The Sabbath and God the Creator
World Mission Society Church of God- In this age, only God the Father Christ Ahnsahnghong and God the Mother (Heavenly Mother) can give us salvation.
God's people, who keep the appointed feasts of God, can realize God's providence contained in the feasts and can also understand the love of God who spares no pains to save the souls of His children. So, they love God's commands more than pure gold and keep them holy (Ps 119:127; 50:5).
The Sabbath, one of God's feasts described in the Bible, is a day for us to commemo-rate God as the Creator who made all things and to worship Him. God completed His work of creation in six days and rested on the seventh day. Then He blessed the seventh day and made it holy. In the time of Moses, God commanded His people to "remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy" as the fourth of the Ten Commandments. It's because the Sabbath is a day which God blessed and a day for His people to commemorate the power of the Creator (Ge 2:1-3; Ex 20:8-11).
The Sabbath was kept not only in the age of the Father but also in the age of the Son; in many parts of the Bible we can see Jesus and His apostles keeping the Sabbath as their custom. Thus, the Sabbath is an essential element of Christian faith, which shouldn't be overlooked. By keeping this day holy, the people who worship God are sanctified and come to understand the providence of God the Creator in everything.
Elohim who created all things
It is not too much to say that the entire contents of the Bible from Genesis to Revela-tion explain the process of God's physical and spiritual creation. Let's take a look at the scene where God created all things, through the book of Proverbs which Solomon wrote, being moved by the Holy Spirit.
Pr 8:22-31 『"The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began. When there were no oceans, I was given birth, when there were no springs abounding with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, before he made the earth or its fields or any of the dust of the world. I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, . . . and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.』
Solomon said that he already existed before he was born in the flesh on this earth, and that he rejoiced in the presence of God when He created the heavens and the earth. Then, what did God look like whom Solomon saw before the creation of the world?
Ge 1:26-27 『Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.』
When the work of creation was being done, God the Creator whom Solomon saw was not only one. The Bible describes God the Creator as the plural form "Elohim" who created all things?light and darkness, the water under the expanse and the water above it, the earth and the sea, trees, animals and so on. In other words, Elohim who said, "Let us . . . ," the male image of God and the female image of God?our Heavenly Father and Mother, created the world.
It is Elohim who created all things in six days and rested on the seventh day and blessed it. Therefore, those who believe in Elohim the Creators and honor Them ought to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy and also should give thanks and praise to Them. If they do so, they will become a royal priesthood and inherit the kingdom of God, as God's true people. Through the Sabbath, God distinguishes His people who recognize and receive the Creator from those who do not.
God the Creator who came in the flesh
God, who created all things, came to this earth in the flesh 2,000 years ago. He was Jesus Christ.
Jn 1:1-14 『In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God . . . The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.』
The Word who was in the beginning?the God who created all things?came to this earth to save mankind. Since the Creator Himself came, all men created by Him should have given thanks, glory and honor to Him. However, the world didn't recognize the God who came in the flesh but rather rejected Him. All people born on this earth were the spiritual beings who watched God create all things at His side, like Solomon, but since they were born in the flesh, their spiritual eyes were covered by the veil of sin so they couldn't recognize the God who came to this earth?whether He was the One who created our souls or He was a mere man born into a poor carpenter's family.
Mt 27:24-26 『When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!" All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!" Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.』
They rejected the God who came to save them and didn't hesitate doing such wicked things like spitting on Him, striking Him with their fists, trying to stone Him to death and finally crucifying Him on the cross. How wicked and sinful they were!
Jesus, the source of life, atoned for our sins on the cross, broke the power of death and resurrected three days after His crucifixion. 40 days after His resurrection, Jesus gave His disciples the command to preach the gospel of the kingdom of heaven in Samaria and to the ends of the earth, and was taken up to heaven before their very eyes.
Ac 1:6-11 『. . . After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."』
"The same Jesus . . . will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." This means that Jesus will come in the flesh again so that we can see Him. The same prophecy is recorded in the book of Hebrew.
Heb 9:27-28 『Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.』
Since the Bible says that God, who always exists in spirit, will appear a second time. This is a prophecy that Jesus will also appear in the flesh at His second coming, as He did at His first coming. 2,000 years ago, most people didn't recognize the God who came in the flesh and came to destruction. However, when the Creator appears a second time, all people must receive Him and come to salvation.
The Creator to come again, the last Adam and Eve
God has revealed all the mysteries of the Bible to His children so that they will not commit the same kinds of wicked sins as the Jews did. Let's pay attention to the Biblical prophecies that help us correctly recognize God who is to come to this earth a second time.
1 Co 15:45-53 『So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. . . . Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed?in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.』
We, who were destined to die forever, will be changed into the immortal beings that can live forever, through the Last Adam. Since the Last Adam is a life-giving spirit, that is, God who can give us life, we must receive Him.
Ro 5:12-14 『. . . Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.』
The Bible describes Adam who appears in Genesis as a pattern of Jesus. Considering that the six days of creation is a prophecy of the six thousand years of redemption work, we can see that Adam who was created at the end of the six days of creation represents Jesus who is to come at the end of the age, that is, the Second Coming Jesus. Therefore, through the first man Adam, we can recognize God our Father who is to come as the Last Adam.
The first Adam had a wife named Eve, who gave birth to life. If Adam represents the Second Coming Jesus, whom does Eve, the wife of Adam, represent?
Eve, called the "mother of all the living" (Ge 3:20), represents our Heavenly Mother who is to appear at the end of the age in order to give us eternal life and lead us, together with the Second Coming Jesus?the Last Adam. The book of Revelation talks about the wedding banquet of the Lamb and prophesies about the appearance of Mother.
Rev 19:6-8 『. . . "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. . . ."』
Rev 21:1-4, 9-11 『. . . I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death . . ." One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. . . .』
Gal 4:26 『But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.』
The Bible says that the wedding of the Lamb has come and His Bride?His wife [the last Eve]?has made Herself ready, and that She is the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven. The "Wife of the Lamb" represented by the heavenly Jerusalem is our Mother.
Heavenly Mother is the God who governs the life of our souls, the Creator whom Solomon saw in spirit. The Bible shows that the wedding of the Lamb has come and our Heavenly Mother has come down to this earth, so there will be no more death. Through this fact, we can see that eternal life is given through Mother.
Elohim who complete the spiritual creation
Our Heavenly Father and Mother, the Creators, have come to this earth as the Last Adam and Eve and work together until the spiritual creation is completed, according to all the prophecies of the Bible.
Jn 5:16-17 『. . . Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."』
The Bible shows that God, who created the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh day, is still working. This means that He is doing the work of spiritual creation. As the spiritual creation was done together by Elohim who said, "Let us . . . ," so the spiritual creation is being completed by both Heavenly Father and Mother. God the Father and God the Mother, who have existed together from the beginning, are to appear in Their own time and call Their children (1 Ti 6:15).
Rev 22:17 『The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.』
The Spirit and the Bride?Elohim?have come to this earth in order to give us eternal life and make us immortal with the water of life. Unless we receive Them, we can never gain eternal life. Look at all the living things created by God's will. Their physical lives cannot be given by their fathers alone, but they are formed and completed in their mothers' wombs. In the same way, our souls can be re-created into immortal beings by our Heavenly Mother as well as by our Heavenly Father.
So, the Sabbath is very important for God's people. The Sabbath is a day when we worship the Elohim who created all things, and it is a truth that enables us to understand the divine nature of God the Creator. Through the Sabbath, God lets us know the Father and Mother, the Creators, gives us the blessings of heaven and makes our souls born again through the water of life.
God's people, who honor and worship God rightly, get rid of all worldly desires and worries and come to Elohim with thanksgiving and joy to praise our Heavenly Father and Mother every Sabbath day. Sooner or later, the whole world will respond to the call of the Spirit and the Bride, listen to Their voice and come to Father and Mother. Until the day comes, let us display the glory of Elohim the Creators, who are the Lords of the Sabbath and bestow spiritual blessings upon us through the Sabbath, throughout the world, following the will of the Father and Mother who have called us earlier, as the children of heaven.
