Sabbath Thought - Making Room

I have often pondered the last evening of Christ's physical life in terms of what was on His mind.  He knew the death He was going to face - after all, He gave the prophecies of His own death in the Hebrew scriptures.  But He also knew what the Father and He were working out.  He knew what would become possible through His death and becoming the sin payment in our place.  The Father and He had planned for not only the time of His sacrifice, but also His resurrection.  Because our sin now had a covering (pictured in part in the Passover and in the covering of the Mercy Seat in the Tabernacle and later the Temple), the Father could send His Spirit to dwell in us (Acts 2:38, 1 Corinthians 3:16).

All of that, and more, is amazing to consider.  That truth has only been revealed to those whom the Father has called (John 6:44, 1 Corinthians 2:11).  One of the things that Christ talked to His disciples about on that last night was what the Father would do in them because of what Christ was doing for them.  He told the disciples that He was going to prepare a place for them, and that His Father's house had many rooms (John 14:2-3).  He went on to tell them that He was going to come to them again and they would be with Him (v. 4).

We can easily consider these verses as yet to be in the future.  They are in one sense, but not in another.  When Christ spoke these words to the disciples He was yet to die and be resurrected.  We are not yet changed to spirit and living as such with the Father.  We have not yet been given a place in His Kingdom.  But some of what Christ was speaking of began to be fulfilled immediately after the next Feast of Pentecost.  We know that on that historic date God sent forth His Holy Spirit to fill His called out ones.  We are also part of that legacy.  In fact, Christ already is with us by living in us (John 14:16) - He is our "helper".

In Greek, this word "helper" is "parakletos" (par-ACK-lee-tose), and it can also mean consoler, intercessor or advocate.  By application a "parakletos" is one called to the side of another to help.  The word usage in the context of the Greek of the time was that a "parakletos" was a legal adviser or an advocate in the relevant court.  Christ is already beside us, as is God's Holy Spirit.  While He is making a place for us in His Father's Kingdom, we need to ask ourselves, "Are we making room for Him and the Father in our lives now?"  God is making room for us in His family - are we making room for God now in ours?

How do we know if we are making room for God in our life?  We start by keeping His commandments (1 John 3:24) - all of them.  By keeping the Sabbath as holy time, we also keep the previous three commandments - the gods of this life don't take precedence before the One True God, so we don't make images of those false gods, and we don't make His name associated with something vile or evil.

The Sabbath is holy because God dwells in it, and as we come before Him, then He can dwell in us - making us holy (1 Corinthians 3:17)!  As we grow in understanding of how the Sabbath reflects God's very nature, then we can grow to fulfill the remaining commandments.  We love fellow man as God loves them.  "By this we know that we abide (live) in Him, and He is us, because He has given us of His Spirit," (1 John 4:13, NKJV).

The Passover is a week-and-a-half away.  As we begin the annual rehearsal of God's plan of salvation for mankind, let us remember to make room for God to live in us.

I wish you a meaningful Sabbath,

Dan Dowd

27 March, 2020