays of the setting sun ushered in the Sabbath, the Son of God lay in quietude in
Joseph’s tomb. His work completed, His hands folded in peace, He rested through
the sacred hours of the Sabbath day.
In the beginning the Father and the Son had rested upon the Sabbath after Their
work of creation. When “the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of
them” (
Genesis 2:1
), the Creator and all heavenly beings rejoiced in contemplation
of the glorious scene. “The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God
shouted for joy” (
Job 38:7
).
Now Jesus rested from the work of redemption; and though there was grief
among those who loved Him on earth, yet there was joy in heaven. Glorious to the
eyes of heavenly beings was the promise of the future....With this scene the day upon
which Jesus rested is forever linked. For “his work is perfect” (
Deuteronomy 32:4
);
and “whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever” (
Ecclesiastes 3:14
). When there
shall be a “restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all
his holy prophets since the world began” (
Acts 3:21
), the creation Sabbath, the
day on which Jesus lay at rest in Joseph’s tomb, will still be a day of rest and
rejoicing. Heaven and earth will unite in praise, as “from one sabbath to another”
(
Isaiah 66:23
) the nations of the saved shall bow in joyful worship to God and the
Lamb.
In the closing events of the crucifixion day, fresh evidence was given of the
fulfillment of prophecy, and new witness borne to Christ’s divinity. When the
darkness had lifted from the cross, and the Savior’s dying cry had been uttered,
immediately another voice was heard, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God”
(
Matthew 27:54
).—
The Desire of Ages, 769, 770
.
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