Saturday vs. Sunday

The question is often before us whether Saturday, as the Sabbath, or Sunday, as the Lord’s Day, is the right day of worship. Much, if not most, of the confusion comes because we miss the meaning of the original Sabbath regulation which required man to set aside the last day of the week for rest and worship. There is an incontrovertible contrast between the seventh day and the first day which establishes the first day as the proper day of worship:

1. The Sabbath was the seventh day (Gen. 2:2); Sunday is the first day (Mark 16:9).

2. The seventh day was associated with creation (Lev. 23:3); the first day is associated with redemption (Mat. 28:1).

3. The seventh day was a memorial to God’s work (Gen. 2:3); the first day is a memorial to Christ’s resurrection (Mat. 28:6).

4. The seventh day marked an unfinished redemption (Deu. 5:15); the first day marked a finished redemption (Heb. 9:23).

5. The seventh day was based upon law (Neh. 9:13-14); the first day is based upon grace  (Mat. 28:5).

6. The seventh day looked back upon an old week (Exo. 34:21); the first day looked ahead upon a new week (1Cor. 16:2).

7. The seventh day was rest at the end of a week (Lev. 26:34); the first day was preparation at the beginning of a week (Acts 20:7).

8. The seventh day was a reward for work done (Deut. 5:12-14); the first day was preparation for work yet to do (Luke 24:1).

9. The seventh day was obligatory (Jer. 17:24-27); the first day is voluntary (Rev. 1:10).

10. On the seventh day God said, “Give me this day and I will bless you” (Isa. 56:2); on the first day the Christian says to God, “Because thou has blessed me I will give Thee this day.”

11. The seventh day was a shadow of things to come (Heb. 8:5); the first day is the substance of things that have come (Heb. 10:1).

12. The seventh day was a sign of God’s old covenant with His earthly people, the Jews (Exo. 31:16); the first day is a confirmation of God’s new covenant with His heavenly people, the church (Heb 9:15).

13. The seventh day had to do with the first man, Adam (1Cor. 15:45); the first day has to do with the Second Man, Christ (1Cor. 15:46-49).

14. The seventh day stands for the earth (Exo. 31:17); the first day stands for heaven (Heb. 4:9).

15. The seventh day is on the other side of the cross and the grave; the first day is on this side of the cross and the grave (Heb. 9:15-16).

Let us then say, “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” In our search for the right day let us be sure we have found the Lord of all the days.