How should we view the Sabbath?
“My friend and I were discussing about the Sabbath and Sunday worship yesterday. From what we read, God sets apart the 7th day as holy. Could you share the Biblical perspective on how we as Christians should view the Sabbath and Sunday worship today?”
Dear Ludi, thank you for your thoughtful question. It’s great that you and your friend are wrestling with what it means to honour God in rest and worship.
Here are five thoughts I have on the Sabbath:
1. God’s good design for rest
The idea of Sabbath begins in creation itself.
“On the seventh day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all his work of creation.”
God rested on the seventh day, not because he was weary, but to set apart a rhythm for his creation — a pattern of work and rest that reflects his own goodness. The Sabbath was later commanded to Israel in Exodus 20:8–11, calling God’s people to rest from labour and to remember both God’s creative power and his redeeming grace.
2. Jesus and the true meaning of Sabbath
When Jesus came, he did not abolish the Sabbath but fulfilled it.
“The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. So then, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Here Jesus reminds us that the Sabbath was made for humanity’s good — not as a burden, but as a gift. Jesus’ ministry of healing and mercy on the Sabbath revealed its true intent: to restore, to give life, and to bring people into the rest of God.
Ultimately, Jesus himself is our true Sabbath rest. Through his death and resurrection, he has given us peace with God, and therefore, we rest not only one day a week, but every day in the finished work of Christ.
“Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people. For the person who has entered his rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from his.”
3. The shift to Sunday worship
After the resurrection, the early Christians began gathering on the first day of the week — the day Jesus rose from the dead. This day was often called “the Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10). We see evidence of this in Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2, where believers met on the first day to break bread and worship together.
Sunday worship, therefore, became a celebration of the new creation inaugurated by Christ’s resurrection — a reminder that God’s ultimate rest has begun in him.
4. Living the rhythm of grace today
I still remember when, as a boy, our local petrol station started trading on Sundays. Both my Dad and my Grandad were really disappointed with the decision, and saw it as evidence that our town was moving away from a Christian pattern of living.
Of course, these days Sunday trading has become perfectly normal, and (contrary to my Father’s views) people are more likely to be annoyed when a business is closed on a Sunday.
So how should we view the Sabbath today?
Christians differ in emphasis — some see Sunday as a “Christian Sabbath,” to be set apart in a similar way to Israel’s old covenant Sabbath. Others view the Sabbath principle as fulfilled in Christ but still valuable as a pattern for healthy, God-centred living.
I hold the latter view, based on Jesus’ fulfilment of the Sabbath (noted above) and on Paul’s teaching in Colossians:
“Therefore, don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is Christ.”
Whatever our precise view, the heart of the matter is the same:
We honour God when we rest from our labours and trust his provision.
We honour God when we gather joyfully with his people to worship and remember the resurrection.
We honour God when we live each day in the spiritual rest that Jesus provides.
So while we are no longer bound by the Old Testament Sabbath law, we are invited into something deeper — a life shaped by grace, gratitude, and rest in Christ.
5. A wise and life-giving rhythm for today
While Christians are not required to keep the Sabbath in a legal sense, I believe it is wise and deeply helpful for households and families to intentionally build a rhythm of rest into their lives.
Our culture prizes busyness and consumption, often leaving little space to enjoy God’s creation, his gifts or his invitation to stillness and rest. Setting aside a regular day for intentional rest can be a powerful act of faith and resistance — a way of saying, “I am not sustained by my productivity, but by God’s grace.”
That day might look different for each of us:
A day to cease from work (and even domestic chores!) and to enjoy unhurried time with God and one another.
A day to step back from the constant flow of buying and selling — a kind of “economic sabbath” that helps us rediscover contentment and gratitude.
Or perhaps a day to rest from screens and technology, creating space for contemplation, conversation, and time in nature.
However we shape it, the goal is not rule-keeping but renewal — living in the freedom and rest that Jesus has already secured for us. Practising rest is not about obligation; it’s about trust, worship, and joy in the one who said,
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Love, Jonathan
