God asserts that all the words of the Bible are His words, when he asserts: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God . . .” (2 Timothy 3:16, NKJV), and that they are entirely sufficient to give us everything we need to live our best life—both now and for eternity:

• Over 100 million copies of the Bible are sold each year.
• The Bible is the best-selling book in history, with total sales exceeding 5 billion copies.
• The full Bible has been translated into 532 languages. It has been partially translated into 2,883 languages.

God made the universe with amazing creativity, care, and attention to detail: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, NKJV). He specifically and carefully fashioned humanity to take care of—and take pleasure in—the planet, “Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person. Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made” (Genesis 2:7, 8, NLT).

The first man and woman were made in the image of God as the crowning work of Creation and given the weighty responsibility of caring for the world and all its inhabitants:

• Earth is the only planet not named after a Greek or Roman God or Goddess. Instead the name simply means the soil beneath us. It is thought that the word came from both the English and German words, ‘eor(th)e/ertha’ and ‘erde’, which means ground.
• Perfection: our planet has a number of unique features. The most important is thought to be Earth’s large amounts of water and in just the right amount. Not too much that it covers everything, but not too little that it becomes a desert, like Mars and Venus, (the closest planets to earth).
• Our plate tectonics – the movements of the Earth’s crust- are believed to keep our oceans at an even temperature, helping life to flourish.
• At just the right distance from the Sun to have the perfect heat for life to begin and evolve.
• If earth was smaller, we wouldn’t be able to hold onto our atmosphere, any larger and the planet would be too hot for life.

The Sabbath is God’s gift to us. It’s a time of celebration, remembrance, rest, and restoration of our connection—our relationship—with Him and with others. It reminds us of God’s creation for us and Jesus’ grace.

The Sabbath is a day of spending time with both God and with one another. The Sabbath is God’s perpetual sign of His eternal covenant between Him and His people:

Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy (Exodus 20:8-11, NLT).

• In 2005, National Geographic published the findings of scientists, funded in part by the U.S. National Institute on Aging, who traveled around the globe to learn the secrets of longevity from populations that had high rates of centenarians, few deadly diseases and more healthy years of life. Among them were Seventh-day Adventists in Loma Linda, Calif. Scientists pointed to Adventists’ practice of Sabbath as one of the reasons for their good health.
• Professor Jerry Lee of the School of Public Health at Loma Linda University, —an Adventist school in Southern California—is researching stress hormone levels before and after Sabbath. And most interesting to him, he said, is a study showing fewer deaths during Shabbat (Sabbath) in Israel.

In the first five books of the Old Testament (incidentally, termed the books of “The Law”), there is much wisdom, recognized as a guide for life throughout diverse cultures, faiths, and even the legal system!

Initially God gave the Israelites ten specific laws (Exodus 20:1-17), written by His own hand, on two tablets of stone, however those ten laws aren’t exhaustive, and, as always, people tend to try to follow the letter of the law rather than the spirit (have you ever read the specific warning label on an airplane bathroom smoke detector?).

As time progressed, due to the Israelites’ disobedience, God made this declaration about His unchanging law, “I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people” (Hebrews 8: 10b, NLT).

And, God, through His Son, Jesus, clarified: “ ‘If you love me, obey my commandments’ ” (John 14:15, NLT). But as Jesus received pushback from people who were all about keeping the rules rather than keeping up with people, Jesus put the matter to rest when He declared: “ . . . ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40, NLT).