In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. (Genesis 1:1-5)

His Day The First Day

From the beginning of the world and the creation of man and woman, time has been marked by days and years. Though calendars have evolved throughout the history of man, all men have marked the passing of life in days, weeks, months and years. Ordained by God each week consists of seven days. On the fourth day of creation, the Lord created the sun, moon, and stars to be as signs and seasons, and for days and nights dividing the day and night. After the flood, God told Noah that all seasons and days would continue as they had from the beginning as long as the world would stand. However long the grace of the Almighty allows the universe to remain, days pass as fleeting shadows of increasing years and centuries. Man is trapped in the revolving door of days and weeks counting his life in years until time is no more and death approaches. Whether a man believes in God or not he recognizes the law of creation when he marks his life with days. With all the wisdom of man, he can never escape the invisible attributes of the Lord’s handiwork in determining his life with days and weeks. The challenge for all men has been how he spends those days and what the weeks of life will mean to him. Throughout the revelation of God to man the Divine has ordained certain things on certain days that would test the resolve of man to honor his Creator or deny Him. It is not insignificant to consider the world was created with the power of God to bring light dividing the darkness and the story of man begins. Darkness was on the face of the deep and by the word of the Lord, the light came and overwhelmed the darkness of the world. The first day was the first evidence of God’s love, His power, His might and His message of a hope that would save man from himself. On the first day of the week on the first day of creation, light ruled the world.

As God prepared to deliver Israel from the bondage of Egypt, the Lord told Moses the final plague would be the beginning of the calendar for His people. When the Lord told Moses what would come upon the nation of Egypt and the death of the firstborn, He gave instructions to the Hebrews to save themselves and flee the wrath of God. On the tenth day of the month, they would take a lamb, a male of the first year and keep it until the fourteenth day when it would be killed at twilight. Taking the blood and putting it on the doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat the Passover meal, the children of Israel would be saved from the death of their firstborn. The tenth plague would take place on the night of the seventh day which corresponds to our Saturday night. The Lord instituted the seventh day as a holy convocation for the nation of Israel to remember how they were delivered from the Egyptians. Moses would define the day as the Sabbath day in the Law. The significance of the Sabbath was first realized because of what happened on the first day of the week. Under the Law, on the first day of the week, the people were to remove leaven from their houses and if a man ate leaven on the first day or other days he would be cut off from Israel. The first day of the week was a significant day for the feast of the Passover. It would have greater significance when the Passover lamb of Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week.

The New Testament is very clear the Law of Moses has been abolished and as the Jews are no longer bound by that Law so the Gentiles cannot find salvation apart from Christ. God sent His Son into the world to save the Jew and the Gentile who could not justify themselves as a law to themselves or keeping the Mosaical law. The hope of eternal life is found in Jesus and in the divine wisdom of the Father He established the first day of the week as a day of remembrance for the sacrifice of Jesus, the love of God and the ordination of worship for all men who will obey His will. The first day of the week was when the Creator brought light into a world of darkness. In the New Testament church, the first day of the week is when God brought from the grave His only begotten Son that gave light to a world filled with sin. On the first day of the week, the Holy Spirit ordained that all men honor and worship the Lord without exception. Like the Passover lamb when Israel was in Egypt, Jesus became the sacrifice as His blood is now the evidence of God’s mercy to save men from His wrath. The beginning of salvation began on the first day of the week and has been bound as a sign of the everlasting covenant of grace to worship the Father who willingly gave His Son as a sacrifice. Sunday is not just a day of the week. It is a day of praise, worship, glory, and honor to the Lord for His love, His grace, His kindness, and His message that hope can only be found in Christ. There is a symbolism from the Law of Moses as the people prepared for the Passover feast to remove leaven from their homes on the first day of the week. It would do well for all those who honor God to use the first day of the week as a day of cleansing the leaven of the world from their lives so they can prepare their hearts for the devotion of the lamb that was slain on a Roman cross. Sunday is the day of the Lord for a reason. Never lose the meaning of this day.