Have you ever thought about Sabbaths?
I’m not referring only to the weekly seventh-day Sabbath, when we remember our Creator’s rest following the completion of His creation in six days (Ex. 20:8-11). I’m talking about the seven high Sabbaths celebrated by Israel: Sabbaths of Passover; Pentecost; Rosh Hashanah (trumpets); Yom Kippur; Day of Atonement; and two days during Sukkoth (tabernacles). These High Sabbath celebrations reviewed how God led in Israel’s past and anticipated the coming Messiah. Some may wonder, Where are our celebrations, our yearly High Sabbaths?
So Much Significance
We Adventists celebrate a few Christian holidays (those associated with Christ’s birth and resurrection being the most obvious). But other Christians seem to have a richer calendar of celebrations, ranging from the anniversaries of biblical events, such as Epiphany, celebrating the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles through the Magi; or an endless series of saint’s days, such as St. Patrick’s Day.
Why don’t Adventists have special days that remind us of God’s past leading and anticipate His second coming?
The General Conference calendar of special days does have designated High Sabbaths. Creation Sabbath, the fourth Sabbath of every October, is the best example.
It is generally the Sabbath closest to October 22, the anniversary of the Great Disappointment of 1844. Some years Creation Sabbath actually falls on October 22.
So why does Creation Sabbath coincide with the Great Disappointment? We are not people of disappointment; we are Adventists. While learning from the mistakes of the past is essential, Adventists embrace an optimistic view of the future. Jesus Christ, our Creator and Redeemer, is coming again! We know that He is now involved in the investigative judgment, so His second advent is soon.
What will happen after Jesus returns? In His own words Jesus says, “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev. 21:5). God’s righteous judgment is a new heaven and a new earth (Isa. 65:17; Rev. 21:1). In anticipation of that glorious event we are called to share the everlasting gospel with the world (Rev. 14:6, 7).
We celebrate that we were created through God’s infinite grace, that in Christ we become a “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17); and through His grace we are saved. Wonderful grace indeed!
Past, Present, Future
I invite you to join millions of other Adventists as we celebrate Creation Sabbath together, resting in the knowledge that what God made in six days was wonderful, that He is victorious over the sin that mars creation, and that we will be changed in an instant as part of the wonderful new creation on the glorious day He returns (1 Cor. 15:52).
On Creation Sabbath we celebrate what our Creator did in making everything, including ourselves; we take joy in what remains of His “very good” creation (Gen. 1:31). We eagerly anticipate His soon return and the promised new creation (Rom. 8:19-21).
For more information, and ideas about celebrating Creation Sabbath, visit creationsabbath.net.
