Growing in Unity

 

Do you operate independently of Truth and Love and show little growth? It affects unity in the body of Christ.

Paul wrote to the Ephesian Christians to encourage them to continue in their unity and love for each other. With Ephesians 4:15-16, Paul reminded them how they can be unified. He told them God causes unity. Yet believers must live out what God puts in them to be unified. So, how did Paul say believers could achieve unity? Speak the truth. Be faithful to your covenant within the body to each believer. Grow up into a mature Christian, into Christlikeness.

Note: We manufacture none of these. The agape love Paul wrote has its source in God. As God loves us—sacrificially -we are to love other believers. Truth originates with God, too. It permeates the Bible from Genesis to Revelations and continues throughout eternity. Truth teaches and guides us as we grow, act on it, and teach others.

Why do we need to live in unity? First, to be part of the body of Christ. If you are the leg but do not work as a leg should, you cripple the whole body. If, however, you, the leg, get your instructions/motivation/ability from God, then you work in a way that benefits the whole body.

Unity is not an ideological fantasy. Unity occurs because of the agape love that originates with God. Before we believed in Jesus and He saved us, we had philia love, but we sometimes overrode that love with selfishness. Since Jesus saved us, we can love sacrificially. God gives us His power to overlook our self-interests and love sacrificially always; that’s agape love. To use another phrase, loving other believers sacrificially is covenant faithfulness. We have God’s interests—the best interests—of other people in mind. Others before self; the whole before themselves; these create unity.

Unity, Paul said, also occurs when believers, as the body of Christ (a Christ-unified whole) seek, in attaining or maintaining unity, to edify individual or groups of believers within itself. The growth can occur in many things that align with God, have their source from God, and cause unity within the body of Christ. Some of these things are Christian wisdom, purity, piety, holiness, joy, and peace. This edification is both organic (learning from God’s word in personal time with Him) and relational (learning through another Christian like a pastor, teacher, deacon, and friend).

None of these three—truth, agape love, or Christian growth—comes from oneself. Each of them has its source solely in God. Again, a believer cannot absorb any of these things just by being a believer. God provides these things, with or without another believer’s intercession. God expects each believer to function as a member of Christ's body. Without operating/living actively as part of the body, we are not beneficial to the rest of the body, and we do not grow in our faith and unity with the body, and the gifts the Spirit gives us stay merely seeds, useful to no one.

Truth, love, and growth must be lived out. God’s truths and love within us should compel us to seek Him more, tell other people about Jesus, and strengthen the body of Christ, the local and universal Church. Using the gifts the Spirit put into us, exercises and grows them; they, then, grow within us. Sharing God’s truths, His agape love, and what He has taught us as we have individually grown closer to Him and become more like Christ by living them out, is what helps grow the church to be unified.

God’s gifts plus Christian action grow the believer and the body of Christ, who is the Head, so the body matures into the image of Jesus Christ. Each believer is supposed to embody these grace gifts from God for a purpose. That purpose is not to hoard them for themselves. The purpose is to unite all believers into one likeness, Jesus. When we are like Jesus, we love sacrificially (covenantal faithful) and desire that all people know the truths of God, mature into Jesus’ likeness, and unify into the body of Christ, thereby projecting Him to the world.

Today, what aspect of your Christianity does not show your uniting with the body of Christ, Jesus? Are you always living out and teaching God’s truths? Do you love sacrificially? Are you growing in your relationship with God, so that your life shows Christ’s likeness? God gives each of these to us as grace gifts. Pray to God asking for forgiveness for not living in His power to share His truth, love sacrificially, and build up other believers. Ask God to help you stay focused on Him and use the power He gives to be unified in the body of Christ with Jesus as your Head.

Run to the Father

https://youtu.be/HTHS4W1bPj8?si=NNgHMlMLbyl5cVJ5

Dismayed...Yet...

 

“…but when You hid your face, I was dismayed. To You, Lord, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: What is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it proclaim Your faithfulness? Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me; Lord, be my help.” (Psalm 30:7b-10, NIV)

Upon reading Psalm 30:7b-10, wonder arises about what David dealt with when he wrote this psalm. Could it come from a difficult time he had before this psalm’s writing? Why did David beg for God’s mercy? What did David mean when he wrote these words? Effective Bible study involves reading the entire chapter from which a passage comes and its surrounding chapters. Let’s study this passage and Psalm 30 in its entirety.

Whether a devotional guide gives these memory verses to read and meditate upon or you find Psalm 30:7b-10 on your own, the depth of David’s dismay is obvious. David perceived, though erroneously, that the Lord departed from him, leaving him to handle his hard times alone. He said it seemed like God hid His face from him (vs. 7b). For that reason, he experienced dismay and fear. Without the Lord, who chose, anointed, and protected him throughout his life, David knew his adversaries would have defeated him. He also realized God would not have used him as His king to unify His people, Israel.

Verse eight shows the depths of David’s despair. David considered God had ignored him. He felt like God’s mercy had left him and he was alone. To this, David pled to God in verses nine and ten. He reasoned with God in verse nine. David reminded God, as if God needed reminding, that if he was silenced by death, he could not praise God and proclaim His faithfulness. In verse ten, David begged God for mercy and help.

If a person reads just verses 7b-10, despair could overtake him. A reader facing difficulties would gain no strength or trust in a faithful God. Instead of gaining strength to endure, the person might experience discouragement and hopelessness. Yet, readers must consider the whole chapter.

When reading the whole chapter from its beginning, the introduction to the chapter should be read because it gives the reader a first impression of the intent, topic, or scope of the chapter. The introduction to Psalm 30 shows David wrote the psalm as a “dedication of the temple”. This introduction causes a question to arise since David did not build the temple. David’s son, Solomon, built it. How can this psalm be for a dedication if it has a dismayed David pleading with God at its center? Remember, a Bible passage must be read in context with the entire chapter.

After reading the chapter at least once, a student of this psalm should consider a Bible commentary or other scholars’ teachings on the text. Samuel Barth of the Jewish Theological Seminary studied and wrote about this psalm in his article titled Psalm 30: Dedication of the ‘Inner Temple’ (Psalm 30: Dedication of the “Inner Temple” - Jewish Theological Seminary. Barth gave two possibilities for how this psalm, that includes David’s dismay, could be a dedicatory psalm for the temple. He first stated that Psalm 30 leads the reader to go from the mental study of God’s word to soul praise of who God is and what He has done throughout the ages.

—From mental study to soul praise—

For today’s particular study, Barth offered a second possible reason for the Psalm 30 introduction: a dedication of the temple. He stated the “temple” in the introduction is not a physical earthly structure. Barth wrote, “The psalm is not about dedicating any earthly structure, but that each individual might be seen as a bayit (the Hebrew word for vessel.) that can, if we so choose, be dedicated to the service of God.” This means each person who sees himself as a vessel God can use gives his life to God to become a temple dedicated to Him.

--not an earthly structure but a bodily structure--

Barth’s second thought about the introduction to the psalm is what we will consider today with this study of Psalm 30. David’s dismay in verses 7b-10 is not intended to discourage a person, but to lead a person to God and cause the person to worship Him. How can that be since the middle verses, usually considered the main point of a chapter, cause discouragement in people? How does David’s dismay lead a person to dedicate himself to God for His purposes?

How does a reader shift from feeling discouraged by Psalm 30:7b-10 to worshiping God, as David’s introduction intends? Consider the verses before and after verses 7b-10. With verses 1-7a, David praised God for redeeming him from situations and enemies. He recited as a reminder for himself and his readers who God had been in his life. David praised God for who God is and for His faithfulness to and favor upon him. He reminded himself and the readers that he never needs to fear; his life was a testimony of who God is and what He had done: He is good, faithful, almighty, and provider. By recalling what God had done for David, it would lead people to recall for themselves who God had been in their lives and what He had done in their lives. These people could praise God for redeeming them, like David did. People could dedicate themselves as God’s temple for Him to use, like David did.

Transitioning from verses 1-7a onward into verses 7b-10 enables David and his readers to carry the joy from the first section of the psalm into the challenging days. With the joy and reminder of God’s faithfulness and mercy to them, they would feel more able to endure whatever hardship they would meet. Verses 7b-10 also become reminders to the readers and hearers of God’s redeeming David from his dismay and distress. They would be enabled to remember and rejoice because of God’s faithfulness to them. God, through this psalm, reminded David of His own great mercy, faithfulness, and favor towards him. He also reminded His children over many millennia since David’s time. From the first part of Psalm 30, God brought to mind His triumph over His children’s struggles so they would remember to trust in and praise Him. Because of God’s victorious triumph and who He is, a child of God can praise God more readily and choose to dedicate himself to Him, to be His living temple.

Psalm 30:11-12 tells of what God did inside of David. God changes not only circumstances; He changes the heart, mind, and spirit of each person who calls on Him. In this psalm, David went from wailing to dancing with joy when remembering God’s great favor, faithfulness, and mercy towards him (vs. 11). He sang praises to God and reminded himself never to stay silent, but outwardly to praise God. God’s redemption of David from his dismay caused his heart and mind to praise God, his body to dance, and his spirit to be renewed in faith. God can and will effect this change in His children's hearts, minds, spirits, and bodies when they call upon Him, like He did in David. David cried out to God and God heard and responded with His presence, help, guidance, and strength. When any of God’s children cry out to Him, He will respond to them similarly so that they dance with joy in praise to God. God’s redemption of His children from struggles can cause that person’s heart, mind, spirit, and body to praise God and dance with joy. They can experience a renewed faith in Him.

David did not intend the middle section of Psalm 30 to cause dismay to its readers and hearers. He meant for it to tell of God’s goodness to him and to all who seek Him in humility. This psalm’s purpose is to lead hearers and readers to recall God’s faithfulness, favor, and mercy even when times seem dark. David’s psalm causes each person to renew hope in God and praise Him—to renew his dedication to God as His temple.

The temple of God within each of His children is what they dedicate to God whenever they praise Him or pray to Him. From this temple within each of God’s children, the psalm elicits hope as they remember God’s faithfulness to David and themselves. Remembering God’s love, mercy, favor, and faithfulness to them may cause them to dance with joy and lift their hands in praise, too.

This leads us to agree with Barth. Barth is correct on both his points about Psalm 30; the introduction to Psalm 30 does both possibilities, not one of the other. It causes a person to go from mind study to soul praise. It also causes the person—child of God—to renew his faith and trust in God by recalling from the past who God has been as He helped him. This latter will cause soul praise that leads to bodily praise, such as dancing with joy. Both of these, David experienced in God’s inspiring him to write Psalm 30, like we each may have experienced as we read of David’s struggle in the middle part of this psalm.

David’s psalm should cause two things to happen. The psalm, as a reminder and as a song to and about God, causes us to go from the study of our circumstances and God’s word to the rededication of ourselves as God’s children—His temple—to whom He is ever faithful. This dedication of ourselves will take us beyond ourselves and circumstances to soul praise to God and dancing with joy.

The psalms are to lead us to worship God in easy and hard times. David shows us how to praise God in hard times and praise Him later as we recall God’s actions towards and for us. Today, remember when God was by your side during tough times, and how His faithfulness helped you overcome challenges; then praise and thank Him.

If you have not become a child of God, today is the day to seek His mercy and grace. You do this by believing in Jesus as your Lord and your Savior and by confessing and repenting of your sins (Romans 10:9-10). Today, will you choose to live with God now and forever?

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever. (Psalm 107:1, NIV)

 

 

The Donkey's Burden

 

Before Jesus’ birth in human form to Mary, she and He rode on a beast of burden to Bethlehem. That beast, a donkey, did not know where he was going until Jospeh led him there. He did not recognize the heavy prize he carried. The donkey plod under the weight of pregnant Mary going to where Joseph led him. He became one of the first in creation to witness the newborn King.

Skip forward thirty-three years to Jesus’ triumphal entry to Jerusalem. More happens than a donkey found, cloaks laid on the donkey, and cloaks and palm branches laid on the ground. Consider what each of the people in these verses consider and call Jesus. This comprehension will lead to an understanding of Jesus’ authority to cleanse the temple and die for each person.

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and, at once, you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away” (Matt. 21:1-3, NIV).

Matthew chapter twenty-one tells of Jesus and His disciples going to Jerusalem for the Passover. The disciples had seen Jesus heal people, give sight to the blind, welcome the lowly and poor, and eat with the outcasts. They saw Jesus teaching with power and authority. When Jesus instructed the disciples to fetch a donkey and told them how to respond to inquiries about it, Matthew's readers grasped that the disciples acknowledged Jesus' authority. To the disciples, Jesus was more than just a teacher. He was more than a rabbi. The disciples recognized Jesus for who He is, the sent One from Yahweh, the God who is, was, and always will be. They followed Jesus’ instructions assured of the truth of what Jesus said. Yahweh and Jesus have authority.

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your King comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey’” (Matthew 21:4-5).

Jesus, to the disciples and other followers, was more than a rabbi. He showed He had authority over life, death, sickness, and health. Jesus spoke truth with power and gave His authority and power to His disciples. In verses four and five, Matthew reminded his readers and hearers of what Zechariah prophesied at God’s command in Zechariah 9:9. He foretold this King. This King of which Zechariah spoke foreshadowed the Messiah. Zechariah prophesied, “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey.” Matthew agreed with what Zechariah wrote and proclaimed it happened when Jesus entered Jerusalem just days before His betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion. He reiterated what Zechariah said and pointed out Jesus is the King. As one who has authority, Jesus is the King, Matthew declared. He was the one riding on a donkey that day. As the proclaimed King, Matthew attested to and declared Jesus is the sovereign leader in governance, military, and religious life. Jesus is ruler over all life, Matthew made sure the people understood. Jesus is the one who came to fulfill God’s foretold prophecy, of which Zechariah spoke. Matthew declared Jesus the divine King from God. Jesus has all authority, sovereignty, and power. He is more than an earthly king. In exercising His authority, the people had seen, heard, and realized, Jesus is humble, humble enough to fulfill the prophecies foretold by each prophet. He, the one Yahweh promised, will save humanity from sin and death.

Jesus, Matthew wrote, has authority and power, and is sovereign over all that is. Verse nine tells Matthew’s readers more about Jesus. He described non-disciples' reactions to Jesus, revealing their viewpoint of Him.

The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven” (Matthew 21: 6-9).

Matthew recorded the disciples’ obedience, the donkey owner’s recognition and permission, and a large crowd's acknowledgement in these verses. The disciples and donkey owner recognized Jesus’ authority and honor. The crowd’s reaction to Jesus entering Jerusalem shouted of who Jesus was in their minds. Potentially, this perception took hold in the people’s hearts. The authority the crowd inferred and the words they proclaimed about Jesus as He rode the donkey into Jerusalem declared who they believed and wanted Jesus to be. They called Jesus the Son of David, the One whom the LORD sent.

So far, in Matthew 21, the disciples and the donkey owner affirmed their belief in Jesus’ authority, power, and sovereignty as the King who came to fulfill the prophecies. Now, the regular people, the Jews, exclaimed “Hosanna,” which in Hebrew meant, “Lord save us”. By the New Testament time, hosanna meant to praise and exalt. More interestingly, the crowd referred to Jesus as the Son of David. King David is an ancestor of Jesus, as a son of Mary and Joseph. This exclamation by the crowd meant more than that. A son in Jewish understanding brings with it a covenantal relationship with God. Mary and Joseph’s firstborn son was a fulfillment of God’s prophecy to them and to humanity, as the angel told them. When the crowd declared Jesus as the Son of David, they recognized Him as fulfilling the prophecy. Jesus was the direct blood descendent of their beloved King David, the covenantal son between God and Mary and Joseph, the covenant God had with Israel, and the fulfillment of God’s promises to send a Messiah. Jesus is the physical and spiritual fulfillment of God’s covenant and prophecies. As the Son of David, the people declared Jesus as the Son of God, the prophesied Messiah from God.

When the crowds of people proclaimed, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they exalted and praised Yahweh and the Son, Jesus the Messiah. They exclaimed Lord and King, save us! This equating Jesus as the Son of David and anointed Holy One from God was not an interpretive stretch.

The people continued exalting and proclaiming in verse nine by saying, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” They recognized Jesus was the blessing from God. He was God embodied. The people exalted and praised God and Jesus, and they exclaimed Jesus came from God. Coming in the name of the Lord meant Jesus came with the reputation, glory, and renown of Yahweh (the LORD) because they recognized God sent Him. Saying Jesus came in the name of Yahweh meant He came with the authority, character, reputation, and identity of God. Jesus came from God and is God; He is the essence of God.

Jesus is Lord, King, and Teacher with authority, power, majesty, renown, and sovereignty. God sent Him to bless and fulfill Yahweh’s covenant with His people, Israel. By people’s trust in what He said and did, Jesus demonstrated He was the Son of David, the King, the Messiah, and the Teacher.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee” (Matthew 21:10-11).

This recognition by the disciples, donkey owner, and the crowds flocking to Jerusalem for the Passover occurred before Jesus arrived in Jerusalem. When Jesus entered the gate of Jerusalem, the people inside the city heard the crowd/s praises. They wondered who or what caused the stir. The Greek word for “stir” speaks of a metaphorical agitation from an earthquake. This stir shook the people inside the gates and made them ask questions and pay attention. When God enters, people and all creation notice. They ask about the ruckus.

When the people in Jerusalem asked who the man was who rode upon a donkey, the crowds replied. Their answer showed some people had become stirred up by God’s presence; but, they may not have understood who Jesus was. The people who replied to the question Matthew recorded in verse ten called Jesus a prophet from Nazareth of Galilee. They were correct, but did not know the whole truth yet. These people would get to watch the unfolding moments and days in Jerusalem. They would watch the working out of God’s salvation plan. The people would hear, then some would believe, that Jesus was more than a prophet. Jesus was the ultimate prophet, the One who heralded—prophesied—His own coming with the consummation of His life-given sacrifice and life-giving resurrection. Until that time, people referred to Him as a prophet without fully grasping His roles as teacher, prophet, Son of David, King, and Lord.

Understanding who Jesus was, is, and will forever be is the doorway to eternal forgiveness and life. Jesus offers forgiveness because He paid the judgment price for sin with His life given as the sacrifice on the cross. With authority, He spoke to heal people. Jesus speaks even now and stirs each person to action, to seek Him or ignore the conviction. He commands with authority, and people go where He told them, or do not. Jesus, incarnate, lived a sinless life to defeat and offer pardon by His death.

Each person can put their trust in Him, thereby conquering sin and receiving Jesus’ cleansing forgiveness or not. The prophesied King, Jesus came from David’s and accomplished more than people anticipated. People can see and choose to trust in Jesus or not. Jesus carried and fulfilled God’s final covenant through His life, death, and resurrection. Some people choose to see, hear, listen, and understand, and others do not.

Many people proclaim with all creation, “Hosanna, save us, Lord! We praise and exalt You.” Yet many people do not. Jesus is one of the three personages that comprise God. The Jews on the road to Jerusalem that day recognized Jesus had God’s character, is, in His essence, God, the final King, the only Lord, eternal Yahweh, and Redeemer. Each person can choose to believe in Him or not. God never forces Himself on people. He calls each one. God stirs their hearts and minds. He puts people around them who believe and proclaim Him, like the disciples, donkey owner, and people in the crowd.

God had a higher purpose for a stubborn animal of burden. Jesus freed it from its tether. He called it to use for His purposes. Jesus had it walk with Him through the cheering and singing. Each of us is like this donkey. We can receive freedom by the Lord’s command. Given for His purposes. Walk in His parade. See Him work. Feel the weight of Him and His sorrows. And then watch as people accept Him. The Lord can grant us freedom, like this donkey, and use us for His purposes. We need only go to Him.

When Jesus slid off the donkey’s back, the donkey’s burden, though heavy for a moment, was no more. Jesus changed the role of the donkey. His burden became easy. The donkey’s divine burden brought joy, peace, hope, salvation, love, and eternal life to people. Jesus removed the burdensome weight and freed the donkey. He released the donkey for a greater purpose. At day’s end, the donkey’s master probably collected him, but the grandeur and excitement of that day may have never left the donkey or its owner. Jesus changed the donkey’s burden into joy. Each person can have their burdens exchanged for joy by receiving the freeing and redeeming mercy and grace God gives to everyone who believes in Jesus as their Savior.

The donkey was just an animal, but each person can be like a donkey, at times. Jesus can free you from the weight of your burden. He wants to do it. Jesus can use you for His higher calling. That does not mean you will not have to labor. Life will not always be easy. You can have joy, peace, and the knowledge that this life on earth is not the only purpose for which we live. We exchange the heavy burdens of the world for God’s. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30 that His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. You have an eternity to live with God awaiting you, for which you can look forward. What must you do for Jesus to save you? Paul summarized it in Romans 10:9-10. He wrote,

If you declare with your mouth “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified (made right with God), and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

This boils down to the ABCs of becoming a Christian:

Admit you are a sinner.

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior (from your sins and eternal death due to your sins).

Confess with your mouth your sins and your belief in Jesus. Then you will be saved.

Now is your time to allow the stirring in your heart and mind to lead you to Jesus and salvation, or not. You get to decide. You are at a decision point. I pray you follow God’s stirring in your heart and walk in the parade of the saints who preceded you. Join them and proclaim,

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest heaven!

To Be or Not to Be

 

“Jesus said to them (Pharisees), ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.’” (Mark 2:27, ESV)

When we study Mark 2:27, we must first understand what was happening at the time the Pharisees confronted Jesus. Jesus and His disciples were walking through a grain field. The disciples were hungry, so they grabbed a handful of grain seeds to eat as they followed Jesus. The Pharisees challenged Jesus and His disciples about breaking the Sabbath law of not working on the Sabbath. Jesus reminded them what their venerated King David did when he and his soldiers were hungry. They went into the house of God during Abiathar’s leadership as high priest. David and his men ate the bread of the Presence, which Sabbath laws allowed only priests to eat.

With Jesus’ reasoning, the Pharisees would feel challenged if they agreed with Him. so, their acceptance of Jesus’ teaching would mean they accused their venerated king of breaking Sabbath law. If so, then why could not other hungry men eat on the Sabbath? They would not be eating sacred food, just grain. With Jesus’ reminder to the Pharisees, they may have believed if they decided the disciples had not worked on the Sabbath, they would lose power and authority among the people. Yet, if they agreed with Jesus, then that would say their beloved King David broke the Sabbath law. Never back a caged lion into a corner. Let us now learn more about Jesus’ reply to the Pharisees.

The first thought that comes to mind in seeking to understand this verse is that God created the Sabbath day before He created the Sabbath law. God’s intent of the Sabbath laws was to help people remember and focus on God and to rest. The priests of God interpreted the thirty-nine Sabbath laws God gave. Upon writing the priestly interpretations of God’s Sabbath laws handed down through the oral tradition (the Mishnah), The Pharisees codified over six hundred Sabbath laws by which the Israelites were to live. The priests’ interpretations aimed to help people follow God’s Sabbath laws closer. Their Sabbath laws ended up becoming a litmus test by which to compare themselves to one another and to the rest of the Israelites.

Like the first thought, God commanded the Israelites to keep a Sabbath day as holy, just as Moses recorded in the Ten Commandments (the Mosaic covenant). Remember, God created humanity before He gave laws about the Sabbath. so, the relationship between God and people is more important than the Sabbath laws. Recall, the Sabbath laws occurred to help the Israelites remember and focus on God and to rest. Because God called the Sabbath a day of rest, He put people’s needs as more important than Sabbath laws, because people are more important than laws. If someone is hungry, drowning, ill, or anything else, caring for God’s people became more important to God than following laws. Caring for a neighbor is obeying God. God created people for relationship with Him and other people. Relationship means we care for each other. By caring, we show love to and for God, which He intended for the Sabbath laws. Again, God’s intention for His Sabbath laws was to cause humanity to remember and focus on Him and to have a close love relationship with Him.

As we continue to study this verse, we must understand what the word “Sabbath” means. It comes from the Hebrew word shabbat, meaning peace: to rest or cease. Our minds cannot rest and focus on God if we are concerned about a person for whom we cannot care because of the fear of breaking Sabbath laws. Again, a person cannot rest or focus on God because of urgent circumstances. This makes the laws counter to God’s purpose for the Sabbath day.

God created the Sabbath as a day of rest that He set apart and commanded for worship, reflection, and rest. The Pharisees cared more about the institution called the Sabbath. Their rituals were more important to them because they wanted people to see their own piety. The Pharisees cared more for themselves than for other people. They did not focus on God in their worship, but on what people saw them do. The Pharisees broke the first covenant (the Adamic covenant) the intent for which God set aside the Sabbath day on the seventh day of creation. Their intention for the Sabbath was not God’s original intention. The Pharisees' intention focused on themselves, their power, and their authority among the people.

The question Jesus answered, though the Pharisees did not recognize it, was: Who made the Sabbath? If the Pharisees instituted the Sabbath, then the Sabbath laws would be valid in overruling caring for other people on that day. Yet, the Pharisees did not create the Sabbath. God created the seventh day and rested from His work.

Genesis 2:3 states, “So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it, God rested from all His work that He had done in creation.” God blessed the day. He invoked His divine favor, which creates a covenant relationship with humanity, by instituting a day of rest on the seventh day, which He called the Sabbath day. God blessed the Sabbath day as His creation for humanity. He did more than just establish a seventh day and establish it as a day of peace, shabbat. God blessed the day for humanity to rest. With God’s blessings comes rest because His people know God is faithful. This allows people to have peace in mind, heart, and soul, hence, shabbat.

Genesis 2:3 records God sanctified the day. God blessed the day and the people in the day by sanctifying it. Calling something sanctified (holy) means setting it apart as special for significant persons for a purpose. Here, the significant persons for whom God set apart the Sabbath day is humanity. (See the Adamic covenant.) Genesis 2:3 states God’s significant purposes for the Sabbath. God blessed the day and blessed humanity with it by making it a rest day. God set apart the day—He consecrated it—for a sacred purpose, too. He made it holy and dedicated to Himself.

God, by making the seventh day a consecrated day, made the day of peace (Sabbath-shabbat) into a day of worship and devotion. He separated the seventh day from the first six days of the week, so people would use it for His purpose. God gave to Adam, who represents all humanity, a consecrated Sabbath day of rest (from the blessing) and worship (from the sanctification). The seventh day became a day of peace in body, heart, mind, and spirit. God’s seventh created day is a day to rest the body from work and to rest in heart, mind, and spirit as humanity communes with God in worship and meditation, leading to complete peace.

Understanding this makes it easier to understand God made the Sabbath long before He gave the thirty-nine Sabbath laws. From God’s thirty-nine Sabbath laws, the Pharisees created almost six hundred other Sabbath laws. Neither the Pharisees nor any person in humanity created the Sabbath. God created the seventh day, blessed it, and consecrated it for His purpose to bless humanity. Humanity is to rest on the Sabbath and focus on God in worship, praise, meditation, and prayer.

If, while focusing on God, He causes someone to remember a good that person should do to help someone else, even on the Sabbath, then, in doing that good, shows love for God. A person’s action based on impulses/convictions from God, even on the Sabbath, is obedience to God. Obedience to God is an act of worship. In obeying God by doing good for someone, a person is fulfilling the first and second greatest commandments, as Jesus taught in Matthew 22:36-40. The greatest and second greatest commandments are the summation of the Ten Commandments. We love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength when we obey Him, that which God requires.

God created the thirty-nine Sabbath laws to help people abide by His overarching and original intent for the Sabbath: to be in relationship with Him. That overflows into caring for other people (being in a relationship with them). God’s original and primary intent for creating humanity was so He could be in a relationship with them, like the three persons of the Trinity relate to each other. His intent was to be in a loving and holy relationship with people. That is the overarching theme of the Bible and of all time.

Since the Adamic covenant is the primary covenant of God with humanity, every other covenant builds from it to lead people back to a good and holy relationship with God. The covenants appear circular. They each aid humanity by leading them to God—to becoming closer to God and letting Him make them more in His image.

God making people more into His image is a growth process. It involves becoming more perfected, which can only happen when people believe in Jesus and He saves them from sin and death. Merely existing on earth is stagnating and then dying when the body dies. God’s making people more in His image is His growing and perfecting them until death. At death, Jesus perfects the believer—makes him or her sinless and holy, like Himself.

God, who comes from eternity, made the Sabbath. He created the Sabbath and placed it in time, a finite part of eternity. The Sabbath did not always exist. Time did not exist in eternity until God created sun, moon, light, and darkness and called the light and darkness day and night. Because time is a subset of eternity, so the Sabbath day is a subset of time, which God created. so, God’s intent for the Sabbath day, which He stated in Genesis, is the overriding ruler of the Sabbath. Humanity’s intent and laws are not. Hence, God should be the focus of the Sabbath, not humanity or its created Sabbath laws.

Who was the direct object of God’s gift of the Sabbath, shabbat? Humanity. Humanity did not create the Sabbath and has no power to change the original intent of the day. Additionally, humanity is not more powerful than God; they cannot usurp God’s role and rule.

God did not first create the Sabbath, then create humanity and all living things. No, God created humanity before the seventh day, then He declared the seventh day as the Sabbath, a peaceful day blessed by God with rest and consecration. Man sits in time, but man does not sit in one day of time continually. Days rotate within time to come upon humanity, so they may do what God commanded: care for creation. On the blessed and consecrated Sabbath day, God gives rest and reminders so humanity can focus on and worship Him. Work and renewal, a created rhythm God knew that our bodies and our relationship with Him would need for balance and peace.

Adam did not need for God to tell him to walk with Him in the Garden of Eden. That relationship happened because God established it as part of the essence, the inner yearning, of people for connection, closeness, and union. Because God made humanity for His purpose (to be in a relationship with Him), God created His Sabbath laws to cause His initial and overarching purpose. God’s overarching purpose is to have a close love relationship with humanity and to provide rest for them after six days a week of caring for creation.

God created the days and nights for man to give Him a cycle of people, objects, and places to enjoy. He created them for humanity to sustain them while they walked with God daily. God’s love was so comprehensive, He took care of the needs of humanity to work, create, rest, and relate. Why did God create humanity with these innate needs? First, God created people in His image. Just as God enjoyed a close relationship with the three persons of the Trinity and just as God loved to work and create, He created humanity to desire a love relationship with Himself and with other people.

With these understandings, Jesus took the Pharisees in Mark 2:27-28 back to the overarching theme of the Bible. God created humanity to be in a close relationship with Him. Closely following this, He created one day of the seven, which He created, to be a Sabbath day of rest, worship, and meditation for humanity. God did not create humanity for the Sabbath’s enjoyment. Inanimate cannot feel. Hence, the Sabbath laws dictated by the Pharisees take a backseat to God’s original intention for humanity—to be in a loving relationship with God.

To make that possible, God created the Sabbath day for physical rest and to allow the mind of each person to focus solely on Him and his or her relationship with Him. God’s Sabbath laws were an aid to humans for that purpose. The Pharisees Sabbath laws did not always have the love for God as their intention. Plucking grain from the stalk while walking through a field was not work. It allowed the disciples to have nourishment as they followed Jesus. Jesus allowed it because of His love for them of their body, spirit, heart, and mind. His disciples hungered; Jesus loved and did not hinder their plucking grain.

God’s commands/laws give freedom and show His love. The Pharisees’ laws and other laws, which leaders created throughout history, sometimes hinder the wellbeing of people. They steal freedom and leave fear and failure in their place. Human leaders made these laws sometimes just to make the leader feel superior and to make others experience inferiority. Caring and loving other people were not what the impious Pharisees intended with their Sabbath laws. God’s laws give freedom to find and focus on the Father.

The Pharisees did not change or remove their Sabbath laws. Some came to believe in Jesus and He saved them. What personal laws have you created that keep you or others from feeling loved by God and you?

Choose as Jesus taught.

Choose freedom over fear and failure.

Choose a loving relationship with God.

“And Jesus said to them (Pharisees), ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So, the Son of Man (Jesus) is Lord even of the Sabbath.’” (Mark 2:27-28, ESV)

Thoughts on Prayer and Its Necessity

 

The Bible is filled with hundreds of passages on prayer. Because communication is so important for any relationship and people were created for relationship, prayer is integral to our being and to being in a relationship with God. 

Without daily prayer, we are like a plant that has no source of nutrients. We wither, turn inwards on ourselves, die, and become dust tossed about by every wind.

Prayer is the source of our nutrients, a channel of food, that grows us upward in our relationship with God, inward in our estimation of ourselves, and outward in our relationship with other people. 

Without relationship with God grown through prayer, we gain no guidance in our purpose of being alive. 

Our redemption by Jesus comes from His relationship with the Father and His sacrifice to have relationship with us. 

Our hearing God’s voice and being saved comes because of prayer and through our prayer of acceptance and confession of sins.

If we don’t pray, we cut off that which Jesus gave His life for—relationship with Him, and we negate the meaning and method of our salvation. Then we die a martyr to this world and have an eternal destiny without God.

Prayer is vital to our lives as Christians.