The seventh day of crea\u00adti\u00adon is far more than just a day of rest. God crea\u00adted it as a day of bles\u00adsing for a spe\u00adcial pur\u00adpo\u00adse. The Sab\u00adbath day, is not real\u00adly a com\u00admandment, but a pri\u00advi\u00adle\u00adged sacred time we are allo\u00adwed to spend with our Crea\u00adtor. It is from this sacred time with God that our life of faith comes alive. <\/p>\n
When I flew to Cana\u00adda to stu\u00addy theo\u00adlo\u00adgy, I expec\u00adted this wes\u00adtern coun\u00adtry to have a very simi\u00adlar cul\u00adtu\u00adre to that of Switz\u00ader\u00adland. But far from it. I was also sur\u00adpri\u00adsed by the hea\u00adted deba\u00adtes about which is the only cor\u00adrect trans\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon of the Bible. Some Chris\u00adti\u00adans belie\u00adve that the\u00adre is only one legi\u00adti\u00adma\u00adte trans\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon, the \u00abKing James Ver\u00adsi\u00adon\u00bb. The KJV<\/span> is writ\u00adten in very old-fashio\u00adned Eng\u00adlish and stands out among others with expres\u00adsi\u00adons like \u00abthou\u00bb and \u00abthee\u00bb. God is addres\u00adsed with the\u00adse old forms of poli\u00adten\u00adess. I could not under\u00adstand why Chris\u00adti\u00adans are so obses\u00adsed with a sin\u00adgle trans\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon of the Bible. It was clear to me that the ori\u00adgi\u00adnal texts were writ\u00adten in Hebrew or Greek and not in English.<\/p>\n A few years later, I noti\u00adced that for many young Chris\u00adti\u00adans, God is just a bud\u00addy. God is very per\u00adso\u00adnal and clo\u00adse, but he is much big\u00adger. I fol\u00adlo\u00adwed the ques\u00adti\u00adon of whe\u00adre God\u2019s great\u00adness and holi\u00adne\u00adss had gone and won\u00adde\u00adred what had beco\u00adme of the almigh\u00adty, hono\u00adura\u00adble God. In my search, I noti\u00adced that the King James Bible rea\u00adders have a big\u00adger pic\u00adtu\u00adre of God. They hold God in gre\u00adat honour, to them He is the gre\u00adat, migh\u00adty, strong El Elo\u00adhim to be respec\u00adted. He is not just a bud\u00addy who has our best inte\u00adrests at heart. <\/p>\n I have expe\u00adri\u00aden\u00adced first-hand what lan\u00adguage does. Many stu\u00addies show that our lan\u00adguage stron\u00adgly influen\u00adces our cul\u00adtu\u00adre. The\u00adre is a say\u00ading in Eng\u00adlish: \u00abchan\u00adge the lan\u00adguage \u2013 chan\u00adge the cul\u00adtu\u00adre\u00bb. In Ger\u00adman, if you chan\u00adge the lan\u00adguage, you chan\u00adge the cul\u00adtu\u00adre. For this reason it is very important that we under\u00adstand the Bible cor\u00adrect\u00adly in its basic lan\u00adguage. Pas\u00adtor Mat\u00adthi\u00adas said at the begin\u00adning of the year that we as see\u00adtal chi\u00adle want to dive deeper into our faith this year. We don\u2019t just want a super\u00adfi\u00adci\u00adal, evan\u00adge\u00adli\u00adcal faith, but a holi\u00adstic sub\u00ads\u00adtance from the Bible. And this is exact\u00adly what we want to do with our Bible text this morning. <\/p>\n The seventh day of creation<\/p>\n We in the see\u00adtal chi\u00adle have star\u00adted the year with crea\u00adti\u00adon and have rea\u00adched the 7th day. In today\u2019s text we read: \u00abAnd so on the seventh day God finis\u00adhed his works which he had made, and res\u00adted on the seventh day from all his works which he had made. And God bles\u00adsed the seventh day and sanc\u00adti\u00adfied it, becau\u00adse on it he res\u00adted from all his works which God had crea\u00adted and made\u00bb (Gene\u00adsis 2:2\u20134 LU17<\/span>) God com\u00adple\u00adted his crea\u00adti\u00adon on the seventh day. Fur\u00adther on in the text we read that he res\u00adted on the seventh day. When I read this, I per\u00adso\u00adnal\u00adly have a theo\u00adlo\u00adgi\u00adcal pro\u00adblem. The ques\u00adti\u00adon ari\u00adses for me: Was the Almigh\u00adty God tired, that he nee\u00added a rest? The ans\u00adwer to this in the book of Isai\u00adah is \u00abno\u00bb (Isai\u00adah 40:28), but then how are we to under\u00adstand this text? <\/p>\n To inves\u00adti\u00adga\u00adte this, we ana\u00adly\u00adse the Hebrew word trans\u00adla\u00adted as \u00abres\u00adted\u00bb. It is the extre\u00adme\u00adly inte\u00adres\u00adt\u00ading expres\u00adsi\u00adon \u00abSab\u00adbath\u00bb (Sbt). After careful rese\u00adarch, I came to the con\u00adclu\u00adsi\u00adon that in this pas\u00adsa\u00adge \u00abto rest\u00bb could be trans\u00adla\u00adted as \u00abto cea\u00adse\u00bb. In other words, God was finis\u00adhed with crea\u00adti\u00adon (crea\u00adtio) and stop\u00adped. This helps us to under\u00adstand God. But much more important than God cea\u00adsing is that he made a seventh day, and bles\u00adsed and sanc\u00adti\u00adfied it. God bles\u00adsed it, so it is a day to bring bles\u00adsing. He sanc\u00adti\u00adfied it, that is: He set it apart, put it on its side and gave it a spe\u00adcial mea\u00adning. In the Old Tes\u00adta\u00adment we can see this spe\u00adcial meaning.<\/p>\n After God res\u00adcued the Israe\u00adli\u00adtes from their slavery, He gave them the Sab\u00adbath (Ex 31:17) as a sign of the coven\u00adant (con\u00adtract), a land\u00admark that they were the cho\u00adsen peo\u00adp\u00adle. By exten\u00adsi\u00adon, the Sab\u00adbath was a day to remem\u00adber the migh\u00adty acts of God. They (the Israe\u00adli\u00adtes) were never to for\u00adget what God had done for them. Every seventh day they were to remem\u00adber. We read: \u00abFor you shall remem\u00adber that you too were a ser\u00advant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord your God brought you out from the\u00adre with a migh\u00adty hand and an outstret\u00adched arm. The\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre the Lord your God has com\u00adman\u00added you to keep the Sab\u00adbath day\u00bb (Deut. 5:15 LU17<\/span>) The Israe\u00adli\u00adtes were not to for\u00adget that they had to toil day and night. They beca\u00adme the eco\u00adno\u00admic engi\u00adne for Egypt. Exploi\u00adted by the Egyp\u00adti\u00adan ruler at all levels, but God res\u00adcued them from slavery and gave them a day. <\/p>\n The Sab\u00adbath was not only the day of the week, but the\u00adre was also a Sab\u00adbath year. We read: \u00abWhen you come into the land which I will give you, the land shall keep a Sab\u00adbath to the Lord. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall pru\u00adne your viney\u00adard and gather in the fruit, but in the seventh year the land shall keep a solemn Sab\u00adbath to the Lord\u00bb (Deu\u00adte\u00adro\u00adno\u00admy 25:2\u20134 LU17<\/span>) Every seven years the land was to set asi\u00adde a year of pro\u00adduc\u00adtion (Sab\u00adbath). Not the peo\u00adp\u00adle, but the land was to take a sab\u00adba\u00adti\u00adcal year. We read the reason for this Sab\u00adbath year in the last part of the sen\u00adtence: \u00abthe land shall keep a solemn Sab\u00adbath to the Lord.\u00bb The Hope for All trans\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon sums it up per\u00adfect\u00adly. \u00abWhen you come into the land that I will give you, after every sixth year all the fields and viney\u00adards shall lie fallow for a year for my glo\u00adry\u00bb (Deu\u00adte\u00adro\u00adno\u00admy 25:2 HfA) With the Sab\u00adbath year they honour God. This is a pro\u00adof of love that they love God more than all the eco\u00adno\u00admic bene\u00adfits that cul\u00adti\u00advat\u00ading the land will bring. <\/p>\n Bes\u00adi\u00addes the Sab\u00adbath day and Sab\u00adbath year, God added some\u00adthing very inte\u00adres\u00adt\u00ading. In the book of Levi\u00adti\u00adcus we read: \u00abAnd thou shalt num\u00adber seven sab\u00adba\u00adti\u00adcal years, seven times seven years: and the seven sab\u00adba\u00adti\u00adcal years shall be for\u00adty and nine years. Then shalt thou cau\u00adse the trumpet to sound throug\u00adhout all your land in the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of ato\u00adne\u00adment. And ye shall hal\u00adlow the fif\u00adtieth year, and ye shall pro\u00adcla\u00adim a release in the land for all that dwell the\u00adr\u00adein: it shall be a year of remis\u00adsi\u00adon for you. Then ever\u00adyo\u00adne shall be res\u00adto\u00adred to his pos\u00adses\u00adsi\u00adon and to his clan among you\u00bb (Deu\u00adte\u00adro\u00adno\u00admy 25:8\u201310 LU17<\/span>). In other words, after seven times seven years, that is, every fif\u00adty years, a year of joy was to be pro\u00adclai\u00admed. This was a year in which debts were for\u00adgi\u00adven and slaves gai\u00adned their free\u00addom. It was like an eco\u00adno\u00admic \u00abreset year\u00bb. <\/p>\n God gave the Israe\u00adli\u00adtes the Sab\u00adbath day, the Sab\u00adbath year and the year of joy. The\u00adse three com\u00admandments all invol\u00adved eco\u00adno\u00admic sacri\u00adfice. Prac\u00adti\u00adsing the Sab\u00adbath weekly pro\u00admo\u00adtes the vir\u00adtue of gene\u00adro\u00adsi\u00adty. One prac\u00adti\u00adces that the\u00adre are other values bes\u00adi\u00addes money. But obser\u00advan\u00adce also saved the Israe\u00adli\u00adtes from an eco\u00adno\u00admic hams\u00adter wheel. An eco\u00adno\u00admic hams\u00adter wheel that never has enough, along with the asso\u00adcia\u00adted ava\u00adri\u00adce that does not stop at one\u2019s own body, fel\u00adlow human beings, ani\u00admals or natu\u00adre. Greed never has enough and never comes to rest. <\/p>\n Many Jews still prac\u00adti\u00adse the Sab\u00adbath today. B&<\/span>H in Man\u00adhat\u00adtan, New York, is a Jewish shop. It is the world\u2019s best pho\u00adto &<\/span> video shop and has won num\u00ade\u00adrous awards. In addi\u00adti\u00adon to the retail out\u00adlet, B&<\/span>H is America\u2019s lar\u00adgest pho\u00adto &<\/span> video online store. The inte\u00adres\u00adt\u00ading thing (get this) is that not only is the shop clo\u00adsed on the Sab\u00adbath, but not\u00adhing can be added to the shop\u00adping cart in the online store. This is an elec\u00adtro\u00adnic tran\u00adsac\u00adtion and no one would have to work. It is an act to honour God with a finan\u00adcial sacrifice. <\/p>\n We Chris\u00adti\u00adans do not cele\u00adbra\u00adte a Sab\u00adbath, but Sun\u00adday, the day after. The\u00adre are many expl\u00adana\u00adti\u00adons for this, which would go bey\u00adond the scope of today\u2019s ser\u00admon. But it is not so much the ques\u00adti\u00adon of whe\u00adther or not Sab\u00adbath is a com\u00admandment in the New Tes\u00adta\u00adment that I want to ans\u00adwer in the ser\u00admon. It is the\u00adse three, honour God, gra\u00adti\u00adtu\u00adde and gene\u00adro\u00adsi\u00adty that go on. The\u00adse are not easy to live out and we see from the Old Tes\u00adta\u00adment that the Israe\u00adli\u00adtes often strug\u00adg\u00adled with them. If we now also want to be good peo\u00adp\u00adle out of con\u00advic\u00adtion, we will try despera\u00adte\u00adly like the Israe\u00adli\u00adtes and ulti\u00adm\u00adate\u00adly fail. <\/p>\n With Jesus, Sun\u00adday is not a com\u00admandment but a pri\u00advi\u00adle\u00adge. Jesus said, \u00abCome unto me, all ye that labour and are hea\u00advy laden. I will give you rest\u00bb (Matthew 11:28 HfA) It is on Sun\u00adday that we come to Jesus. We pau\u00adse to be with the crow\u00adning glo\u00adry of crea\u00adti\u00adon. It is only when we are with our Crea\u00adtor that crea\u00adti\u00adon is com\u00adple\u00adte. We find rest when we are with God. And only with Him can we live a very deman\u00adding Chris\u00adti\u00adan faith wit\u00adhout bur\u00adning out. <\/p>\n It is God\u2019s Spi\u00adrit who lives in us, who wants to bring forth this fruit. It is his Spi\u00adrit, his power, that brings about this meta\u00admor\u00adpho\u00adsis in us. \u00abBut if you let your\u00adsel\u00adves be gover\u00adned by God\u2019s Spi\u00adrit, you are no lon\u00adger sub\u00adject to the demands of the law\u00bb (Gala\u00adti\u00adans 5:18 HfA) Against the fruit of the Spi\u00adrit (Gala\u00adti\u00adans 5:22) the\u00adre is no law. In other words, if we walk in the fruit of the Spi\u00adrit, we are not brea\u00adking any law. <\/p>\n God\u2019s Spi\u00adrit moves us every Sun\u00adday to let work be. We put that day asi\u00adde, let all eco\u00adno\u00admic aspects be and prac\u00adti\u00adse his gene\u00adro\u00adsi\u00adty. It is this that keeps us from gree\u00addi\u00adly exploi\u00adting his won\u00adderful crea\u00adti\u00adon. It is fruit of the Spi\u00adrit that we honour our God. It is the fruit of the Spi\u00adrit that we remem\u00adber with gra\u00adti\u00adtu\u00adde what he has given. Jesus saved us from slavery, he took us to hims\u00adelf and so set us free. Sun\u00adday, is not a day of doing not\u00adhing, but a holy day whe\u00adre we are with Him, from this rest flows all the fruit of God. <\/p>\n \tWhat did God want the Israe\u00adli\u00adtes to remem\u00adber on the Sabbath? The seventh day of crea\u00adti\u00adon is far more than just a day of rest. God crea\u00adted it as a day of bles\u00adsing for a spe\u00adcial pur\u00adpo\u00adse. The Sab\u00adbath day, is not real\u00adly a com\u00admandment, but a pri\u00advi\u00adle\u00adged sacred time we are allo\u00adwed to spend with our Crea\u00adtor. It is from this sacred time with God that our life of faith comes ali\u00adve. As\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":7029,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","wpfc_preacher":[73],"wpfc_sermon_series":[81],"wpfc_sermon_topics":[],"wpfc_bible_book":[],"wpfc_service_type":[12],"class_list":["wpfc_preacher-daniel-bieri","wpfc_sermon_series-creatio","wpfc-sermon-single","post-3848","wpfc_sermon","type-wpfc_sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","wpfc_service_type-gottesdienst"],"acf":[],"sermons_blog_filters_topics":"\t\t\t\t
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\nPos\u00adsi\u00adble ques\u00adti\u00adons for the small groups
\nRea\u00adding the Bible text: Gene\u00adsis 2:2\u20134<\/p>\n
\n\tWhy was remem\u00adbe\u00adring this act so important?
\n\tAre we also in dan\u00adger of for\u00adget\u00adting God\u2019s deeds?
\n\tWhat hap\u00adpens when we for\u00adget what God has done?
\n\tWhat if Sun\u00adday was just a day of rest?
\n\tWhat keeps our faith from beco\u00adming a cramp?<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"