God 'ceased work' because His work was finished. He did not need to 'rest'
“[T]he [ETERNAL] hath given you the Sabbath.” Nowhere in all God’s Word
can you find any statement that “The Eternal hath given you Sunday.”
“For by him [Christ] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth,
visible and invisible …. And he is the head of the body, the church …”(Colossians 1:16, 18).
The Sabbath was made by Jesus Christ for man, and He said plainly that
He is Lord also of the Sabbath!
It was made for mankind, not just for the jews but[ all flesh] even animals.
On the seventh day He MADE THE SABBATH! But the Sabbath was made, not by work,
but by rest. What He ended on the seventh day was the work of creation—that which was
created by work! On the seventh day He rested! He created the Sabbath by resting.
Was He so fatigued He was forced to stop and rest?
Positively not, for God “fainteth not, neither is weary”! (Isaiah 40:28).
Yet, this was a real rest, because in Exodus 31:17 it is written: “…
in six days the Lord [Christ] made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested,
and was refreshed.” Since
He was “refreshed” by this rest, it was a real rest.
Yet He was not tired or weary! Why did He rest? To put His divine presence in that day!
He made the Sabbath day by resting, whereas He had made all other things by working!
Notice further! Also He “blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it”!
What does “sanctified” mean? Look in your dictionary.
It means “set apart, for holy use or purpose.” He set apart this day
from other days—set it apart for holy use—for a day of physical
rest, in which His people may assemble and worship God!
Therefore what God did—and God did it by Christ—was to make future TIME holy!
No man has power to make anything holy. God alone is holy—or whatever God has
made holy! No group or organization of men has authority to make future time holy!
Gods presence is Holy
“Moses! Moses!” called God, “… put off thy shoes from off thy feet,
for the place whereon thou standest is HOLY GROUND” (Exodus 3:2-5).
The ground a mile away was not holy. Why did it make any difference whether Moses
took off his shoes—or where? Here is why! The ground where he then stood was holy .
He was required, by God, to treat holy ground with a respect he did not treat other ground.
And why? Well, what made that particular bit of ground holy?
God’s very presence was in that ground! God is holy !
God’s presence in that bush made the ground around it holy!
In the very same manner, God’s presence is in His Sabbath.
He rested on that first Sabbath to put His presence in that day!
This made it holy time! Four thousand years later, when this same “Logos,” or “Word,”
was made flesh—when He came as Jesus Christ in the human flesh—
He was still putting His presence in that same weekly recurring Sabbath—
He went into the synagogues as His custom was!
