Chapter 29—The Sabbath
The Sabbath was hallowed at the creation. As ordained for man, it
had its origin when “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons
of God shouted for joy.”
Job 38:7
. Peace brooded over the world; for
earth was in harmony with heaven. “God saw everything that He had
made, and, behold, it was very good;” and He rested in the joy of His
completed work.
Genesis 1:31
.
Because He had rested upon the Sabbath, “God blessed the seventh
day, and sanctified it,”—set it apart to a holy use. He gave it to Adam
as a day of rest. It was a memorial of the work of creation, and thus a
sign of God’s power and His love. The Scripture says, “He hath made
His wonderful works to be remembered.” “The things that are made,”
declare “the invisible things of Him since the creation of the world,”
“even His everlasting power and divinity.”
Genesis 2:3
;
Psalm 111:4
;
Romans 1:20
, R. V.
All things were created by the Son of God. “In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God.... All things were made by
Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.”
John
1:1-3
. And since the Sabbath is a memorial of the work of creation, it
is a token of the love and power of Christ.
The Sabbath calls our thoughts to nature, and brings us into com-
munion with the Creator. In the song of the bird, the sighing of the
trees, and the music of the sea, we still may hear His voice who talked
[282]
with Adam in Eden in the cool of the day. And as we behold His
power in nature we find comfort, for the word that created all things
is that which speaks life to the soul. He “who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
2
Corinthians 4:6
.
It was this thought that awoke the song,—
231