What the World Needs Now
7 The Genesis Conflict - A Day to Be Remembered
[Music] It says in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." And it's interesting that in the original there's a definite article over there in the beginning. In the Hebrew mindset, when there is a definite article, we're talking about a definite beginning in terms of time. So here we have time coming into play. If you read John chapter 1, it says, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God." But in the original there's no definite article there. So in actual fact it reads, "In beginning was the Word." In beginning, no definite article. So in the Hebrew mindset, that beginning is an eternal beginning, a non-specific beginning. So the Word was eternal, it didn't have a specific starting point. Different with the earth, in the beginning, definite article, God created the heaven and the earth. So Genesis is the story of a definite beginning of sorts. For in six days the Lord made the heaven and earth the sea and all that in the midst. And he rested the seventh day, wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. So here was another period of time, the Sabbath day, the seventh day, that was part of the creation week. The Sabbath came at the end of the six days of creation. The Hebrew word day is young and when they are designated ordinal numbers 1, 2, 3, then again we are dealing in the Hebrew mindset with the literal 24-hour period. And the creation had a particular sequence, a particular order. So there is a very definite sequence in the creation week. Day one, day four, light bodies, or light in day one, bodies of light in day four. Day two and day five, filament, filling of the filament. Day three, day six, earth with food, filling the earth. So what we have over here is something quite phenomenal. In the first three days of creation, God creates the spaces. So day one, he creates light. Now God being light in himself, being the author of light, does he need a son in order to have light? Yes or no? No, so God said let there be light and there was light. Only in the fourth day does he actually place bodies to maintain light. Day two, he creates the filament and he splits it into the filament above and the filament below. So he creates the physical space, that's what he does, he creates the physical space. And in the first day, he folds the filament with things that fly and things that swim. Day three, he creates the earth with food. So that's the plant. So the plants are actually a order of life created for the specific purpose of being food. That's what they are. They haven't got blood. So they're not life in the sense of organisms. The Bible says the life is in the blood. They haven't got blood. They haven't got nervous systems. They are food. So day one, day two, day three, he creates the physical spaces. Day four, day five, day six, he folds the physical spaces. Day one, day two, light, day two, filament. Day three, the earth brought forth grass and herb, yielding seed of this kind. And the tree yielding fruit to seed was in itself of this kind. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1 verse 12. Day four, he folds the space of the light with the lesser and the greater light. Day five, he folds the filament with everything that flies. So birds were created on day five. And anything that flies like flying bats and probably insects and things that fly were all created on day five. And on day five, everything that swims. So you have the fish, you have the whales, you have the seals, you have the porpoises, you have everything coming there on day five. Now those are mammals. According to the evolution theory, they should have evolved in the next period of time because mammals are the last thing to have evolved and they would secondarily have gone back to the sea. But here you have the whales and the porpoises and everything there before the land mammals. Very interesting. What is also interesting is that there is no intermediary fossil between any land animal and an animal in this water. When they appear they are fully formed. So day five, the filament above the atmosphere, the filament below the ocean is filled, the physical space is filled. Day six, the earth with food, the dry land with all the plants on it is filled with all the animals on this planet. And then God says the following. And God said, let us make man in our image. After our likeness and let them have dominion over the fission of the sea and over the fowls of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Genesis 1 was 26. This is at the end of the sixth day. Male and female he created them and God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply. And then this interesting word, re, planish, the earth, subdue it, have dominion over the fish of the sea and all these things. So God here creates an order of being that stands apart in his creation. Never before, as I read it, had there been such an order of being. And thus the heaven and the earth were finished and all the hosts of them, Genesis 2, verse 1. And, verse 2 says, and on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made. And he rested the word is Shabbat, rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. Question was God tired? God wasn't tired. Was Adam tired? Well, Adam had worked a little bit, he'd named all the animals, isn't that right? Eve was she tired? She hadn't done a stitch of work. Nothing. And in fact, she was created just before bedtime. So she couldn't have been tired, is that right? So on the seventh day were any of them tired? None of them were tired. And yet the Bible says he rested, who rested? God, my Bible says he never slumbers nor sleeps. He maintains all things with his powerful right hand. Nothing exists without him. We move and breathe and have our being in him. Doesn't he maintain us all the time? So he's never tired. So what is this rest all about? Day one, day two, day three, he creates spaces. Day three, day four, day five, day six, he folds the spaces. And then he sits outside another space of time, the seventh day. And what is he going to fill it with? Because that's the order of creation. What is he going to fill it with? He folds it with himself. That's what the gift of the Sabbath is all about. Now why was it necessary to fill a special portion of time set apart with himself? To have communication with his creation? The angels in heaven, before there was this creation, do you think they kept the Sabbath? I hear so many yeses. I would like to suggest no. The Sabbath was created for man, not man for the Sabbath. The Sabbath was created at the end of the creation week. It was created after man had been created. Is that right? It is the seventh day of the creation week. Angels always had access, unlimited access to God. But here was a new order of being, a totally different order of being. And God blessed the seventh day. And he sanctified it because in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. All his work. God rested from all his work. This is fascinating stuff. What was going on here? What was God in need of restful? What was happening in this universe? Key questions. Who created? Why did he create? How many young people asked the question? What am I here for? How many young people asked the question or say, "I didn't ask to be here." "I didn't ask to be here." You take care of it. I don't care. I didn't ask to be here. What have I got to do with Adam and Eve? How many young people asked that? Why in six days? Why put in a sequence of time in the beginning? Start the stopwatch. Time. Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock. Why bring in time? All of a sudden. What is the significance of the seventh day Sabbath? Well, the Bible says he's spoken. It was done. He commanded and it stood fast. Psalm 33 verse 9. But that doesn't tell us who created it. It just says God created. So you have to go a little bit deeper. Hebrews 1 verse 1 and 2. God who had sundry times and in diverse men had spoke in times passed unto the fathers by the prophets. Hasn't these last days spoken unto us by his son? whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom he also made the worlds. So who is the creator? It's the son, Ephesians 3 verse 9. And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the world has been hidden God who created all things by Jesus Christ. So who created the Sabbath? Jesus created the Sabbath. So Jesus is the creator. And if we go a little bit further into John 1, it says there in the beginning. And remember I've dealt with this before. It's not the beginning in the original. In beginning. Timeless. Jesus was the creator. He is God. He is from all eternity. In beginning means very mystic beginning of no end, no definite time period. Was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. All things were made by Him. And without Him was not anything made that was made. He was in the world and the world was made by Him. And the world knew in not and the word was made flesh. Who was the creator? Jesus was the creator. 1 Corinthians 8, 6, but to us there is but one God, the father of whom are all things and we in Him and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things and we by Him. Jesus created man in the image of God. Looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearance of the great God in our saviour, Jesus Christ. So Jesus is the God who spoke. And Revelation says, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." Okay, clue. Why was everything created? For the pleasure of God and for this community that comes with it because it says there, he is worthy. So all things were created for God, by God. And does that include the angels? It certainly does. But the Bible tells us that there was rebellion in heaven. The Bible tells us that there was a war in heaven. The Bible tells us that there was a great catastrophe because at one point there was a major upheaval. Isaiah 14, verse 13 and 14 says, "Thou hast said in my heart I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, above the angels. I will be like the Most High." Now what was that all about? And then we go back to Genesis. Let me give you a scenario. When God speaks angels into existence, he speaks and they stand fast. If God wants a billion angels, he speaks and there are a billion angels. But if we go to Genesis it says, "And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created him, male and female created him." Did God ever create male and female angels? No? Okay. And God said, "Let us make man in our image after our likeness." Now the angels were in the likeness of God and they were in the image of God. They didn't have a lower capacity or anything like that, but here was definitely something new going on. And then he said, "Let him make man in our image in our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing. To which of the angels had God ever said have dominion?" To none of them. To none of the angels God had ever said have dominion. And God blessed them and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply to which of the angels had God ever said, be fruitful and multiply." None of them? Wow. Subdue it, replenish the earth, replenish. That means stock up again. If your pantry is empty and you replenish it, what do you do? Is it possible that this new order of being was being created and put into existence to replenish the universe? That angels that had lost their position and fallen from heaven were to be replaced by this new order of being? And that God was reaching out to His creation in a very special sense because He was being misunderstood at the level of His creation. The angelic host under this mighty angel Lucifer had looked at the Godhead and seen Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, part of the Godhood before He came to this earth. He had mingled with the angels like one of them, nothing different. He was, however, in the fullest sense God and taken up into the counsel of God to the exclusion of all the heavenly hosts. And Lucifer was the choir leader. He was the organizer. He was the one who ran the show. And when the angelic host appeared before the Almighty, everybody bowed down in adoration to the Son of God. And Lucifer eventually had it up to here. And he said, "What is this? I'll just give you around here. I do the work. I run the choir. I organize everything." And everybody bows down to Him. What's the difference between Him and Me? In the image, I look like Him. I'm just like Him. I can do what He can do, but He's taken into the counsel of the Godhood, and I'm not. And what is more, everybody obeys bow down, bow down, bow down. I've had it. I've had it up to here. I want to be like Him. I see no difference. Isn't that what was happening? And He was saying to Himself, now hang on a second, all these rules and regulations, there must be no other important being except God. And God, seeing this mindset developing, takes counsel and decides to create a new order of being to meet the greatest crisis this universe had ever had to face. God creates an order of being that would understand the mindset of God more than any creature that had ever been created by Him. He was going to share His ultimate gift with this new creation, the capacity to bring forth life and the capacity to rule like a creator. That meant a totally new ball game, a new planet, a new creative planet, where man would have the capacity to play up this role of a creative being. When you bring forth children, how much care do you place in their upbringing? Lots. Now if your little kid grows up and starts playing with the ball and says, "Mom, I'm going to play on the highway with my ball." And you say to the child, "Nah, nah, there's a rule around here. You don't play with a ball on the highway." And the child says, "Mom, you haven't seen how fast I am. I dance those cars like nothing. I'm so fast, nothing's going to happen to me. I'm off to the highway." And mom goes, "Excuse me, hello there. You're not going on to the highway, am too." And you say, "You're not going on to the highway, I can." And off goes the child. What happens? What does the parent eventually do? Well, sorts out the top by modifying the bottom, isn't that right? Is that correct or not? All right, why? Because with the mindset of someone in charge with the care of the offspring, you understand what the dangers are that they don't see. Is that correct? Now, God created his beings with the greatest gift that he could endow them with. And that was the gift of the freedom of choice. Without the freedom of choice, we would be puppets. Imagine my wife was programmed to love me and to obey me. What a blissful thought. Just imagine it. And for 50,000 years, they know being no sin and no death and know nothing. Every morning, she gets up and says, "I love you." After 50,000 years, you would say, "Enough already, will you belt up?" But if she has freedom of choice and with all my faults and all my mistakes, she still comes to me and says, "You know what? I still love you." Would I ever get tired of that? Never! Even if it went on for 50,000 years, I would never tire of that thought. Freedom of choice is the greatest gift that God has ever given his creation. We are not puppets, we are something special. But when God created it, he knew that things could go wrong. But he was prepared to carry the consequences himself. And so he said, "Be fruitful and multiply," which he had said to none of the angels. Replenish the earth, replace that which has fallen. Subdue it, have dominion, rule like I rule. And Lucifer looked at this creation and he knew what was happening. He knew God was doing something new. God was creating a being more in the image in terms not of brain capacity or anything like that. But in terms of sharing the creative capacity of God, then he was all struck. And he knew that this order of being was being created to expose his hypocrisy. And he knew that this order of being was going to one day be the means to put sin to an end in a sense as well because they would judge even angels. Doesn't the Bible say that man will judge angels? Because from the mindset of a creator, we would be able to see that. If you go to Psalms 8, it says there, "O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth who has set thy glory above the heavens and out of the mouth and babes and sucklings, has ordained strength." Why? Because of thy enemies. That thou might stole the enemy and the avenger. So human beings speaking above God are there to shut the mouth of the enemy. Who's the enemy? Satan. When I consider the heavens the work of thy fingers, the moon, the stars, which thou had then, what is man that thou art mindful of him? And we've always read this like this. When I consider the greatness of the heavens, what is this man will that you even bother with us? Isn't that right? Some afterthought, some creation down here, some side issue. It doesn't say that. It says, "What is man? What is so important about man that the God of the universe is so mindful of him?" Let's prove that. For thou has made him a little lower than the angels. The word there in the original is Elohim, which is God. Thou has made him a little lower than God. Some translations actually have it that way. And has crowned him with glory and honor. Does that sound like a worm? Something that's crowned with glory and honor. Is it a worm? No. And has made him to have dominion. And with the works of their hand and has put all things under his feet. Does that sound like a worm? Here was a new order of being, something the universe had never experienced before. You are not worms, lift up your heads, you are sons and daughters of God. All things under his feet. And then, unfortunately because there was a crisis, again there had to be a test. There had to be a test. But Genesis 2, verse 9 says, "And out of the ground made the Lord grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." And God saw everything that he had made and behold it was very good and the evening and the morning were, let me finish that for you, the sixth day. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And it says, "And God blessed the seventh day and he sanctified it and he rested." Now let's go into this rest. The word there is Shabbat to desist, to cease from work, to cease from your labor. And he said unto them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man, for the Sabbath." In six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth and on the seventh day he's rested and he was refreshed. What does that mean? Well the Hebrew there is nafash. Let's see what it means. Let's go to the strong's concordance. It says there to breathe, to pass, to be breathed upon, refresh. That was as old as breathing but about. When did God breathe the breath of life into them? On the sixth day. So what was he breathing here? What was God doing on the seventh day that he breathed? Even these may forget but I will not forget you. Behold I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands as I have 49. Let me give you a scenario. Here is this new creation. It's going to be a creative being. It's going to work like God in the sense that it has control and management of a universe type setup. It is also a creative being. There is not a human being that's not creative. That doesn't want to do things that are creative. Much more in the image in terms of the creator aspect, not in terms of the greatness there are for mental capacity or any one of those. Just in terms of the mindset of a creator, this new being. And this new being is here for a purpose. God is going to prove to the universe through this being that if you think like a creator then his government is actually fair. You must have rules, you must have boundaries and you must have certain conditions in order to be happy. The devil says no I don't need rules, I don't need boundaries, I don't need certain conditions and I hate what you have created over there. Especially there is a reproduction because that's going to replace me. And he says and what are you going to do? You are going to make yourself great in front of them and what about me? If I could tell you what I really think about you and if I could inform Adam and Eve they would never serve you. God says okay, there will be a test. You can access them at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. By the way was the Sabbath a test of obedience in Eden? Yes or no? I hear a bit of both. The answer is no. Never was it a test of obedience in Eden, what was the test of obedience in Eden? The tree, that was the test of obedience, the tree. In fact you couldn't have kept Adam and Eve away from that first Sabbath with ten wild horses. Do you believe me? Alright let's assume. Alright I'm going to put you in a spot man. Who of you has been in love? And if you're sitting next to your wife you better put your hands up or else you're going to get clobbered. Alright so very many here have been in love. Alright let's clobber you again. How many of you are still in love? Alright great. But you remember that first love? That first time you met can you imagine that shaking feeling and the boots that one that you don't really know what to say so you say nothing? Do you remember that one? Or whatever you say comes out wrong anyway so you don't say anything? Now imagine this you have this love of your life you've met this love of your life and this love of your life is you met her at camp meeting whatever. And off she goes to her respective city and then one day you get a telephone call. Are you excited when you get the telephone call? Sure telephone call is great is as good as the real thing though. No alright and then a friend comes to visit and a friend says hey I've got news for you from so and so. She says so and so and so is that exciting? Sure is it as good as the real thing? Nope. So the telephone call is prayer and the friend coming to visit is an angel telling you about the creator. God says to the devil okay I will give them space to do what they like in the cool of the day like you you can also meet in the day with them at the trees and what have you. And on the Sabbath I have set aside time for them. I will meet on the Sabbath with them and they can be with me and I with them and after a period of test and trial the test will come to an end and it will stop. But up until that time you have access at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now you get a phone call which says from this loved one of yours I'm coming I'm coming to visit you Wednesday pick me up at seven o'clock I'm coming with this in this plane at the airport. What time are you up to fetch her? You're up long before there and you're at the airport grumbling that the airplane is on time right? Why doesn't it come early am I right? And this individual comes off the airplane and you rush towards each other and you grab each other and you both have the same feeling for each other and you look in each other's eyes and you say It's worth it. That's what God did on the Sabbath. He took his new creation and he knew he was going to die because of them. But he looked at them and he said he breathed. It's worth it. That's what the Sabbath is about. It is about a love relationship with God filling that space of time with God. Now imagine she says I will arrive at seven o'clock on Wednesday and you say it's okay I'll pick you up on Thursday. Does that make any sense? It doesn't make much sense at all. And if you do come together with her and you do go into the same brace do you then say nice of you to be here but today is the big game please don't bug me I have to watch it. Do you do it or not? Or do you say I've just received my new Time magazine and I really am very interested in it and please don't talk to me I'm reading it. Do you do that? No. What is this day all about? You couldn't care less about who's going to win the big game because this is the biggest game that has ever happened in your life. Your knees are gone, your mind is gone and all you can do is say is that right? That's the Sabbath. You must call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord's Day honorable. Not doing your own things but love relationship. That's the Sabbath. Not sleeping and saying oh I'm going to pick up this girl she's arriving at seven hours. I'm going to sleep another hour. You should focus. No, no. Up, up. That's what you do on the Sabbath day. When Jesus looked at his creation he knew that he would find ultimate rest from what? From the war in his universe. When he looked at this couple and he went it's worth it. And if I am lifted from the earth I will draw all to myself. He created them with the capacity to choose. Thank God for that. I would hate to serve God because I had no choice. I want to serve him because I want to. No wonder this one was so angry. No wonder he went ballistic. Did God really say you must not eat from the tree in the garden? We may eat from the tree from the trees in the garden but God did say we must not eat it. We must not touch it or we will die. Do you remember that Genesis? You will surely not die. You will be like God. That's what he said. And Eve looked at this and she was mesmerized and she thought wow that's great. I can be like God. And she took it and she ate it. And that's when sin came into the world. Now whoever commits transgression also the law for sin is transgression of the law. She broke the law. She coveted the position of God. That's breaking the commandments. We sometimes ask ourselves the 10 commandments. Are they part of the character of God? Of course they are part of the character of God. Were they codified? Thou shalt not. Thou shalt not. Thou shalt not. Thou shalt not. I don't think so. Not from the beginning. They were part of the character of God but they are now in a special condition to meet the needs of fallen mankind. And you know God gets the blame for everything that goes wrong. God is not to blame. God is not to blame. Sin is to blame. Satan is to blame. Not God is to blame. Let me give you a parable. It might sound like a silly parable but let's run through this. Let's say you have a little child and the child comes to you one day and says Daddy Daddy may I have a puppy dog? And you say hmm okay you can have a puppy dog. Give you a little child a puppy dog. And you go out one night evening to the neighbors to have a chat you come back the puppy dog's dead. Blood all over the walls it's hacked to pieces. You say to your child what's going on here? What happened here? And the child says well I told the dog to bark and it wouldn't bark so I hit him and he bit me and so I killed him and I chopped him up. What would you do? You would freak wouldn't you? You would freak. You would take your kid to every psychiatrist that you can imagine. You say oh where did I go wrong with this child and you go totally crazy is that right? Mother would cry for weeks. Is that right? That's what would happen. Let's say your child rehabilitates and everything is fine the child totally recovers. Perfect again normal. One day the child comes back to you and says Dad may I have a puppy dog? Who? How do you feel? You would say okay let me tell you something you can have a puppy dog but thou shalt not chop its head off. Thou shalt not beat it to a pop. Thou shalt not smear its blood all over the walls. Isn't that right? Now imagine that first time the child comes to you in excitement none of this has happened and says Daddy can I have a puppy dog please? And you said thou shalt not do this and thou shalt not do this. The kid would look at you and say mom my dad needs a psychiatrist. Was the man with him? Is he bonkers? So the law is codified to meet a crisis. Do you understand how it works? So we have the law it's part of the character of God. Of course you don't want to kill the puppy dog. Of course you don't want to smear his blood all over the wall but it's there to meet a special crisis. That's why the law is codified. When you offer yourselves to obey someone as slaves you become a slave to the one that you obey Romans 6 verse 16. So we had rebellion on earth. Terrible. Let's take that scenario further. Let's say the kid grows up and he's bad all the way through and he goes into the world and he becomes a terrorist. And all you hear in the news is that he's blowing pieces of people. He's blowing people to bits. And he's got a brother and he used to get on well with his brother and what have you but this kid is totally way off the wall. And one day the cops phoned you and they say we've got your son trapped in a big building and he's taken 300 hostages and he's threatening to kill them one by one and throw them out of the window from the 50th floor. And we really need some help. Could you please come around and talk some sense into your father as a father into this child? And you say you know what? You won't listen to me anymore but maybe you'll listen to his brother. Maybe you'll listen to his older brother. They used to get along once upon a time. They used to actually love each other once upon a time. I'll send my son. And the son goes and he goes to the cops and he goes into the building, goes up to the floor and he tries to reason. And then this rebel brother grabs him, beats him to a pulp, eventually smashes his face and whips him that his entrails hang out and he nails him to a cross and hangs him out on the 50th floor for the world to see. Wow. And there he dies. And the father says, send in the SWAT team. But before you send it in, one thing, let's try and save the hostages as many as we can. Does the parable make sense? So when God intervenes to send in the SWAT team at the end of time, you can be sure that every single one of the hostages will have been set free that could have been set free. Rebellion on earth will come to an end. The wages of sin is death. But the Lord is the one who covers us with righteousness. He made skins and clothed them. Transgression of the law is violation of any law according to Webster's dictionary. So we have lost everything as a consequence. And we have two groups of people on this planet. The one is the group of Cain that says, I shall be saved by my works. And I don't care about anything else. I am selfish. It's me, me and me alone. And the other group says, I will rely on the merits of my Savior who has promised to save me. Where there is no law, there is no transgression. So did Adam and Eve have a law? Yes or no. They must have been a law. They must have been a law. And then the dragon was cast out after all this war, the Bible says, and he was cast down to the earth. And here he is. Angry, having taken the world hostage and the Lord destroys the planet before the final hostages are also destroyed. So we have a flood. And then he calls a new one, Abraham. And Abraham kept his commandments and his statutes and his laws that says in Genesis 26. And then again the law codified is given to Moses. Don't read the 10 commandments, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not bring false testimony, thou shalt not commit adultery. No, no, no, don't read the law like that. If you are converted to Christ, you must read the law, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, but even come into your head, thou shalt not steal, steal, never. Do you understand? It's not a thou shalt not. It's what shall be your mindset if you love God. The works of his hands are verily and judgment and his commandments of sure, and the Lord is compassionate and his kind and his long suffering. These are the attributes of God. And he maintains love to thousands. So what is our duty now? To stand in the breach and to rectify to a world a misconception on the character of God. God's people must stand like a rock speaking for the character of God, because Jesus never forced anyone. He says, when I be lifted up, I will draw people to me. The devil is the one that forces, the devil is the one that coerces, the devil is the one that hates, God is the one that loves, he never ever forces. So the law of the Lord is perfect. Now what about the Sabbath? All of a sudden, the test in Eden with the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil is over. Adam and Eve are driven out of the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden is withdrawn, and it's now planted in the New Jerusalem, waiting for the redeemed. What becomes the new test of obedience? The Sabbath. Remember the Sabbath. What does that mean? Remember how we were in the beginning. How many couples, after a couple of years of marriage, get to this point, where the one says to the other, what has happened to us? Remember what it was like when we loved each other. Isn't that right? And the Sabbath God calls his people and he says, let us be refreshed together again. Let us feel that first love. The Sabbath is not a commandment of thou shalt. It's a commandment of think upon these things. Remember what God is all about. Remember that he rested. Now, the Sabbath becomes a sign that God is the one who sanctifies. It is the sign between me and you that you may know that I am the Lord your God. So it becomes the great perpetual covenant, Exodus 31, 16. So the Sabbath becomes the ultimate test. It wasn't the Jewish Sabbath when was it created. At the end of the six days, it is a special day. Put aside for man. It has become such a memorial of Confederacy with God that it will stand for all eternity and angels will also keep the Sabbath. Because in the beginning, angels had 24-hour access to God and time was not an issue. They were living in eternity. But now time tick tock, tick tock. It is a sign between me and the children forever because it was refreshed. Remember, a sign is a marker signal and to be refreshed is to have this ha experience. And then what happened? The children of Israel were under the control of the enemy. The one who controls and forces and co-erses. And here they were. Afterwards Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, "Thus says the Lord God Israel, let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness." And Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? I don't know him. I don't care about God." Listen to what happened. And the king of Egypt said unto them, "Wherefore do ye Moses and Aaron let the people from their works get you unto your burdens." And Pharaoh said, this is Exodus 5, verse 4 and 5. Notice what he says. Pharaoh said, "Behold, the people of the land now are many." And ye, Moses, ye make them rest. The word there is Shabbat's. What did Moses make them do? He made them keep the Sabbath. Wow. And what did it do to? Pharaoh? It made him angry. He said, double their burdens. They will not keep the Sabbath. So what did he do? He created a law which says, "Thou shalt not keep the Sabbath day." And I will force you not to keep the Sabbath day. And so God's people no longer were free to keep the Sabbath and show which one they choose for allegiance. So there was a Sabbath law. And when God's people cannot be obedient according to their choice, God intervenes. It's the same word as He's used in the Genesis account. And God intervenes and He destroys the enemy. And He brought His people out with joy and He gave them the land of the heathens and inheritance that they may observe His statutes and keep His laws. Praise the Lord. So when God intervenes, you must know that it is because the enemy has prevented honor and glory to God. And the Sabbath is a sign. And long before, while they were still walking towards Mount Sinai, He gave this interesting test. And each day you will gather the manner. We read all about this in Exodus 16. Six days you are to gather it, but the seventh day the Sabbath there will not be any. Bear in mind that the Lord gave you the Sabbath. And that is why on the sixth day He gives you bread for two days. So God created a miracle. Exodus 16, 26 says, "Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day there shall be none." So the Sabbath is brought up again in all its glory. Sabbath was created in Eden. And at the end of time the Sabbath will be the issue which will determine who your allegiance is with. When you know that she said, or he said, "I will be there on the seventh day." You don't go on the first day, the third day, the fifth day. You cannot wait to be there to say, "Huh, it makes sense? Turn your foot from the Sabbath, not doing your own pleasure. Why does the Bible have so few commands as to how to keep the Sabbath?" Very few. It says, "Do not miss out on the assembly of the saints." It says, "You must call it a delight, not doing your own things, honoring it. You shall delight yourself in the Lord." Two people with two different ideologies and mindsets can keep the Sabbath totally differently. There are certain basic rules. You must keep confederacy with God's people, not doing your own pleasure and not talking about your own things. Never mind the game. Never mind the time magazine. You are spending time with the one that you love. But the nuclear physicist and the artistic one can spend it totally different. And we must not judge each other as we often do and say, "I wonder whether that is lawful on the Sabbath." "Huh, I wonder whether that is lawful on the Sabbath." You know, the one likes birds, the other one likes fish. You know, the old argument? We're all different. But there are certain guidelines. "The sons of the strangers, everybody," says the Bible, "who will keep my Sabbath, will come to my holy mountain." So the Sabbath is a day of rest. It is a day of blessing. It is a day of peace. It's a sign. It's a memorial to creation. It's a symbol of sanctification. It's a hallowed day and it's a perpetual covenant. It will be maintained forever and ever and ever. Because if we keep His commandments, our peace will be like the river. Our relationship with God will be restored. And if we had a heart that we would keep His commandments, we would have peace forever, says Deuteronomy 5. It is a sign that we are sanctified by Him. And God sent His Son into the world not to condemn it, but to redeem it. And He says, "Since the children have flesh and blood, He's shared in their humanity, He was exactly like us." Isn't this incredible? God again reaches out to His creation and He becomes like them. Unbelievable. It boggles the mind. And everybody looks around the Pharisees and says, "Huh, who are you that we should be mindful of?" If you look at you, you're not even a letter. You don't even have any education. Who are you? You look like one of us. And here you want to be a big preacher? What's the matter with you? Didn't they do that? Jesus did nothing to attract attention. This is His character. Remember this. He came to this world and He did good. He lifted up the poor. He spoke an encouraging word. He was kind. He was gentle. He was long-suffering. He never forced anyone. He never coerced anyone. And when they finally slaughtered Him for that, He was led like a lamb to the slaughter and He didn't open His mouth. What a God to serve. One day, I would like to stand before Him. Take the crown that He will give each one of His children. Throw it at His feet and say, "Lord, I want to bow my knee." Not because you've forced me like the devil thought. Not because "bow down, bow down." No, because I want to. Serving a character like yours. A God with a character like yours will be my pleasure. That is the mindset that we have to tell the world. Jesus never came to destroy the law, Matthew 5-17. Until heaven and earth pass, it will always be there. It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than one stroke of a pin to fall out of the law. Jesus kept His Father's commandments because that's the only way we will ever have peace on this planet. And we are saved by grace, not by doing His will. We are saved because He saved us and we do His will because we want to. It's the only logical way for the universe. Do we make void the law through faith? Of course not. What happens to the devil? One day, God will send in the SWAT team when every single captive that possibly wants to be saved will be set free. It will be in sad situation because many will join the terrorist, but God says I will destroy the uncovering cherub. Therefore, I will bring forth a fire in the midst of the initial devour, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth. God will send in the SWAT team, but those who love His commandments and obey Him will know that they are not burdensome, and we know that Jesus will help us. I will help thee, I will uphold thee with my right hand of my righteousness. Let us represent the character of God to a fallen world. Let us change the mindset of the youth. I did not come here. I didn't ask to be here. Let us tell them who they are, sons and daughters of God, created in the image of God, created to even take the place of angels. And let us stand for what is right. Let us not listen to the voice which says I will pervert the Sabbath. I will pervert the creative act of man, the bringing forth of children. I will pervert the marriage relationship. I will destroy it. Those are the two pet hates that he has because both of them reveal his character in relation to the character of God. Let us go back to the Bible. Let us ask the Lord prayerfully to show us what the real intention for the creation of man was, so that we can lift our heads and say, "This is our God. We have waited for him." Amen. [MUSIC]