"Why Do Christians Go to Church on Sunday Instead of the Sabbath?"
Why do most Christians go to church on Sunday, the first day
of the week, instead of the sabbath, the seventh day of the week?
Christians typically go to church on Sunday,
rather than Saturday, because Jesus was raised from the dead on a Sunday
morning. The resurrection is extremely important for Christians.
Indeed, it's so important that, if it didn't occur, Christianity would be
false! In 1 Corinthians 15:17 Paul writes, "...if Christ has not been
raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins."
But why is such great significance attached to Jesus' bodily
resurrection? Although many reasons could be given, let me mention just
two:
- In the resurrection, God the Father vindicated the person and work of
His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who had been crucified not for His own
sin, but for ours (2 Cor. 5:21). Thus, in Romans 1:4 we read that Jesus
"was declared the Son of God with power by (or "as a result of") the
resurrection from the dead." But don't Christians believe that Jesus was
already the Son of God before His resurrection? Yes; this passage
teaches that the resurrection was God's powerful confirmation that Jesus'
message about Himself was true. After all, anyone can CLAIM to be the
Son of God, but only God can confirm the truth of such a claim by raising
the person from the dead!
- In Romans 4:25 we read that Christ "was delivered up because of our
transgressions, and was raised because of our justification." To
"justify" someone means to declare them "righteous," or not-guilty. This
passage indicates the sufficiency of Christ's death for all believers.
In other words, believers can be confident of their justification by God
on the basis of Christ's resurrection. If the Father had not been fully
satisfied with Christ's death for our sins, He would not have raised Him
from the dead. The resurrection is thus God's confirmation of the
complete sufficiency of Christ's death for all who believe!
It is thus because of the tremendous importance of Christ's resurrection
for the Christian faith that Christians worship on Sunday, the day that
God raised Jesus from the dead.
I hope you find this information helpful. May God bless you as you
search the Scriptures!
Shalom,
Michael Gleghorn
Probe Ministries