Introduction: Imagine a terrible divorce involving children. The
mother hates the father, feels like she is in competition with him,
and wants to erase his memory from the minds of the children. What
diabolical things could the mother do to hurt the father? The first
thing would be to try to keep the father from seeing his children.
Second, she could tell the children the father did not love them or
even care about them. Third, she could suggest that he is not their
father. The father’s goals are just the reverse: to reinforce the
fact that he is the father, that he loves and cares for his
children, and that he regularly wants to see his children. Now
consider the conflict between God and Satan. Isn’t it logical that
Satan would have the same goals as this mother? Satan wants us to
believe that God does not love or care for us, God is not our
Father, and we should not be concerned about meeting with God. Let’s
dive into our study of the Bible learn more about the specifics!

  1. Creation Sabbath


    1. Read Genesis 1:26-27. What does this teach us about our
      relationship to God? (To some degree we are created to be
      like God.)


      1. What is our relationship to the rest of the
        creation? (We are created to rule the rest of the
        creation.)


      2. Why do you think God decided that humans should rule
        the rest of the creation? (This reinforces the idea
        that we are created like God. From this hierarchy of
        relationships, we begin to see part of how we are
        like our Father in Heaven.)


    2. Read Genesis 2:1-3. What is God’s reason for creating the
      Sabbath? (He finished His Creation. God’s mighty work was
      done.)


      1. What did God declare about the Sabbath? (It was
        blessed and it was holy.)


      2. What does it mean to make a day “holy?” (God
        sanctified the day.)



    3. Let’s put this together. What is the relationship between
      God’s creation of humans and the Sabbath? (Saturday is a
      special day, a sacred day, on which we are reminded that
      God is our Creator.)


    4. Read Exodus 20:8-11. When God says “Remember the Sabbath
      day,” to what is He referring? (This is an obvious
      reference to the creation story in Genesis.)


      1. Why does God tell us to work six days? (This again
        is an illusion to God’s six days of creation.)


      2. Why are we told not to work our animals on Sabbath?
        (Not only is God telling us that all deserve a
        Sabbath rest, but He is reinforcing the idea that we
        are to rule the creation.)


  2. The Sabbath Link to Worship


    1. Read Genesis 1:1. How does God introduce Himself to us?
      (As our Creator.)


      1. Why do you think this is the very first thing God
        says to us from His Bible?


    2. Read Revelation 14:7. What is God’s basis for claiming
      our worship? (That He is our Creator.)


    3. Nave’s Topical Bible catalogs 104 Bible texts (under
      “Creator”) ranging from Genesis to Revelation where God
      either directly, or through humans, stakes His claim to
      authority over us on the fact of His Creation. What do
      you conclude about God’s thinking from this? (We learn
      that God’s consistent, simple and primary claim to
      authority over humans is His creation work. God is
      telling humans: “I created you, therefore you should obey
      Me.”)


    4. Recall our introduction about the divorced woman who
      wanted to erase the children’s memory of their father?
      Why is it important for Satan to attack Sabbath worship?
      (It fulfills two of Satan’s logical goals that even we
      were able to figure out. First, since the Sabbath is the
      weekly reminder of God’s six-day Creation, it removes
      this weekly reminder that God created us and therefore
      has authority over us. Second, since the Sabbath is an
      important time to study, praise and worship God,
      disregard for the Sabbath limits our time to meet with
      our Heavenly Father.)


    5. How is Satan doing in his quest to have humans forget
      that God is their Creator? (Huge numbers no longer
      believe that a six-day creation is the correct account of
      the origin of humans. Many believe that we came into
      existence by chance and natural selection. Many believe
      that humans have no claim of superiority to animals, and
      that we have no authority to rule them. Most Christians,
      even devout Christians, disregard the seventh day
      Sabbath.)


  3. Sabbath Importance


    1. Many say, “So what? What you just said about the
      importance of the Sabbath is not good enough. I can
      believe in God even if I do not believe the creation
      story or observe the Sabbath.” If you think believing the
      Genesis account about the Creation and the Sabbath makes
      a difference, explain why? (First, if the account is not
      true, it means that God did not tell us the truth about
      the origin of humans. If that is so, then God is not
      telling the truth about His authority over us. Finally,
      if God is not telling the truth about our origin (because
      He is overstating His power), that suggests that our God
      lacks power.)


      1. Are we sure this raises a question about God’s
        honesty? Could God simply be telling us an
        allegory, giving us some sort of grand parable?
        (When we read Revelation, we know we are reading
        about symbols. Genesis is extremely specific about
        the details. It is illogical to consider it to be an
        allegory -especially an allegory about evolution!)


    2. Read Colossians 1:15-18. Did the Apostle Paul believe in
      the Creation? (Yes.)


      1. Who is Paul referring to in this text? (Jesus.)


      2. What is your most important hope as a Christian?
        (Heaven. You hope that Jesus will take you and those
        you love to Heaven.)


      3. What link do these verses make between the Creation
        and our hope of Heaven? (Jesus has “the supremacy”
        over Creation and death. If Jesus is not powerful
        enough to create the earth and its inhabitants, why
        should we believe that He is powerful enough to
        defeat death? Paul shows that these beliefs are
        logically linked.)


    3. Let’s consider where we are now. The Sabbath is linked to
      the Creation, the authority of God, and the power of God
      to resurrect us to eternal life!


  4. Freedom From Slavery


    1. Read Deuteronomy 5:15. Why would the Bible give two
      different reasons for the Sabbath?


    2. Read Romans 6:15-18. What has set us free from the
      slavery of sin? (Jesus set us free from the slavery of
      sin through His life and death on our behalf. We obey God
      because of what He has done for us.)


    3. Can you see a link between a memorial to the Creation and
      a memorial to our salvation? (God gave us life, and then
      He gave us eternal life.)


      1. Has this anything to do with the power and authority
        of God?


  5. Sabbath and the Resurrection of Jesus


    1. Read Matthew 28:1 and Matthew 27:50-53. Jesus rested in
      the grave on Sabbath, but these others apparently were
      resurrected on Friday. If you were God the Father, and
      your Son had been brutally killed while winning the Super
      Bowl of the universe, would you want to take Him into
      your arms immediately? (Of course! No parent would want
      to wait even a second to comfort and congratulate a son.)


      1. Why did God wait to raise Jesus back to life?
        (Consider our discussion so far. The Sabbath is at
        the center of what Jesus was and is doing for us.
        The logical conclusion is that Jesus rested on the
        Sabbath! Just as Jesus rested after His great work
        of Creation, so He rested after His great work of
        salvation. It is the only reasonable explanation
        for the delay.)


    2. Friend, if you believe there is a battle going on over
      God’s power and authority, why not decide today to show
      your allegiance to God by accepting His Creation account
      and remembering and memorializing His authority by
      keeping the Sabbath?


  6. Next week: Rejoicing Before the Lord: The Sanctuary and
    Worship.