Monday, August 15

Work And Rest

I've always struggled with some of the stuff in the Bible, especially when it comes to certain practices the Jews did that we now don't do today. I would always think, 'So since I don't practice these things, does it make me any less of a believer in Christ?'

One of the things i struggled with is the Sabbath issue. You know Eric Liddell? If you've watched this really old show called 'Chariots of Fire', you would know his story. Basically he was this super 'zai' runner that was supposed to represent England in the Olympics in a Track event, but because the race finals fell on a Sunday, and he had a strong conviction to rest on Sundays as he was a believer in dedicating one day of rest to God, he refused to run. No doubt it caused quite an uproar, I think even the Prime Minister of the time tried to urge him to run.

Wenjie has done quite a good summary of the Genesis study we did that day. Heh. Sorry brother, I hope you don't mind me sharing what you've written.

You can visit Wenjie's blog here

"We did bible study on genesis at PUNJ on saturday. Topic was on 'Work and Rest', which provided rather timely reminders at the start of my overwhelming semester.

Gabe raised some questions on why we do not need to follow the Old Testament Sabbath anymore, and the half awake me wasn't able to find the bible references to contribute to the discussion, so I did a bit of reading on it for QT this morning. What I found just staggered me so much, so I thought I'd share.

Here we go...


* "Do not think I have come to ablolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them."
-Matthew 5:17

Jesus says he has come to fulfll the law. This means that He has come not to replace the Law. He has come as the only Man who is ever able to meet all the requirements needed of the Law. He comes as Man's representative, the second Adam, that can meet the standards of the law.

He has also come to reveal the true nature and standard of the law. In Matthew 5 he goes on to say how 'do not murder' actually means 'do not get angry' and how 'do not commit adultery' means 'do not lust'.

With regards to Sabbath, at the time of Jesus, the Pharisees had introduced extra legalistic laws to the Sabbath. Stuff on how u cannot do this and that on Saturdays, which isn't written in the original law. They lost the original intention of the Sabbath, which was really to rest and remember the God that created them and saved them.

When questioned about doing work on the Sabbath, Jesus replied:

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.
-Mark 2:27

Jesus brought the Pharisees back to the original intention of the Sabbath, that it was not about legalistic laws that burdened them more than helped them, but rather it was meant to help them remember and respond to what God has done for them.

Today we observe the Sabbath not as Jews who are thankful for freedom from Eygpt, but as Gentiles who have been freed from the slavery of sin. Because Jesus met the requirements of the law, we are no longer bound to the law of Mosses. We are no longer required to obey the specifics like offering sacrifices and the Sabbath.

Instead we are called to a new law, which is simply two commandments:

To love God, and to love your neighbour.
In doing this we fulfill the entire law.
(Mark 12:29-31)

Our Sabbath today lies not on Saturdays or Promised Physical Land. It lies in the promise of heaven. We covered Hebrews 4 for PUNJ, so shan't go there.

And so, our job today is not to obey the Sabbath laws, but really to keep looking to our promised Sabbath rest in heaven, and to ensure that we remember God who rescued us from sin.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who lovedd me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing.
-Galatians 2:20-21



Oh man, I feel preachy,
but it's all out of the gush of excitement at what I found for QT this morning.
Hope it helped Gabe."

It has Wenjie. Thanks. =)