The Day of Resting Revelry
The Church changed the day of resting revelry from Saturday to Sunday as a recognition that Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week. Christ’s work did not change the duration of the work and rest cycle. We still work six and stop one. But there is a different order in the cycle. We rest first and then work.
This is a spiritual reality that our weekly cycle reminds us of. We do not work to be saved, we work because we are saved. God has finished creating and Christ has finished satisfying God’s wrath. We’re not working to appease the Father but rather because the Father accepted the Son’s finished work.
In one sense this is a permanent rest. We do not ever get over the good news. We are only saved through grace by faith in Christ and every Lord’s day we affirm our rest in Him. We’re reminded of the object of our faith and taste the rest for our consciences in Christ. Our bodies benefit from the break, but even more our hearts are refreshed.
The cycle continues until He returns. The Lord’s day is not like a fat kid at the other end of a teeter-totter from six skinny days. This first day of the week is like that fat kid spinning the other days on the merry-go-round in joy. Because of how we’re made, we can’t get up more speed in our work by non-stop work. We must recognize the only One who can bless our work in fruitfulness, and one way that we revel in Him every week is by receiving the bread and the cup from His Table.