Objection:
You emphasize that the Sabbath commemorates creation. However, a Christian’s focus should not be so much on creation but on redemption, which is even more significant. Therefore, we should observe Sunday as the primary memorial of our redemption.
Answer:
This objection shares much in common with “THE RESURRECTION IS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT EVENT… DUMP THE SABBATH,” and the responses provided there are relevant here as well. However, the reasoning in this case is takena step further, which will soon become evident.
Not only is the Bible an inspired book, but it is also a historical document. Much of the inspired counsel within it is presented in a historical context. To use a metaphor, the Bible can be likened to a tall, imposing edifice. Its foundation rests in the Garden of Eden, while its pinnacle points toward a restored Eden. The various stories, or levels, of this structure represent the different centuries in which God’s revelations have been given to humanity. A significant dividing point between the foundation and the pinnacle is where God was revealed in His Son to save humanity on the cross.
The entire structure relies on this foundation; destroy it, and the whole framework of revelation loses its symmetry and beauty and becomes unstable.
To speak frankly, all the Bible writers base their illustrations on the assumption—whether implied or expressed—that man was created and placed in Eden, and then fell from that holy state into sin. This fall explains the tragedy of the world. The burden of the Old Testament prophets is to present a heavenly plan for salvation whereby man may be uplifted, redeemed, and restored to Eden. Conversely, the burden of the New Testament apostles is to announce that the prophecies regarding a Savior have been fulfilled, and that people should believe in His name. The last book of the Bible envisions our return to the blissful state of Eden.
But what if the Genesis account of man’s beginnings is merely a fable? Can anything built upon a fable possess more substance or value than the fable itself? No. If the Genesis record of creation is indeed a fable, the entire Bible loses its robust historical character and much of its meaning. Thus, a person’s belief regarding the origin of man and this world is of tremendous importance. This is why the theory of evolution, which is largely accepted today as an alternative to the Genesis creation account, holds significant religious implications.
As the theory of evolution began to gain acceptance, Joseph Le Conte, a university professor, wrote a book entitled Evolution and Its Relation to Religious Thought, wherein he articulated the relationship between this new theory and religious belief: “Its truth or falseness, its acceptance or rejection, is no trifling matter, affecting only one small corner of the thought realm. On the contrary, it profoundly affects the foundations of philosophy and, therefore, the entire domain of thought. It determines the whole attitude of the mind toward Nature and God.” (Pages 3, 4).
A spokesman for skeptics, who notably were among the first to embrace the theory, succinctly explained how the evolution theory influences the “attitude of the mind toward Nature and God”: “But—no Adam, no fall; no fall, no atonement; no atonement, no Savior. Accepting evolution, how can we believe in a fall? When did man fall; was it before he ceased to be a monkey or after? And if there was never a fall, why should there be any atonement?” – Robert Blatchford, God and My Neighbor, p. 159.
The connection between belief in the first chapter of Genesis and belief in the entirety of the Bible was vividly illustrated by a writer in the early twentieth century: “When we found that… Adam was not made directly from dust, and Eve from his rib, and that the Tower of Babel was not the occasion for the diversification of languages, we had gone too far to stop. The process of criticism had to continue from Genesis to Revelation, without fear of the curse at the end of the last chapter. It could not end with Moses and Isaiah; it had to encompass Matthew, John, and Paul as well. Each of them had to be sifted; they had already ceased to be regarded as unquestioned, final authorities, for plenary inspiration followed verbal inspiration as soon as the first chapter of Genesis was no longer considered true history.” – New York Independent, June 24, 1909.
It is evident that the Genesis creation account serves as the foundation for the entire structure of biblical revelation. When people forget or deny creation, they expose themselves to a multitude of false and immoral theories regarding their origins and destinies. The alarming account of humanity’s descent into pagan idolatry and immorality described in Romans 1 would not have needed to be written if people had consistently remembered their origin as defined by the one true God, who is too pure to behold iniquity. The theory of evolution might never have gained traction if people had firmly believed in and kept the Genesis creation account in their minds. In essence, there would not have been a departure from the true God, nor would the full meaning of the plan of salvation presented in the Bible have been lost if humanity had not forgotten, and ultimately disbelieved, the divine narrative of their beginnings in Eden.
Thus, it is crucial for us to remember creation above all else. It is remarkable that God established a way for this important memory to be preserved. He created a memorial to mark the beginning of our history, as stated in Genesis 2:2-3. When He delivered His one audible, brief address to His people, who had been rescued from Egyptian idolatry and vice, He instructed them to “remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Each week, they were reminded that “in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is.”
By remembering creation, they would also remember the God of creation. Recognizing God as holy, and acknowledging that He created their first parents as holy beings, would lead them to see the Sabbath as a sign and a pledge that the God they served could sanctify them, making them holy by creating within them new hearts and right spirits (see Exodus 31:13; Psalm 51:10).
In recalling the beauty, purity, and perfection of creation, they would look forward with eager anticipation to the coming of Christ, whose death and resurrection would provide their release from sin and death, restoring them to Eden.
The Sabbath command is part of the foundational moral code and commemorates an event that underpins the entire historical revelation of God’s relationship with humanity. Without the truth of creation memorialized by the Sabbath, the cross lacks its foundation, and the resurrection loses its significance. This is clear.
By keeping the creation narrative in mind, we grant greater meaning to the cross and resurrection. In other words, by observing the Sabbath, which serves as a memorial of creation, we establish a solid foundation for the significance of the cross and resurrection. We observe the Sabbath because we seek to give the greatest glory to God the Father and His Son, through whom all things were created. We honor the Sabbath because we wish to uphold the integrity of God’s Word, which is rooted in the foundation of Genesis. We keep the Sabbath to witness to all people that we stand with God against the widespread apostasy that has emerged within the Christian church, largely due to the theory of evolution.
Given these facts, the major criticisms leveled against Sabbath observance appear trivial and misguided. In keeping the Sabbath, we are not followers of Judaism, nor are we legalists; we are creationists! As previously stated, a creationist is someone who stands firmly for the Scriptures against all forms of apostasy.
With religious bodies around us fragmented by the theory of evolution, if not entirely devoted to it, we—Sabbath keepers—stand resolutely for the Genesis account of creation and for the inspiration of the entire Bible. How could we ever accept evolution when we take a whole day each week to solemnly “remember” God’s magnificent act of creation—to “remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy”?
