Redemption and Rest – The Fourth Commandment

Redemption and Rest

Focus on the redemptive work of God, and rest in it.

Read Exodus 20:8

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

Creation (and providence) provides the first focus for our Lord’s Day rest. The second is God’s work of redemption: “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there…” (Dt. 5.15). The work of Christ in accomplishing our redemption, and His work to come in bringing us into glory, provide powerful sources of rest for the Lord’s Day. Pray through the events leading up to your conversion to Christ (as in Psalm 18), and glory in every detail of how the Lord brought you to Himself. Sing hymns pointing to the glory that is to come in the New Heavens and New Earth. Share parts of your testimony with other believers, and pray for the lost, that they might know the redeeming grace of Christ as well. Thus you will make the work of God – creation, providence, redemption, and glorification – a solid focus for your Lord’s Day rest.

How might you incorporate this focus into your worship with the people of God?

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.