Saturday, June 23, 2007 at 2:02am
What is in a name?
Column: For His Glory
As a future pastor of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, I have often heard people ask about our denomination's name. ("What does your name mean?") I always politely start with "thank you for asking," and then proceed with the explanation and history of our name.
When our denomination was in its infancy, we wanted a name that would be unique to our mission and biblical truth. Names such as church of God or church of Christ were passed by, because many other denominations were using it. Many churches that used those names had different doctrines; therefore as a church we wanted a name uniquely our own. Furthermore, we wanted our name to be a witness to those who would see it or hear it. It is our prayer that when you hear or see the name "Seventh-day Adventist," that it would spark a curiosity in your mind to investigate what the name means. Do you know why we call ourselves Seventh-day Adventist? As you can see, the name has two parts.
The first part is Seventh-day, and this signifies the day that we as a denomination keep as God's Holy Sabbath. As you well know, the seventh day of the week is Saturday. At creation, God finished His work of creating and ceased from His labor on the seventh day of the week (cf. Genesis 2:1-3). The seventh-day Sabbath is also part of the moral law known as the Ten Commandments. Right at the heart of the Law of God is the Sabbath commandment. It begins with the word "remember," and it also happens to be the longest commandment among the ten. We believe it is at the heart of God's law, because it speaks about worship toward God and your duty to your neighbor. Kind of like a summary of love for God and love for your neighbor. Check it out for yourself; it is quite interesting.
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy" (Exodus 20:8-11).
What makes the Sabbath of the Ten Commandments so special is that it is a 24-hour period in which we "cease" from all our work, homework and secular activities and dedicate it to God. Just like God ceased His work of creation and rested, we too drop everything and just spend 24 hours in a special "date" with our creator. The Sabbath gives our families time built in weekly for quality time. As you know, life can be very hectic. Sabbath reminds us that God created this world and that we need time to bond with those we love. The Sabbath is truly a wonderful blessing built right into God's Holy Law.
The second part of our name is Adventist. This is to tell the world about the soon coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We live to proclaim the gospel to every "nation, tongue and tribe." All our churches in over 230 countries preach that we need to recognize the saving grace of Jesus Christ and that He is coming soon to be with those who have chosen Him as their savior. We strongly believe God is coming back and that "every eye will see Him," and we want no one to miss out on the "blessed hope" of His second coming. We remind people that when Christ comes back for the second time, He will not be coming as a humble servant to save the world but rather He will be coming as King of Kings and Lord of Lords to gather those who have chosen to serve Him in this life. My prayer is that you will choose today to follow Jesus Christ and the teachings found in His word.
So there you have it — the meaning of our name. May the Lord bless you as you seek to "Remember the Sabbath" and await His Second coming.
— — —
Gio Marin is an author, currently working on a master of divinity degree at Andrews Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, with a dual emphasis on systematic theology and church growth & evangelism. Visit For His Glory, the blog, and send an email to {email GioMarinColumn@aol.com}GioMarinColumn@aol.com{/email}. Copyright 2007 by Gio Marin.
When our denomination was in its infancy, we wanted a name that would be unique to our mission and biblical truth. Names such as church of God or church of Christ were passed by, because many other denominations were using it. Many churches that used those names had different doctrines; therefore as a church we wanted a name uniquely our own. Furthermore, we wanted our name to be a witness to those who would see it or hear it. It is our prayer that when you hear or see the name "Seventh-day Adventist," that it would spark a curiosity in your mind to investigate what the name means. Do you know why we call ourselves Seventh-day Adventist? As you can see, the name has two parts.
The first part is Seventh-day, and this signifies the day that we as a denomination keep as God's Holy Sabbath. As you well know, the seventh day of the week is Saturday. At creation, God finished His work of creating and ceased from His labor on the seventh day of the week (cf. Genesis 2:1-3). The seventh-day Sabbath is also part of the moral law known as the Ten Commandments. Right at the heart of the Law of God is the Sabbath commandment. It begins with the word "remember," and it also happens to be the longest commandment among the ten. We believe it is at the heart of God's law, because it speaks about worship toward God and your duty to your neighbor. Kind of like a summary of love for God and love for your neighbor. Check it out for yourself; it is quite interesting.
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy" (Exodus 20:8-11).
What makes the Sabbath of the Ten Commandments so special is that it is a 24-hour period in which we "cease" from all our work, homework and secular activities and dedicate it to God. Just like God ceased His work of creation and rested, we too drop everything and just spend 24 hours in a special "date" with our creator. The Sabbath gives our families time built in weekly for quality time. As you know, life can be very hectic. Sabbath reminds us that God created this world and that we need time to bond with those we love. The Sabbath is truly a wonderful blessing built right into God's Holy Law.
The second part of our name is Adventist. This is to tell the world about the soon coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We live to proclaim the gospel to every "nation, tongue and tribe." All our churches in over 230 countries preach that we need to recognize the saving grace of Jesus Christ and that He is coming soon to be with those who have chosen Him as their savior. We strongly believe God is coming back and that "every eye will see Him," and we want no one to miss out on the "blessed hope" of His second coming. We remind people that when Christ comes back for the second time, He will not be coming as a humble servant to save the world but rather He will be coming as King of Kings and Lord of Lords to gather those who have chosen to serve Him in this life. My prayer is that you will choose today to follow Jesus Christ and the teachings found in His word.
So there you have it — the meaning of our name. May the Lord bless you as you seek to "Remember the Sabbath" and await His Second coming.
— — —
Gio Marin is an author, currently working on a master of divinity degree at Andrews Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, with a dual emphasis on systematic theology and church growth & evangelism. Visit For His Glory, the blog, and send an email to {email GioMarinColumn@aol.com}GioMarinColumn@aol.com{/email}. Copyright 2007 by Gio Marin.