In the Old Testament God chose one day out of seven, the seventh day, to be the Holy Sabbath. In the New Testament the principle of choosing one day out of seven still continues. Of course, the seventh day which was kept in the Old Testament is over. But the New Testament has its own day. The Sabbath day has not become the Lord’s Day. In the Old Testament God chose the seventh day of the week. In the New Testament He chose the first day of the week. He did not call the seventh day the first day. He chose another day. This day is altogether different from the Sabbath day in the Old Testament.
Psalm 118:22-24 is a very crucial portion of the Word. It says, “The stone which the builders rejected / Has become the head of the corner. / This is from Jehovah, / And it is wonderful in our sight. / This is the day that Jehovah has made; / Let us exult and rejoice in it.” Here we see the phrase the stone which the builders rejected. A builder decides whether or not a stone is useful. If the builder says that a stone cannot be used, it is discarded. But here is a wonderful thing: God has made Him—“the stone which the builders rejected”—“the head of the corner,” that is, the foundation. God has placed the most important duty upon Him. “This is from Jehovah, / And it is wonderful in our sight.” This is indeed wonderful. Verse 24 tells us something more wonderful: “This is the day that Jehovah has made; / Let us exult and rejoice in it.” This means that the day that Jehovah has made is the very day in which the stone, rejected by the builders, became the head of the corner. Although the builders rejected the stone, Jehovah did a wonderful thing on that day. He caused the stone to become the head of the corner. This then is the day that Jehovah has made.
We need to know what day is the day that Jehovah has made. What is the actual day that the stone rejected by the builders became the head of the corner? What day is this day? Acts 4:10-11 says, “Let it be known to you all and to all the people of Israel that in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified and whom God has raised from the dead, in this name this man stands before you in good health. This is the stone which was considered as nothing by you, the builders, which has become the head of the corner.” Verse 10 says, “Whom you crucified and whom God has raised from the dead.” Verse 11 says, “The stone which was considered as nothing by you, the builders, which has become the head of the corner.” In other words, the stone became the cornerstone at the very time of the Lord Jesus’ resurrection. The time of the builders’ rejection was the time that the Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross, while the time of His being made the cornerstone was the time that God raised Him from among the dead. Therefore, “the day that Jehovah has made” is the day of the Lord Jesus’ resurrection. The One rejected by man has been raised up by God. This resurrection is “from Jehovah.” The day of the Lord Jesus’ resurrection is the day that Jehovah has made. It is wonderful in our sight because this day was not made by man but by Jehovah. What is the day that Jehovah has made? It is the day the Lord Jesus resurrected.
Here we see that our Lord’s Day is totally different from the Sabbath of the Old Testament. On the Old Testament Sabbath day, one could not do this or that; everything was negative. If a man broke the Sabbath, he would be put to death. This is a very heavy punishment. But we do not have this stigma today. God prophesied that He would choose another day in the New Testament age. God did not say what could or could not be done on that day. Rather, He told us what should be done. God wants us to exult and rejoice on the day that He has made. Therefore, the special characteristic of the Lord’s Day is that there is only a positive charge; there are no negative commandments.
We would like to consider this day a little more. God groups the days not only into months and years but also into weeks. Every seven days is one unit, ending on the seventh day. Earlier we have said that the Sabbath is a type and that it belongs to the old creation. The new creation began when the Lord resurrected. The old creation ended on the seventh of seven days. This clearly completes the week. The beginning of the new creation was on the first of the seven days, which clearly and plainly signifies a new beginning. The first week was completely old, and the second week is completely new. There is a clear and definite separation between the old creation and the new creation. The week is not divided into two parts, with one part old and the other part new. One week is completely of the old creation, and the next week is completely of the new creation. We do not have a partial week, only a complete week. The Lord Jesus resurrected on the first day of the week, and that whole week completely belongs to the new creation. The church on earth came into being on the day of Pentecost, which also fell on the first day of the week. This also signifies something brand new. If the Lord Jesus had not resurrected on the first day of the week but instead on the seventh day or any other day, there would have been a new creation for part of the week and an old creation for part of the week; the division would not have been that clear-cut. The Lord’s resurrection was on the first day of the week, which was the beginning of a new week. One week belongs to the old creation, and the other week belongs to the new creation. The things of the old creation stopped on the last day of the week, the seventh day. The new creation began on the first day of another week. Consequently, the new creation has been clearly separated from the old creation.
God purposely picks one day out of seven and calls it by a special name. Revelation 1:10 calls it the Lord’s Day. Some say that “the Lord’s Day” is “the day of the Lord” spoken of elsewhere in the Bible. But this is wrong. In the original text “the Lord’s Day” and “the day of the Lord” are two completely different things. “The Lord’s Day” is the first day of the week, while “the day of the Lord” is the day of the Lord’s coming (1 Thes. 5:2; 2 Thes. 2:2; 2 Pet. 3:10). These two are completely different. The writings of the early church fathers give us ample proof that “the Lord’s Day” refers to the first day of the week. This is also the day for the church to meet. Some say that Christians in the second and third centuries met on the Sabbath day and only changed to the Lord’s Day in the fourth century. This is not according to fact. There are many examples in the writings of the early church fathers which prove that the meetings were always held on the first day of the week. This was true from the time of the disciples of John until the fourth century. (Please refer to the appendix at the end of this chapter.)