June 22, 1903

“A New Creation” Australasian Signs of the Times 18, 25.

E. J. Waggoner

Some people object to the fact that so much is made of the particular day of the Sabbath. They say that the Sabbath is spiritual. So it is, and it should never be considered as anything else. But all must see that we must have a Sabbath day before we can consider its spirituality. “Spiritual” does not mean unreal or non-existent. What use to talk about the spirituality of a thing that has to us no definite existence? If our friends did not raise the question as to the existence of the Sabbath, there would be no need to talk about it; but let no one think that in dwelling upon the definiteness of the Sabbath day we are unmindful of its spirituality. We may abstain from labour on the very day of the Sabbath, and yet not keep the Sabbath holy unto the Lord. But that does not warrant us in ignoring the day of the Sabbath. We may abstain from taking human life, and still not keep the sixth commandment; but that does not warrant us in killing men.BEST June 22, 1903, par. 1

In the beginning God sanctified the Sabbath as a memorial of His creative power. He set it apart for the use of men, in order to remind them of His power to sanctify them. See Ezekiel 20:12. The Sabbath, which calls attention to creation, and thus shows God’s eternal power (Romans 1:20), makes known the sanctifying power of God, since sanctification is the exercise of creative power. “Create in me a clean heart.” Psalm 51:10. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.” 2 Corinthians 5:17. Or, as the Revision has it, “there is a new creation.” Christ is Creator, and He created all things. Colossians 1:16. The Sabbath comes to us from Eden, when the earth was new, to remind us of the power of God in Christ to make us new creatures, as perfect as man and all things were in the beginning. And this will be its office throughout eternity; for the Lord says of the time when He shall have made all things new, and shall have made men also new, that they may fittingly inherit His new creation: “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord.” Isaiah 66:22, 23.BEST June 22, 1903, par. 2