Honor Jesus, honor God
Submission to God through the Son
2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 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.
From the Bible’s teaching we can discern God’s purpose in this. First, the Sabbath is a sign of God’s eternal rest. While Genesis 1 speaks of the beginning and end of each of the first six days of creation, the seventh day begins but never ends. This indicates the eternal rest that God enjoys, of which the Sabbath is both a sign and a foretaste. In observing this day, God’s people are to look ahead to the eternal rest that awaits us with God. This is why the Sabbath did not pass away with the coming of Christ, as did the ceremonial laws, because it is a sign not of Christ’s first advent but of the eternal glory and rest that will arrive with his second coming
12 And the LORD said to Moses, 13 “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. 16 Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. 17 It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’ ”
13 “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
from doing your pleasure on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the LORD honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
14 then you shall take delight in the LORD,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
From the Bible’s teaching we can discern God’s purpose in this. First, the Sabbath is a sign of God’s eternal rest. While Genesis 1 speaks of the beginning and end of each of the first six days of creation, the seventh day begins but never ends. This indicates the eternal rest that God enjoys, of which the Sabbath is both a sign and a foretaste. In observing this day, God’s people are to look ahead to the eternal rest that awaits us with God. This is why the Sabbath did not pass away with the coming of Christ, as did the ceremonial laws, because it is a sign not of Christ’s first advent but of the eternal glory and rest that will arrive with his second coming
This indicates the eternal rest that God enjoys, of which the Sabbath is both a sign and a foretaste. In observing this day, God’s people are to look ahead to the eternal rest that awaits us with God. This is why the Sabbath did not pass away with the coming of Christ, as did the ceremonial laws, because it is a sign not of Christ’s first advent but of the eternal glory and rest that will arrive with his second coming. The Sabbath sign is still valid because the reality to which it points—God’s eternal age of glory—has not yet come
From the Bible’s teaching we can discern God’s purpose in this. First, the Sabbath is a sign of God’s eternal rest. While Genesis 1 speaks of the beginning and end of each of the first six days of creation, the seventh day begins but never ends. This indicates the eternal rest that God enjoys, of which the Sabbath is both a sign and a foretaste. In observing this day, God’s people are to look ahead to the eternal rest that awaits us with God. This is why the Sabbath did not pass away with the coming of Christ, as did the ceremonial laws, because it is a sign not of Christ’s first advent but of the eternal glory and rest that will arrive with his second coming
This might require a rearranging of our priorities—the very thing that God wants! We are not to make the Sabbath a day of drudgery, but of spiritual joy as we devote ourselves wholly to God. Some will object, “This is Pharisaism!” But it is not! It is the very opposite of works-religion. We keep the Sabbath not in a vain attempt to earn God’s favor but to enjoy fully the favor we already have in Christ by God’s grace, and to give him the full glory of our grateful lives
Do you know the meaning of the word Trinity? In all likelihood, most of those reading this book are familiar with this word and its meaning in theology. But what if I were to ask you to distinguish between the “ontological Trinity” and the “economic Trinity”? If I said, “Please describe for me the difference between the ontological Trinity and the economic Trinity,” could you do it? The distinction is very important.
Ontology is the study of being. When we talk about the ontological Trinity, we are referring to the fact that God is three in one. There are three persons in the Godhead—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—who together are one being. The ontological structure of the Trinity is a unity. When we speak of the economic Trinity, we are dealing with roles. We distinguish among the three persons of the Godhead in terms of what we call the economy of God. It is the Father who sends the Son into the world for our redemption. It is the Son who acquires our redemption for us. It is the Spirit who applies that redemption to us. We do not have three gods. We have one God in three persons, and the three persons are distinguished in terms of what They do.
In orthodox Christianity, we say that the Son is equal to the Father in power, in glory, and in being. This discussion rests heavily on John 1:1, where we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This verse indicates that the Father and the Word (the Son) are different and are one. In one sense, the Son and the Father are identical. In another sense, They are distinguished. From all eternity the Father sends the Son, and the Son is subordinate to the Father. The Son doesn’t send the Father; the Father sends the Son. So even though the Father and the Son are equal in power, glory, and being, nevertheless there is an economic subordination of the Son to the Father
Sobering words follow. Jesus declared that the Father delegated the task of judging to the Son so that “all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him” (v. 23). Western culture tells people they can believe in anything they want to believe in, that we all worship the same God, that we can come to God by any means we choose, and that we can reject Jesus and still have the Father. No, we cannot honor the Father without honoring the Son, and the Father has appointed a day when He will judge the world by the One whom He has appointed to be the Judge, who is Christ (Acts 17:31). So those who do not honor Christ fail to honor the Judge whom God has appointed.
This is merely the beginning of Jesus’ defense; it goes on not just for a few more verses but a few more chapters, and it’s heavy going. It will take us into deep theological waters, but those deep theological waters are at the very heart of the faith of the Christian church, and it’s because of these things that we come together to worship Him and to honor Him.
I want to conclude by making some observations about this verse, to ensure that no one fails to understand the glorious offer that is made to you as well. First, notice that it is through Christ’s Word—that is, through his gospel—that we truly believe in God: “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me” (John 5:24). This is why the church must preach and Christians must witness the gospel and not worldly substitutes; Paul insisted, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17). This does not restrict us to the New Testament, since the whole Bible witnesses to Christ. The gospel is found in all the Scriptures, and as Paul declared, “The gospel … is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). When Jesus revealed himself through the Scriptures to the disciples on the Emmaus road, they marveled, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:32). We can experience that same revival by learning and believing the Word of Christ in the Bible.
Second, notice that faith in Christ marks the great divide between salvation and condemnation.
Third, and finally, you might have many struggles, but if you have faith in Christ, you have immediate and full possession of nothing less than eternal life: “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24
Most wonderfully, to have eternal life through faith in Christ is to know the Father’s love in a way similar to the love that Jesus himself experiences. And it is the Father’s love that we have longed for all our lives. This is why Jesus came—to bring the Father’s love into a loveless world and to enter us into close communion with our Creator and God, who will show us his glory and enter us into his eternal work. How can this be? Through the Son, whom the Father loves and whom he gave that through faith in him we might be freed to enjoy the forever life for which we were made.