Phillip Johnson, a former clerk in the supreme court for Earl Warren, is one of the foremost of the new thinkers that has written a new provocative book on this subject. It is called, "The Wedge of Truth."  There seems to be renewed interest in "Intelligent Design". As modern man studies and reaches out into space, there is more and more evidence that there had to be a Designer at work in making the universe and mankind!

     Take any part of the human body and study it and you will have to admit that the eye or ear, or kidneys or heart, could not just happen by chance! If there is a design there has to be a Designer! Well, how can it be if there is a God who created all of these things - that He seems to have been so completely forgotten by the generation that now lives on Planet Earth?

     Let’s take our Bibles and discover the answer. Billy Graham has said that the last message of God to this world is found in the 14th chapter of Revelation. In this chapter God pictures an angel flying in the midst of heaven proclaiming a warning message to all the world. Notice what this angel is saying with a loud voice:

"...Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water." Revelation 14:7

     God calls all of the world to worship Him as the One who is going to judge the world. He is the one who has the authority to Judge the world because He is the Creator of the world! It is interesting to notice that his special message concerning His being the Creator comes at the end of time, just before the coming of Christ the second time. At this time of earth’s history when Evolution is teaching that we are the result of chance, and the beast of Revelation 13 is calling for us to follow him forgetting the Seal of the Creator, God’s messenger calls everyone, everywhere to "remember" the Creator and His Sign of Creation.  But you may say, "How do I know what the sign of creation is all about?"

     Let’s take a look at the creation of Planet Earth found in the first Book of the Bible:

"In the beginning God created the heavens and earth." Genesis 1:1

     There it is in so many words! The Bible tells us that God was the Designer of this world! He was not alone in this wonderful creative act.

"...And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." Genesis 1:2

     The Spirit of God, another member of the Godhead, was an active agent in the act of creation. But the Bible reveals even more! It says the "Word" or Christ, was also involved in the creative act: another member of the Godhead!

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:3, 14

     In fact, Paul says, grace was given him so he could preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 

"And to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ." Ephesians 3:9

     Now, let’s take a look at what God created by the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ. The Book of Genesis tells us how they did this:

"Then God said, ‘Let there be light; and there was light.’" Genesis 1:3

     Then came the firmament: God said.

"...Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament, and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day." Verses 6-8

     Now God is ready to form dry land and seas.

"Then God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good." Verses 9 and 10

     Notice what God did with the dry land:

"Then God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth;
and it was so." Verse 11

"And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit whose seed is in itself, according to its kind.
And God saw that it was good." Verse 12

     Notice what day this was.

"So the evening and the morning were the third day." Verse 13

     Then on the fourth day, God arrange d for permanent light.

"Then God said, ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights ... to give light on the earth ... Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day; and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also ... to give light on the earth ... And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the fourth day." Verses 14-19

     Now God turns His attention to the sea creatures and birds.

"Then God said, Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creature s, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens. So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. So the evening and the morning were the fifth day." Verses 20-23

     Each day brought new wonders as God, in His unfathomable wisdom, created the whole eco-system step by step. Then comes the day God has been waiting for. God hadn’t created the beautiful world of flowers and trees simply for the birds and fish! He created it to be inhabited. Inhabited by animals and other living creatures, yes, but especially for people He could love and who would love Him! On the next day God said,

"...Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle, creeping things and beast of the earth, each according to its kind ... And God saw that it was good." But His crowning act of creation was to create people in His own image!

"Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds f the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’" Verses 24-26

"Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; and fill the earth...’ "Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day." Verses 28, 31

     Creation was absolutely awesome! How did He do it-and how did He do it so quickly? The Bible gives the answer:

"Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast."
Psalm 33:8, 9

"Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished."
Genesis 2:1

     In six days the Creator brought a world into being, clothed with shrubs and trees, flowers and streams. He brought sunshine and glorious sunsets and a magnificent moon to enjoy by night. But best of all, He created two perfect people with whom He could walk in the cool of the evening! What an honor! Created in the image of their Maker! But that’s not all! They were created to be rulers over the earth and all that was on it! How could they have it any better?

"So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created them ..." Verses 27

     But, God wasn’t through yet! He had one more thing He wanted to do. Now, carefully notice what the Bible says happened the next day-the seventh day of creation:

"And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created..." Genesis 2:2-4

     Only God can make something holy, and the Bible says that He did just that when He sanctified the seventh day. For to sanctify something is to "set it aside for a holy use." Why did God make the seventh day a holy day? He made it for Himself and for His creatures. Here is what Christ said:

"...The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of man is also Lord of the Sabbath." Mark 2:27, 28

     God gave this sacred time to man so that he could take time to remember that he did not evolve through millions of years, but that God had created him and all the rest of the wonderful world in six days! This was to be a holy time when man and His maker would renew their pledge of love and devotion together each week.

     Every week, man was to "remember" that God made the heaven and earth in six days and rested the seventh. That is what God asked man to do in the fourth commandment that He wrote with His own finger, putting this command in the middle of that sacred Law of God. He told mankind to "remember" this day, because in six days He had created the earth, the sea, and the fountains of water. Had mankind always kept the Sabbath as a memorial of Creation as God asked them to do, there would not be an evolutionist, infidel, or skeptic alive today. For they would have been reminded each week of their roots and of their relationship to their Creator!

     As sin increased on the earth, man forgot where he came from and why he was here. When this happened, he also forgot how he should live. By the time of Moses, the people of Israel had almost completely forgotten about their God. They were immersed in worshiping gods made of sticks and stones! God miraculously delivered them from their enemies and led them through the wilderness on the way to the "Promised Land."

     In this wilderness, He did two things to show them what He wanted them to do in connection with the seventh-day Sabbath He had made for them in the first week of this world’s history. First, God reminded them that He cared about them and that He had led them out of Egypt. They had run out of food, as they could only carry so much for that great multitude of people. As they had come a month’s journey from Egypt, the Bible says that they murmured because they had run out of bread. They didn’t seem to have appreciated all the miracles and kindnesses God had shown them, but a loving God provided food for them anyway for 40 years!

"Then the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota everyday, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not."

     The "bread" spoken of here is commonly called "manna."

"And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt." Exodus 16:4-6

     And each day they went out and gathered bread for that day. They now had food to sustain them as they journeyed in the wilderness. But wait-notice what happened on the sixth day of the week:

"So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted. And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. Then he said to them, ‘This is what the Lord has said: Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil today; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’" Exodus 16:21-23

     Moses had more advice concerning this bread:

"Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none." Verses 25, 26

     Most of the people did what God had commanded, but some went out on the Sabbath to gather manna. Notice what God had to say about that!

"And the Lord said to Moses, How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day." Exodus 16:28-30

     You see, the Sabbath was instituted at creation and was observed by God’s people long before the Exodus. God’s laws and commandments were given to man before Sinai, for it was not until several weeks later that God, on Mt. Sinai, etched the Ten Commandments on tables of stone with His own finger.

     In the third month of the Exodus journey, God brought the people to Mt. Sinai, and there He appeared to Moses and gave him a message to share with the people:

"Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel." Exodus 19:5, 6

     God had made a most gracious offer to His people. If they obeyed His laws and commandments, they would be a special people and a holy nation! One of those commandments was given to make certain His people would never forget their relationship to their Creator. In fact, it begins with the word remember.

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.
For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all
that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."

     You will notice that the Sabbath is in the center, or the heart, of those ten precepts. God asked mankind to remember the Sabbath day as a memorial of creation. So you see that Sabbath is as old as the world itself! God promises His people many blessings if they obey Him and remember His memorial of creation.

Isaiah 58:13, 14 (NEB), says: "If you cease to tread the Sabbath underfoot, and keep my holy day free from your own affairs... if you honour it by not plying your trade, not seeking your own interest or attending to your own affairs,
then you shall find your joy in the Lord."

     Had man always remembered that memorial of God’s creation, many problems he faces today-a forgotten God, a meaningless life, an identity crises-would all be solved. There would be no evolutionists! But sad to say, as we trace the history of God’s people through the centuries, we discover that they quickly forgot what God asked them to remember.

     They forgot to worship Him on His holy day and, strange as it may seem, before long they began to worship gods of sticks and stones. They lost sight of their roots! However, there were revivals of Sabbath observance during the centuries as God’s prophets called attention back to God the Creator. Isaiah emphasized that God  never intended to confine the Sabbath to Israel, or the Jewish people. Far from it!

     The Sabbath was instituted thousands of years before the Jewish race came into being. God did not restrict such a blessing to just one nation or people. He invites everyone, everywhere to remember and keep the Sabbath with Him. Through Isaiah, God said,

"...Everyone that keepeth the Sabbath... will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: ...for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people." Isaiah 56:6, 7

     Nowhere in the Bible is the seventh day called "the Sabbath of the Jews." Jesus made it clear that it is a day for all mankind when He said,

"...The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." Mark 2:27

     And God said,

"...The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God..." Exodus 20:10

     Jesus also said that He is "Lord even of the Sabbath day" Matthew 12:8 because He made it. That is why John the Revelator called it

"...the Lord’s day..." Revelation 1:10

     The Sabbath is more than a memorial of creation and the Creator. It is a sign between God and man.

"Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctifies them." Ezekiel 20:12

     The One who made the Sabbath holy during creation week is the same One who makes sinful people holy. Our Creator is also our Saviour!

"And hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God." Ezekiel 20:20

     The Sabbath was instituted before sin reared its head on Planet Earth, and the Sabbath will also be celebrated after sin is forever banished from Earth. Listen to what the Lord has to say about this:

"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

     Throughout all eternity, God’s people will celebrate the Sabbath to honor Him as their Creator and Redeemer. Does it not seem reasonable that if the Sabbath was celebrated before sin came to Earth, and that it will be celebrated when the earth is made new, that God’s people should celebrate it now? If we have any questions about God and the Sabbath, it can be settled by discovering what Jesus’ relationship was to the Sabbath while He was here on Earth. Luke tells us what Jesus did on the Sabbath:

"He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read." Luke 4:16

     Here we see that was Jesus’ custom! To go to the synagogue on Sabbath. Webster says, "Sabbath; the seventh day of the week (Saturday)."
                                       -Webster’s New World Dictionary, second college edition.

     Had the day been changed or forgotten between the time of Adam and Moses, God would have rectified it when He wrote the Ten Commandments at Sinai. Had the day been lost between the time of Moses and Jesus, Christ would surely have set the record straight. Had the day been changed between the Disciples time and their death, they would certainly have written about it.

     And of course the Jews, who keep strict record of time, still worship on the seventh day, or Saturday. The identity of the day of rest was never questioned during Jesus’ life on Earth. The only controversy arose over how He kept it. The rabbis had distorted Sabbath observance by instituting austere, cumbersome regulations. Jesus tried to eliminate their man-made requirements and show the true beauty and meaning of Sabbath observance. When they accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath because He healed people on that day, He answered,

"...It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." Matthew 12:12

     The Bible says that Jesus healed men and ministered to their needs on the Sabbath. This is what the Sabbath is all about-making us whole people, setting us free from guilt, prejudice, and selfishness, and giving us peace of mind; restoring us to the image of God and pointing us back to our Creator! This was the work Jesus came to do, and it was the work the disciples did after He left them. The true meaning of Sabbath observance was demonstrated by the devoted followers of Jesus at the time of His death. In the very shadow of the world’s greatest crisis, we catch a glimpse of Jesus’ friends resting according to God’s command, leaving the work of anointing Jesus’ body until after the Sabbath hours.

"And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with Him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how His body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath according to the commandment." Luke 23:54-56

     The day before the Sabbath, their hope in Jesus had been crushed. They witnessed Him dying a cruel death on the cross. Their dreams and hopes lay in a darkened tomb. As a last act of devotion, they wanted to anoint His dead body. The Bible tells us that

"...Upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing spices which they had prepared ..." Luke 24:1

     Let’s take another look at the events of those three memorable days.

1. Friday (preparation day): Jesus died; the women prepared spices and ointments.

2. Saturday (Sabbath day): Jesus rested in the tomb; His followers rested.

3. Sunday (first day of the week): Jesus rose from the dead! Ladies came to anoint Jesus.

     Do you see that there can be no possible doubt as to which day was the Sabbath at Jesus’ death? Jesus hung on the cross on the preparation day and cried,

"...’It is finished!’..." John 19:30

     His work of redemption was completed! He rested in the tomb over the Sabbath and rose on Sunday, the first day of the week. Even in death Jesus kept the Sabbath-He rested in the tomb. As we stand near the cross, we get the feeling that any day in seven will not do! For to tamper with the Sabbath would be to tamper with creation, with Sinai, and with Calvary itself!

     Yes, it matters which day in seven we celebrate. George Vandeman wrote:

"How can we see His followers refusing to desecrate the sacred hours even with  their labor of love, how can we see Him dying on the cross because the law could not be compromised even to save His own life-how can we stand in the blazing light of Calvary and say it doesn’t matter?"
                                                                                            -A Day to Remember, p.40

     The Creator said "remember," yet so many forget! But that was not God’s intention. Jesus expected that Christians would keep the Sabbath for all time. Notice His words of instruction.

"And pray that your flight may not be in winter, or on the Sabbath day."
Matthew 24:20

     Yes, Jesus expected that Christians in A.D. 70, when Jerusalem was destroyed, would still be keeping the Sabbath! The New Testament records that Jesus’ followers kept the Sabbath after the resurrection:

"...They came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, as his manner was, went in to them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures." Acts 17:1, 2

     On another Sabbath when Paul was preaching, some Gentiles came with a request:

"...The Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath...And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God." Acts 13:42, 44

     In fact, the book of Acts records 84 meetings that Paul held on the Sabbath. The Sabbath runs like a golden thread from Genesis to the book of Revelation, which describes those who are prepared to meet Jesus at His Second Coming!

"Here is the patience of the saints: Here are they that keep the commandments
of God, and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:12

     Jesus said,

"If you love Me, keep my commandments." John 14: 15

and one of those commandments tells us to "remember the Sabbath day" -a sign between man and God forever!

     The same Jesus who asks you to "remember" stretches out His hands-hands once nailed to the cross of Calvary for your sins and gently calls,

"Follow Me."

     Would you like to say, "Yes, Jesus, I will stand with you. I will put you first. I will follow you all the way."

     If this is your desire, lift your hand as we pray.