Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made (Genesis 2:3, NKJV throughout).
We live in a world that seems to be spinning faster as sunrise and sunset rise and fall before us with ever-increasing speed.
In the midst of full days and restless nights, God calls us to rhythm and renewal. From the beginning this was God’s design. “In the beginning” God created, and on the seventh day He rested (Genesis 1:1; 2:2). So important was this paradigm that God did something unusual and unexpected: Out of seven, He sanctified one.
We read, “God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it” (2:3). The seventh day became God’s day of rest — and was declared sacred (Exodus 20:10). Six days were good; one day was made holy.
As God’s revelation in redemption history unfolded, His sacred Sabbath of rest enjoined both the gathering and worship of the people of God
(Isaiah 58:13; Leviticus 23:3; Acts 17:2). Rest, rhythm, renewal, and relationship, expressed through gathering and worship, were the divine order.
This aligns well with the fourth of our ten critical vision points: Sabbath Celebrating. Since our inception as an assembly of believers and a fellowship of churches, commitment to the divine order in worship has served as a foundational mark of who we are in Christ. Far from obsolete under the new covenant, Sabbath is both primal and eternal (Isaiah 66:23), both a gift for the present (Mark 2:27) and a perpetual, recognitional act of worship by the saints in honor of the God who is (Revelation 4:8, 11).
Far from dimming, Sabbath celebration shines brightly: guiding our souls to rest, our communities to fellowship, and our hearts to worship — remembering both Creator and creation. Far from abandonment, the holy church of Christ must defend, teach, and hold to this gift, and she must stand among those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ (Revelation 14:12). By His grace, may it be so!
Greg Lincoln
GC President
