How Sunday Became the Sabbath Day

God’s purpose was always that the Sabbath Day would eventually be designated as the first day of the week. That purpose is revealed by the establishment of the pattern of six days of work and one day of rest, by the expansion of the motives for observing the Sabbath, by “eighth day” ceremonies of the Old Testament period, by providing a prophetic foundation for the change, and by the radical change in the New Testament church. God’s ultimate purpose was the redemption or salvation of the elect; since that work was completed in the resurrection of Jesus on the first day of the week, the Sabbath Day was originally instituted in order to eventually celebrate God’s completed work of salvation through Christ Jesus.