As the saints gather for worship each Lord’s Day, we should think of it as the time signature of history. God set the the metronome “in the beginning” and from then on out, the week begins with God’s creative work.
Being, life, and light all come from Him. The heavens and earth were brought into existence at His Word, on that first day of the week. The week is unlike other measures of time, for its reference point is the creative action of God Almighty.
If we pay close attention to our Bibles, we’ll notice that Christ’s Resurrection took place on a Sunday, which was also the beginning of the festival of Firstfruits. God began His creative work, and then completed His redeeming work on this day.
The lesson that this all should bring home to us is this. Offer yourself up to God this day, this first day of the week, this day of creation and resurrection. God makes & remakes. By starting our week this way, we declare that history doesn’t revolve around the rise & fall of empires, or even the celestial movements of Sun or Moon. The pace of history was set by God Almighty. Your worship here is an act of faith, acknowledging the total Sovereignty of God, and His twofold claim upon mankind: he made us & by Christ redeemed us.
In our corporate worship, we’re gathered up in Christ together with each other and all the faithful saints who’ve gone before us. To resist this ordering of our lives is like trying to swim up Victoria Falls, or escape the Sun’s orbit, or move Mt. Everest to Kansas. This is the first day, and it foretells the endless day of Christ’s conquest. By this, we affirm that God is God of time & eternity, of earth & heaven, and ever shall be.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Father God,
Man seeks for other reference points to reckon the passage of time, but we are inescapably bound to the order You made in that first week. You constructed this world so that our good & Your glory might coincide. Yet every time we sin, we misuse the time You have given to us, and it is as if we think we have the escape velocity to flee from the gravitational pull of Your creative decree. Forgive us for the pride which is central to our sin. Forgive us for using the days You’ve given for working to gratify our fleshly desires. Teach us to number our days, and to do so by offering up this first day in true worship of You, receiving it as a true Sabbath rest which we receive through Christ.
You have called Your church to truth in the inward parts, so we now confess our individual sins to You. Selah.
We do this in Jesus’ mighty name, and Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
The world began with God’s creative Word, bringing forth being and light. God still is working, and each week begins with this declaration of God’s redeeming Word: Your sins are forgiven through Christ.
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