Jesus started a new thing

Matthew 9:15 (NKJV)

¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

. Fasting, 9:14–17

¹⁴ Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ And no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for it pulls its overlap away from the garment, and the tear gets worse. ¹⁷ Neither do people put new wine into old wineskins; if they do, the skins burst, and the wine pours out, and the skins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

A further aspect of discipleship is brought out with a paragraph on fasting, a practice that occupied a large place in the religious observances of some of the Jews (and for that matter other people). Matthew makes it clear that fasting was not a feature of discipleship while Jesus was with his followers, but he leaves the way open for it in the days after Jesus would be “taken away from them.” As usual, Matthew’s account is shorter than those in Mark and Luke, but he has some touches peculiar to himself (e.g., the reference to mourning in v. 15 where the others have fasting).

14. For Matthew’s favorite then see on 2:7; it does not point to strict sequence. But it may well be that John’s disciples were fasting on a day that the followers of Jesus were feasting (cf. Mark 2:18). Matthew generally uses the term disciples (see on 5:1; 8:21) for the disciples of Jesus, but he can use it for the followers of other teachers, such as those of the Pharisees (22:16) or, as here, of John the Baptist. In the word “disciple” there is the thought of personal adherence to a teacher in the pursuit of learning. The Baptist is simply John without qualification. There is probably no great emphasis on we (despite the use of the pronoun): the pronoun had to be inserted so that John’s people could link themselves with the Pharisees. Fasting was a common religious practice in the ancient world. The only fast prescribed in the Law was that on the Day of Atonement, but in New Testament times pious Jews fasted every Monday and Thursday, and they might employ the practice at other solemn times. Perhaps we could say that whenever people felt that God should be approached in special humility for help in some time of trouble they saw fasting as the appropriate way. Fasting regularly twice a week and on other occasions as well certainly merits the description often.³⁸ Fasting could be seen as a way of gaining merit before God, and thus it is not surprising that Jesus and his disciples eschewed the practice. But this certainly marked them out as distinctive; John’s men say that Jesus’ people do not do it (GNB has a strong antithesis, “fast often … don’t fast at all”). Jesus himself fasted at the time of the temptation in the wilderness, but there is no record of him engaging in the practice subsequently.

15. Jesus countered their question with one of his own. His question looks for a negative answer, and the negative along with the verb can points to a complete impossibility. The bridegroom’s attendants cannot be fasting while the feasting is at its height! The expression wedding guests (more literally “the sons of the bridal hall”) refers particularly to “that group of the wedding guests who stood closest to the groom and played an essential part in the wedding ceremony” (BAGD). These people are necessarily preoccupied with the marriage; that is why they are there, and such practices as mourning are far from their minds. As long as is necessary because a wedding feast could go on for several days, but Jesus does not say “as long as the festivities go on” but as long as the bridegroom is with them; he concentrates on the presence of the bridegroom. The bridegroom (again in 25:1, 5–6, 10; 22:2, and developed toward the close of Revelation) carries on the same imagery, and, of course, John the Baptist spoke of himself as “the best man” and Jesus as “the bridegroom” (John 3:29). Mourn points to an activity proper at a funeral (and other sad occasions), but not at a wedding. Bonnard well remarks that the Pharisees and the disciples of John had not recognized that Jesus was the messianic Bridegroom: “their pious sorrow is the sign of their refusal of Jesus and of the true repentance.” But “Fasting is not appropriate if the kingdom is being manifested in Jesus’ mighty deeds” (Johnson).

But joy in the presence of the bridegroom is not the whole story. Jesus points to a future time when the bridegroom is taken away. There can be no doubt that by the bridegroom he means himself, nor that is taken away refers to his death. This is not part of the marriage imagery but an alien element, and it shows us that from quite early in his ministry Jesus faced the fact that it would end in rejection and death. John the Baptist had been put into prison and opposition to Jesus was growing, so it is not surprising that he should think of his death. When the bridegroom is no longer with them the disciples will fast. Cf. Carr, “There is a time of sorrow in store for my disciples when fasting will have a real meaning, now in my presence they can but rejoice.” Jesus does not command them to fast; he simply prophesies that they will. And they did (cf. Acts 9:9; 13:3; 14:23; 27:9).¹

the fact that the will of man is counter to God’s will.

A message from this passage could follow the theme, “Heralds of the New Order,” or “The New versus the Old.” (1) In Christ religion is not meritorious exercises, vv. 14–15; (2) in Christ religion is not monitoring an old traditionalism, vv. 16–17a; (3) in Christ religion is the miraculous inbreaking of a new order, v. 17b. In some degree this is “realized eschatology,” for the new is happening. But, from the teachings of Jesus, we know there is more to come. It is evident that the old has run out, that it isn’t worth patching in comparison to the new creation in Christ. This is the new age, and Jesus began His miracles by the miracle of wine (John 2)—an illustration of the wine of the new age fulfilling the prophecy of the time of our salvation (Is. 12).

Two illustrations express this. The first, not putting a piece of unshrunk cloth into an old garment, is self-evident. He was not simply introducing a new code of laws, for laws alone, applied to the stresses of life, would tear persons apart. Nor is His ministry the pouring of new wine into old wineskins, for the vitality of the new life of love could not be contained or controlled by the old structures or institutionalism of their religious orders. Yet there is structure, for there are new wineskins for the new wine so that both are preserved. This is the challenge of new ideas. It includes a call to objectivity which frees one from prejudice and opens one’s mind to the Spirit’s guidance. This is a contrast “between the legal and the evangelic dispensations.” The new wine of Christian faith could not be poured into the old wineskins of Judaism. The Book of Acts demonstrates this fact, and the Letter to the Galatians interprets it from Paul’s mission work.

²

JESUS DID NOT COME TO MAKE A NEW SET OF LAWS HE CAME TO FREE YOU AND TO MAKE LOVEING JESUS THE LAW.

Our Lord is saying this: The old covenant, the old dispensation of law, was ending, and He had not come to project it or to continue under that dispensation. Actually, He had come to provide a new garment, and that new garment was the robe of righteousness which He gives to those who do nothing more than to trust Him.

The “bottles” were the wineskins of that day. They were fashioned of animal skin. You can see that when new wine would be put into a new wineskin, it would expand. But an old wineskin had reached the place of maximum expansion; when it was filled with new wine, it would naturally burst open and the wine would be lost.

Our Lord is saying this, “I haven’t come to sew patches on an old garment. I have come to present a new garment, something which is altogether new.” This was very radical. John summed it up in his Gospel when he said, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).³

JESUS DID NOT COME TO IMPROVE THE LAW. JESUS CAME TO START GRACE AND TRUTH

1 Morris, L. (1992). The Gospel according to Matthew (pp. 223–225). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.

2 Augsburger, M. S., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1982). Matthew (Vol. 24, p. 18). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.

3 McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Gospels (Matthew 1-13) (electronic ed., Vol. 34, p. 132). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

thinking

⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

In keeping with that thought, Paul suggests to his readers a ‘divine programming’ that will ensure their peace. He calls upon them to think about:

• the true—those things that correspond to the teaching of God’s Word;

• the noble—those things that have the dignity of moral excellence;

• the just—those things that conform to God’s standards;

• the pure—those things that are free from the taint of sin;

• the lovely—those virtues that make believers attractive and winsome, such as generosity, kindness, compassion and willingness to forgive;

• the things of good report—those things that give Christians a good reputation and a good name.¹

Paul spells out in detail the things we ought to think about as Christians.

Whatever is true. Dr. Walter Cavert reported a survey on worry that indicated that only 8 percent of the things people worried about were legitimate matters of concern! The other 92 percent were either imaginary, never happened, or involved matters over which the people had no control anyway. Satan is the liar (John 8:44), and he wants to corrupt our minds with his lies (2 Cor. 11:3). “Yea, hath God said?” is the way he approaches us, just as he approached Eve (Gen. 3:1ff). The Holy Spirit controls our minds through truth (John 17:17; 1 John 5:6), but the devil tries to control them through lies. Whenever we believe a lie, Satan takes over!

Whatever is honest and just. This means “worthy of respect and right.” There are many things that are not respectable, and Christians should not think about these things. This does not mean we hide our heads in the sand and avoid what is unpleasant and displeasing, but it does mean we do not focus our attention on dishonorable things and permit them to control our thoughts.

Whatever is pure, lovely, and of good report. “Pure” probably refers to moral purity, since the people then, as now, were constantly attacked by temptations to sexual impurity (Eph. 4:17–24; 5:8–12). “Lovely” means “beautiful, attractive.” “Of good report” means “worth talking about, appealing.” The believer must major on the high and noble thoughts, not the base thoughts of this corrupt world.

Whatever possesses virtue and praise. If it has virtue, it will motivate us to do better; and if it has praise, it is worth commending to others. No Christian can afford to waste “mind power” on thoughts that tear him down or that would tear others down if these thoughts were shared.²Finally. In conclusion. Whatsoever. Whatsoever introduced six adjectives picturing old-fashioned Christian ideas. True. Resting on reality and aiming at reality. Honest. Honorable, dignified, worthy of reverence, the combination of gravity and dignity. Just. Righteous relations between man and man, and man and God. Pure. Stainless, chaste, unsullied. Lovely. Lovable, endearing, amiable, gracious, charming, pleasing, winsome. Of good report. Attractive, fair speaking. If there be any virtue. Mental, moral, and physical excellence. If there be any praise. Anything praiseworthy, deemed worthy of praise. Think on these things. Meditate on them with careful reflection, not casually and superficially, but constantly and logically. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov 23:7). Noble thinking produces noble living; high thinking produces high living; and holy thinking produces holy living. All these noble qualities were exemplified in Christ and are produced by the Holy Spirit.³

1 Ellsworth, R. (2004). Opening up Philippians (pp. 84–85). Leominster: Day One Publications.

2 Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, pp. 95–96). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

3 Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 2449). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

the calling of mathew and the calling of us

⁹ As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

¹⁰ Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹² When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”¹

Note Jesus saud he has called sinners to repentance. No he did not say just beilieve but the Lord is calling to repent or turn from sin.

The call of Matthew is in the context of his having been a tax collector. For Jesus to enjoy the hospitality of his home and friends sets the stage for Jesus to be known as a friend of publicans and sinners. His calling Matthew to be a disciple places the authority of Christ over occupation. We have one vocation as followers of Jesus and that is to be disciples. This vocation supplies the directive for choice of occupation as well as for the character of our work in an acceptable occupation. The first three Gospels refer to the calling of Matthew to follow Jesus. However, Mark and Luke refer to him as Levi. Only here do we have the designation “Matthew,” suggesting that he had a direct relation to the writing of this Gospel. Matthew was at the “tax office” or the place of toll, and upon Jesus’ call he arose and followed Him. He paid a unique price, for since a number of the other disciples were fishermen they could return to their nets, but for Matthew to leave his post meant “no turning back.”

There was nothing secretive about Matthew’s decision to be a disciple, for he openly invited his friends to his spacious home for a dinner with Jesus. They are referred to as publicans (tax collectors) and sinners (persons careless about ceremonial laws), and are set in contrast with the Pharisees who were the Separatists of Jesus’ day (priding themselves in their righteousness). Jesus demonstrated love and acceptance by His willingness to sit down with sinners and associate with them. This is friendship evangelism, for we cannot win sinners to the Lord if we keep ourselves aloof from them.

The Pharisees were asking Jesus’ disciples about His association with sinners, and when Jesus heard it, He answered His critics with two statements. First, “They that are whole need no physician, but they that are sick” (kjv) was Jesus’ word that He came to save sinners. His mission opens the door to all, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23, kjv). Second, Jesus called these religious persons to read their Scriptures, noting Hosea 6:6, that God desires mercy rather than sacrifices, a forgiving spirit more than legal demands or religious rites. The Master’s conclusion was that He is calling the sinful to repentance—a word hard to hear for the self-righteous. Since Matthew was working for Rome, specifically for Herod, his friends no doubt included Gentiles, a factor which adds breadth to the meaning of Jesus’ invitation to sinners.

An outline for presenting a meditation on Friendship Evangelism is suggested as follows: (1) Jesus asked persons of any walk to follow Him, vv. 9–10; (2) Jesus associated with sinners to win them to God, vv. 11–12; and (3) Jesus actualized the extension of God’s mercy to all people, v. 13.

²

Then He quoted from the book of Hosea, which is all about mercy, to show that His behavior should be the norm for all of God’s people. In Hosea 6:6, God declares, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” By quoting this verse, Jesus was saying, in essence: “I’m on a mission of mercy. I didn’t come to bring judgment on the world. My Father is a God of justice, and He will visit justice upon this world in His time. But My Father always tempers His justice with mercy. You should not think that you satisfy the desires of My Father if you merely go to the synagogue, pay your tithes, and give your sacrifices. I want my people to be people of mercy.” Christ has not commanded us to shake our fingers at every sinner and every outcast of our society. He has called us to a ministry of mercy. That is what He did, and that is what He wants us to do.³

Jesus does not want you to work bhy going to church and being good. He needs you be mercy and to give to people who need mercy and grace.

Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

As in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

And to heed than the fat of rams.⁴

God does not want your money but he wants you to obey what he is telling you to do. If the people tell you Gay is okay you see what Jesus said and follow Him not the world. If the Bible said that you be kind to people and the world said said be mean you do as the bible tells you.

Matthew left it behind. What do I need to leave to be closer to Jesus\?

1 Augsburger, M. S., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1982). Matthew (Vol. 24, p. 18). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.

2 Augsburger, M. S., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1982). Matthew (Vol. 24, p. 18). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.

3 Sproul, R. C. (2013). Matthew (p. 273). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

4 The New King James Version. (1982). (1 Sa 15:22). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

your sin is forgiven

Is it me or does it seem that when we are to work for Jesus but he seems to so much for us.

9 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. ² And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” ³ And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” ⁴ But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? ⁵ For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? ⁶ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” ⁷ And he rose and went home. ⁸ When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men. ¹

Jesus forgave a sin. God is who we sin againsst yet Jesus here forgave. Note Jesus does not heal the man right away. He forgives then heals. What I would rather have is all my sins forgiven and not healed then healed and have sins before God.

Jesus’ tactic caught the leaders off guard. Though these leaders might deny His ability, or right, to forgive sins, the outward physical healing could not be denied. It was far easier to say Your sins are forgiven you because there would be no visible proof that the sins were forgiven. The healing of the paralytic, however, was proof that forgiveness of sins had occurred as well. Neither physical nor spiritual healing pose any difficulty for God’s Son.

Jesus proved he is God here by forgiving and healing

Matthew then continues, When Jesus saw their faith … (v. 2b). Here Matthew obviously alludes to the extreme exertions of the men who had brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus. He could see that they strongly believed that if they could simply get the paralytic to Him, his broken body would be healed.

When Jesus saw this faith, He spoke to the paralyzed man, but He did not say, “Be healed.” Rather, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you” (v. 2c).

First, note the very warm term of endearment with which Jesus addressed the man: “Son.” If Jesus were to address you as “Son” or “Daughter,” you would sense immediately the affection that was being expressed by that form of address. Second, however, note the words Jesus said to the man: “be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” I think we can confidently say that this man and his friends had not come to Jesus expecting forgiveness of sins. They had come simply hoping that his paralysis might be healed. But Jesus made this unexpected comment about forgiveness of sins.

Many of you no doubt know of Joni Eareckson Tada, who has been a quadriplegic for several decades. She is confined to a motorized wheelchair. However, she paints by holding the brush in her mouth, she composes music, she writes books and speaks at conferences, and she has a glorious testimony and an international ministry. She says that she knows that when she gets to heaven she will be whole, and she cannot wait for that moment. In the meantime, she is trusting in the love of God to sustain her during this earthly time of travail. She has said that she would rather be in her wheelchair knowing that she is forgiven in Christ than to be whole without His forgiveness.

Jesus, of course, has the power to heal Joni’s paralysis in an instant. He had that same power to heal the paralytic who was brought to Him. However, instead of addressing the man’s debilitating physical condition, Jesus addressed his spiritual condition by saying to the man, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

It is tempting to conclude, based on this statement, that the paralytic was suffering this dreadful affliction as a direct result of some sin he had committed. But the text gives absolutely no reason to make that inference. When people came to Jesus, it did not matter whether they came on stretchers or walked in under their own power, whether they were blind, deaf, crippled, or completely healthy—all of them came into His presence carrying a burden of guilt. To have that burden removed was far more important ultimately than to receive physical healing of their bodies. If Jesus had done nothing else for this man that day than to say, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you,” he would have had no reason to do anything other than go to his house rejoicing.

Have you had the experience of having your sins forgiven? It is a wonderful thing. My daughter became a Christian at the age of seven or eight in response to an altar call. I was a bit skeptical about that, because I thought she was too young to understand what it was all about. I was afraid she might be missing the real significance of the gospel. So, I asked her, “Why did you go forward?” She said: “Daddy, I couldn’t help it. I had to go. And now I feel as clean as a newborn baby.” I got her point. When she said that she felt clean, fresh, and newly born, I saw that she understood what had just happened to her. She had experienced the grace of forgiveness.

Forgiveness is wonderful precisely because the burden of guilt is so horrible. Many years ago, a friend of mine who was not a Christian asked me to leave the ministry and come to work for him in his psychiatric practice. I was shocked because I know nothing about psychiatry, so I asked him why he wanted to hire me. He said: “You may not know anything about psychiatry, but you know something about guilt and forgiveness. Ninety-eight percent of the people who come to me don’t need a psychiatrist. They need a priest. You cannot believe how many people are walking around this world with unresolved guilt that’s eating them up.”

The great Reformer Martin Luther understood this, and that was why, after he left the Roman Catholic Church, he kept the confessional. He understood how important it is in the life of the people of God to hear someone say, “Your sins are forgiven.” In reality, the Protestants never had an issue with confession. It was the Roman Catholic sacrament of penance, in which people were sent out to do works of satisfaction by which they supposedly could get some kind of merit before God, that the Reformers opposed. They fully acknowledged that people need to repent of their sins and confess them, and then receive the assurance of forgiveness.

Do you have that? Do you know that your sins have been forgiven by Jesus?²

Forgiveness does not depend on our feelings. Forgiveness depends on the authority of God to forgive sins. Jesus wanted everyone to know that He has that authority. So, if your sins are unforgiven, why are you waiting? There is One who has the authority to forgive them, for He took your sin, assumed your guilt, and paid for it all. He has the power and authority to forgive you. Why do you hesitate? What holds you back from the good cheer that the Son of Man has for you?³

1 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Mt 9:1–8). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

2 Sproul, R. C. (2013). Matthew (pp. 262–264). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

3 Sproul, R. C. (2013). Matthew (p. 267). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

first thing first

But if God is God, as we understand the word, then He is eternal and needs nothing; and He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and everywhere present. In order to have a “limited god,” you must first redefine the very word “God,” because by definition God cannot be limited.

Furthermore, if God is limited and “getting greater,” then what power is making Him greater? That power would be greater than “God” and therefore be God! And wouldn’t that give us two gods instead of one? But the God of the Bible is eternal and had no beginning. He is infinite and knows no limitations in either time or space. He is perfect and cannot “improve,” and is immutable and cannot change.¹

God is Eternal God has been is and will always be. Trillions of years ago GOD and trillions of years after tonight GOD. Before anything God was. I wonder what God did. God made us in hos image so then we began and will always be either in the realm of heaven (if we trust in Jesus) or the realm on hell (if we die and did not trust in Jesus)

God is All knowing, God knows all that is and all that could be. Gods knowlage is perfect. If you played trvia with Jesus Jesus could never lose. Jesus knows everything about you including every thing you ever thought. It ought to scare you if you sin because God knows it and keeps a record.

First Things First

If you could have been present to witness any event in Bible history, which event would you choose? I once asked that question of several well-known Christian leaders, and the answers were varied: the crucifixion of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, the Flood, Israel crossing the Red Sea, and even David slaying Goliath. But one of them said, “I would like to have been present when God finished His creation. It must have been an awesome sight!”

Some scientists claim that if we could travel out into space fast enough and far enough, we could “catch up” with the light beams from the past and watch history unfold before our eyes. Perhaps the Lord will let us do that when we get to heaven. I hope so, because I would like to see the extraordinary events Moses described in Genesis 1 and 2.

Genesis 2 introduces us to a series of “firsts” that are important to us if we want to build our lives according to the basics God has put into His universe.

1. The first Sabbath (Gen. 2:1–3)

The word “Sabbath” isn’t found in this paragraph, but Moses is writing about the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week. The phrase “seventh day” is mentioned three times in verses 2–3. “Sabbath” comes from a Hebrew word shabbat that means “to cease working, to rest” and is related to the Hebrew word for “seven.” We need to consider three different Sabbaths found in the Bible.

The personal Sabbath of the Lord God (vv. 1–4). This first Sabbath didn’t take place because God was tired from all His creative work, because God doesn’t get weary (Isa. 40:28). God set apart the seventh day because His work of creation was finished and He was pleased and satisfied with what He had created. “And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Gen. 1:31).

Three things are distinctive about this seventh day of the creation week. First, there’s no mention of “evening and morning,” suggesting that God’s Sabbath rest would have no end. Unfortunately, man’s sin interrupted God’s rest; and God had to search for Adam and Eve and deal with them (3:8–9, and see John 5:9, 17). Second, there’s no record that He blessed any of the other six days, but God did bless the seventh day (Gen. 2:3). In blessing it, He made it a blessing. Third, after blessing the seventh day, God sanctified it (v. 3), which means He set it apart for His own special purposes.

Jehovah is the God of time as well as the Lord of eternity. It was He who created time and established the rotation of the planets and their orbits around the sun. It was He who marked out the seven-day week and set

aside one day for Himself. Every living thing that God has created lives a day at a time except humans made in God’s image! People rush around in the frantic “rat race” of life, always planning to rest but never seeming to fulfill their plan.

It has been said that most people in our world are being “crucified between two thieves”: the regrets of yesterday and the worries about tomorrow. That’s why they can’t enjoy today. Relying on modern means of transportation and communication, we try to live two or three days at a time, only to run headlong against the creation cycle of the universe; and the results are painful and often disastrous.

A famous Chinese scholar came to America to lecture and during the course of his tour was met at a busy metropolitan railway station by his university host. “If we run quickly, we can catch the next train and save ourselves three minutes,” said the host. The scholar quietly asked, “And what significant thing shall we do with the three minutes that we save by running?” A good question that could not be answered. Henry David Thoreau wrote in Walden over a century ago, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” I wonder what he’d say if he saw the frantic people running up and down escalators in our airline terminals!

God had done many wonderful things during the six days of Creation, but the climax of the creation week was God’s “rest” after His work. As we shall see, God has sanctified work as well as rest, but it’s rest that seems to be the greatest need in people’s hearts today. Augustine was correct when he wrote, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.”

The national Sabbath of Israel. There’s no mention of the Sabbath in Scripture until Exodus 16:23 when God gave the regulations to Israel about gathering the daily manna. From the way this commandment is worded, it suggests that the Jews already knew the importance of the Sabbath and were observing it as a day of rest. In giving the Sabbath to Israel, the Lord related this special day to other events in sacred history.

To begin with, when God gave Israel the Law at Mount Sinai, the Sabbath was connected with Creation (20:8–11). God was the generous Giver of all that they needed, and they must acknowledge Him by worshiping the Creator and not the creation. They were not to imitate the pagan nations around them (Rom. 1:18ff). Moses even mentioned the weekly rest needed by servants and farm animals (Ex. 23:12), so keeping the Sabbath was a humanitarian act as well as a religious duty. The Lord commanded His people to observe every seventh year as a Sabbatical Year and every fiftieth year as a Year of Jubilee. This would permit the land to enjoy its Sabbaths and be renewed (Lev. 25).

The Sabbath was not only connected with Creation, but at the close of the giving of the Law, it was vested with special significance as a sign between Israel and Jehovah (Ex. 31:12–17; Neh. 9:13–15). “Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you” (Ex. 31:13, nkjv). There’s no evidence that God ever required any other nation to observe the Sabbath, because the Jews alone were the chosen people of God.

There’s a third connection between the Sabbath and the Jews. When Moses rehearsed the Law for the new generation about to enter Canaan, he connected the Sabbath Day with their deliverance from Egypt (Deut. 5:12–15). The weekly Sabbath and the annual Passover feast would both remind Israel of God’s mercy and power in freeing the nation from bondage. Furthermore, this weekly day of rest would also be a foretaste of the rest they would enjoy in the Promised Land (Deut. 3:20; 12:10; 25:19; Josh. 22:4). God had brought them out of Egypt that He might bring them into the Promised Land to claim their inheritance (Deut. 4:37–38). In the Book of Hebrews, this concept of a “promised rest” is applied to believers today.

The nation of Israel eventually declined spiritually and didn’t observe God’s laws, including the Sabbath law; and they were ultimately punished for their disobedience (2 Chron. 36:14–21; Ezek. 20:1ff; Isa. 58:13–14; Jer. 17:19–27). The Northern Kingdom of Israel was swallowed up by Assyria, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah was taken into captivity by Babylon.

By the time of the ministry of Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees had added their traditions to God’s Word and turned the Law in general and the Sabbath in particular into religious bondage. The few prohibitions found in Moses (Ex. 16:29; 35:2–3; Num. 15:32–36) were expanded into numerous regulations. Jesus, however, rejected their traditions and even performed miracles on the Sabbath! He said, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).

The spiritual Sabbath of the Christian believer (Heb. 4:1–11). Hebrews 4 brings together God’s creation rest (v. 4) and Israel’s Canaan rest (v. 8) to teach us about the spiritual rest that believers have in Christ (vv. 9–11). When you trust Jesus Christ, you enter the “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17) and into His spiritual rest (Matt. 11:28–30). You also enter into the spiritual inheritance He gives all who trust Him (Acts 20:32; Eph. 1:18; Col. 1:12). Believers are not under bondage to keep the Law (Gal. 5:1) because the Holy Spirit fulfills the righteousness of the Law in us as we yield to Him (Rom. 8:1–3).

The first Christian believers met daily for worship and fellowship (Acts 2:46), but they also gathered together on the first day of the week, the day of Christ’s resurrection from the dead (John 20:19, 26; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2). The first day was known as “the Lord’s day” (Rev. 1:10); and to make the Lord’s Day into a “Christian Sabbath” is to confuse what these two days stand for in God’s plan of salvation.

The seventh day of the week, the Jewish Sabbath, symbolizes the old creation and the covenant of law: first you work, then you rest. The first day of the week, the Lord’s day, symbolizes the New Creation and the Covenant of Grace: first you believe in Christ and find rest, and then you work (Eph. 2:8–10). In the New Creation, God’s Spirit enables us to make the entire week an experience of worship, praise, and service to the glory of God.

The Jewish Sabbath law was fulfilled by Christ on the cross and is no longer binding on God’s people (Gal. 4:1–11; Col. 2:16–17). However, some believers may choose to honor the Sabbath Day “as unto the Lord,” and Christians are not to judge or condemn one another in this matter. When good and godly people disagree on matters of conscience, they must practice love and mutual acceptance and grant one another liberty (Rom. 14:1–15:7). “Therefore let no one judge you in food or in drink [the dietary laws], or regarding a festival or a new moon [the Jewish feasts] or Sabbaths” (Col. 2:16, nkjv).

2. The first home (Gen. 2:4–14)

Some Old Testament scholars have claimed that this section of Genesis 2 is a second account of Creation written by a different author whose message conflicts with what’s found in chapter 1. That theory isn’t widely promoted today; for in these verses, Moses tells the same Creation story but adds details that we need to know in order to understand events that happen later. Genesis 2:4 is the first of eleven “generation” statements that mark the progress of the story Moses wrote in the Book of Genesis. (See chapter 1, section 1, page 13.)

Adam the worker. Looking back to the third day (1:9–13), Moses told how God had brought forth vegetation and provided a “mist” to water the plants. You won’t encounter rain in Genesis until the time of the Flood. It’s interesting that God needed someone to till the earth and help produce the food needed. Humans are stewards of God’s creation blessings and should use His gifts as He commands. God and man work together, for God put Adam into the garden to do His work in tilling the soil and caring for it (v. 15).

A retired man living in a city got tired of seeing an ugly vacant lot as he took his daily walk, so he asked the owner for permission to plant a garden there. It took days to haul away the accumulated rubbish and even more time to prepare the soil, but the man worked hard. The next year, the lot was aglow with life and beauty, and everyone took notice.

“God has certainly given you a beautiful piece of property,” said a visitor as he admired the flowers and the landscaping.

“Yes, He has,” the busy gardener replied, “but you should have seen this property when God had it all by Himself!”

The reply was a wise one and not at all irreverent. The same God who ordains the end—a beautiful garden—also ordains the means to the end—someone to do the work. After all, “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26); and no amount of prayer or Bible study can take the place of a gardener plowing the soil, sowing the seed, watering plants, and pulling weeds. “For we are laborers together with God” (1 Cor. 3:9).

Work isn’t a curse; it’s an opportunity to use our abilities and opportunities in cooperating with God and being faithful stewards of His creation. After man sinned, work became toil (Gen. 3:17–19); but that wasn’t God’s original intention. We all have different abilities and opportunities, and we must discover what God wants us to do with our lives in this world, for the good of others and the glory of God. Someday, we want to be able to stand before God and say with Jesus, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4, nkjv).

Adam the tenant. God planted His garden “eastward in Eden” (Gen. 2:8). “Eden” means either “delight” or “place of much water” and suggests that this garden was a paradise from the hand of God. Bible history begins with a beautiful garden in which man sinned, but the story ends with a glorious “garden city” (Rev. 21–22) in which there will be no sin. What brought about the change? A third garden, Gethsemane, where Jesus surrendered to the Father’s will and then went forth to die on a cross for the sins of the world.

We have no information about the Pishon River or the Gihon River; and though the Tigris (Hiddekel) and Euphrates are familiar to us, we still don’t have enough data to determine the exact location of the Garden of Eden. The location of the land of Havilah is also uncertain; some place it in Armenia, others in Mesopotamia. The King James Version has identified the land of Cush as Ethiopia, but this interpretation isn’t generally accepted today. Fortunately, it isn’t necessary to master ancient geography in order to understand the spiritual lessons of these early chapters in Genesis.

In this beautiful Garden, God provided both bounty and beauty; Adam and Eve had food to eat and God’s lovely handiwork to enjoy. As yet, sin hadn’t entered the Garden; so their happiness wasn’t marred.

3. The first covenant (Gen. 2:16–17)

A covenant is a binding arrangement between two or more parties that governs their relationship. The word command is introduced at this point because it’s God who makes the terms of the agreement. God is the Creator and man is the creature, a “royal tenant” in God’s wonderful world, so God has the right to tell the man what he can and cannot do. God didn’t ask for Adam’s advice; He simply gave him His commandment.

God had given great honor and privilege to Adam in making him His vice-regent on the earth (1:28), but with privilege always comes responsibility. The same divine Word that brought the universe into being also expresses God’s love and will to Adam and Eve and their descendants (Ps. 33:11). Obedience to this Word would keep them in the sphere of God’s fellowship and approval. All God’s commands are good commands and bring good things to those who obey them (Ps. 119:39; Prov. 6:20–23). “And His commands are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).

God placed two special trees in the middle of the Garden: the Tree of Life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:9, 17; 3:3, 22, 24). Eating from the tree of life would confer immortality (v. 22). Eating from the second tree would confer an experiential knowledge of good and evil, but it would also bring death (2:17). Since they had never experienced evil, Adam and Eve were like innocent children (Deut. 1:39; Isa. 7:15–16). When they disobeyed God, they became like Him in being able to discriminate between good and evil; but they became unlike Him in that they lost their sinlessness and eventually died.

But why did God have to test Adam and Eve? There may be many answers to that question, but one thing is sure: God wanted humans to love and obey Him freely and willingly and not because they were programmed like robots who had to obey. In one sense, God “took a risk” when He made Adam and Eve in His own image and gave them the privilege of choice; but this is the way He ordained for them to learn about freedom and obedience. It’s one of the basic truths of life that obedience brings blessing and disobedience brings judgment.

4. The first marriage (Gen. 2:19–25)

At the close of the sixth day of Creation, God had surveyed everything He had made and pronounced it “very good” (1:31). But now God says that there’s something in His wonderful world that is not good: the man is alone. In fact, in the Hebrew text, the phrase “not good” is at the beginning of the Lord’s statement in 2:18.

What was “not good” about man’s solitude? After all, Adam could fellowship with God, enjoy the beauty of the Garden and eat of its fruits, accomplish his daily work, and even play with the animals. What more could he want? God knew what Adam needed: “a helper suitable for him” (v. 18, niv). There was no such helper among the animals, so God made the first woman and presented her to the man as his wife, companion, and helper. She was God’s special love gift to Adam (3:12).

The dignity of woman (vv. 18–22). The woman was by no means a “lesser creature.” The same God who made Adam also made Eve and created her in His own image (1:27). Both Adam and Eve exercised dominion over Creation (v. 29). Adam was made from the dust, but Eve was made from Adam’s side, bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh (2:23).

The plain fact is that Adam needed Eve. Not a single animal God had created could do for Adam what Eve could do. She was a helper “meet [suitable] for him.” When God paraded the animals before Adam for him to name them, they doubtless came before him in pairs, each with its mate; and perhaps Adam wondered, “Why don’t I have a mate?”

Though Eve was made to be a “suitable [face-to-face] helper” for Adam, she wasn’t made to be a slave. The noted Bible commentator Matthew Henry wrote: “She was not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.” Paul wrote that “the woman is the glory of man” (1 Cor. 11:7, niv); for if man is the head (1 Cor. 11:1–16; Eph. 5:22–33), then woman is the crown that honors the head.

The sanctity of marriage (vv. 23–24). God’s pattern for marriage wasn’t devised by Adam; as the traditional marriage ceremony states it, “Marriage was born in the loving heart of God for the blessing and benefit of mankind.” No matter what the courts may decree, or society may permit, when it comes to marriage, God had the first word and He will have the last word (Heb. 13:4; Rev. 22:15). Perhaps the Lord looks down on many unbiblical marriages today and says, “From the beginning it was not so” (Matt. 19:8). His original plan was that one man and one woman be one flesh for one lifetime.

God had at least four purposes in mind when He performed the first marriage in the Garden of Eden. First, He wanted suitable companionship for Adam, so He gave him a wife. He gave Adam a person and not an animal, someone who was his equal and therefore could understand him and help him. Martin Luther called marriage “a school for character,” and it is. As two people live together in holy matrimony, the experience either brings out the best in them or the worst in them. It’s an opportunity to exercise faith, hope, and love and to mature in sacrifice and service to one another for God’s glory.

Second, marriage provides the God-given right to enjoy sex and have children. The Lord commanded them to “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Gen. 1:28). This doesn’t imply that sexual love is only for procreation, because many people marry who are beyond the time of bearing children; but the bearing of children is an important part of the marriage union (1 Tim. 5:14).

A third purpose for marriage is to encourage self-control (1 Cor. 7:1–7). “It is better to marry than to burn with passion” (v. 9, nkjv). A marriage that’s built only on sexual passion isn’t likely to be strong or mature. Sexual love ought to be enriching and not just exciting, and marriage partners need to respect one another and not just use one another. Throughout Scripture, sexual union outside of marriage is condemned and shown to be destructive, and so are the perversions of the sexual union (Rom. 1:24–27). No matter what the judges or the marriage counselors say, “God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral” (Heb. 13:4, niv).

Finally, marriage is an illustration of the loving and intimate relationship between Christ and His church (Eph. 5:22–33). Paul called this “a great mystery,” that is, a profound spiritual truth that was once hidden but is now revealed by the Spirit. Jesus Christ is the Last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45) and therefore a type of the first Adam.

Adam was put to sleep and his side opened that he might have a wife, but Jesus died on a cross and His blood shed that He might have a bride, the church (John 19:33–37). Christ loves the church, cares for it, and seeks to cleanse it and make it more beautiful for His glory. One day Christ will claim His bride and present her in purity and glory in heaven (Jude 24; Rev. 19:1–9).

When Adam saw his bride, he burst into joyful praise (Gen. 2:23), as though he were saying, “At last I have a suitable companion!” (The niv sets this apart as a poem.) Her identity as “woman” would remind everybody that she was taken out of “man,” and the term “man” would always be a part of “woman.” She was made from him and for him, and he needed her; therefore, they will always belong to each other and lovingly serve each other.

Adam didn’t speak the words recorded in verses 24–25. They are God’s reflection on the event and His enunciation of the principle of marital unity declared by Adam. Woman is one with man both in origin (she came from man) and in marriage. In the sexual union and in their children, the man and woman are “one flesh.” Marriage is a civil relationship, regulated by law, and should be a spiritual relationship and a heart relationship, governed by the Word of God and motivated by love. But marriage is basically a physical relationship. The man and the woman are not primarily “one spirit” or “one heart,” as essential as those things are, but “one flesh.” Hence, the importance of “leaving” the former family and “cleaving” to one’s mate (Eph. 5:30–31), the forming of a new relationship that must be nurtured and protected.

The phrase “one flesh” implies that anything that breaks the physical bond in marriage can also break the marriage itself. One such thing is death; for when one mate dies, the other mate is free to remarry because the marriage bond has been broken (Rom. 7:1–3; 1 Cor. 7:8–9; 1 Tim. 5:14). In Matthew 19:1–9, Jesus teaches that adultery can also break the marriage bond. Under the Old Testament Law, anybody who committed adultery was stoned to death (Deut. 22:22–24; John 8:3–7), thus leaving the innocent mate free to remarry; but this law wasn’t given to the New Testament church. It appears that divorce in the New Testament is the equivalent of death in the Old Testament and that the innocent party is free to remarry. However, sins against the marriage bond can be forgiven and couples can exercise forgiveness and make a new beginning in the Lord.

We live in a world created by God, we are creatures made in the image of God, and we enjoy multiplied blessings from the hand of God. How tragic that so many people leave God out of their lives and become confused wanderers in a unfriendly world, when they could be children of God in their Father’s world.

1 Wiersbe, W. W. (1998). Be basic (pp. 12–13). Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor Pub.