Hebrews 9:14 English Standard Version (ESV) how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Now it is Easter, the day we celebrate our risen Lord. This is not about that.

Today is a new beginning. Yesterday is gone and there is nothing we can do to change what happened. We can only begin again today. It is a new day and the Lord has something new to do and we get to be part of that.

Do we feel guilty for what happened yesterday or perhaps what didn’t happen yesterday? Sure, but those are emotional ties to dead works. Things didn’t turn out as we had hoped. We were not born again to live in the disappointments of yesterday. Our consciences have been cleansed in the blood of the Lamb. We need to honor that sacrifice in order to get up, pick up our beds and leave yesterday behind.

If we find that difficult, then perhaps we have something to repent of. Repentance is a leaving behind, and if we have something we are carrying forward that we should not, then the Holy Spirit is encouraging us to lay it down at the foot of the cross where all dead things need to be laid to rest.

This church age began that first day after the tomb was found empty. Jesus appeared to His disciples after sundown on the 3rd day. That technically makes Monday the first day of the church age, when we mortals wake up seeing Jesus in all His glory.

Matthew 12:36 English Standard Version (ESV) I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,

Today is not judgment day. Today is resurrection day. Today is a day of new beginnings. Do not waste time trying to answer for yesterday’s mistakes. Learn to avoid repeating mistakes. That is how we grow, mature, and keep moving forward. Do not allow the past to keep us from beginning new each day.

2 Corinthians 2:14 English Standard Version (ESV) But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

Genesis 2:2-3 English Standard Version

2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Today is the Sabbath, šabāṯ began at sundown yesterday and will end at sundown today.

Jesus was laid to rest before sundown on Friday according to the bible. Joseph of Arimathea pleaded with Pilate for the body of Jesus late in the day and did not have time to prepare His body according to Jewish tradition. He was laid to rest without the anointing.

According to the law, no Jew could work on the Sabbath so “When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.” Mark 16:1-2 ESV

One point is this, Jesus was God’s Anointed One. Mankind could do nothing to add to that. The second point is that the man Jesus was laid to rest, His work was finished. His last words before giving up His Spirit were “It is finished.” He had completed all that needed to be done as a man, as the sacrifice.

The third and possibly the greater point was that the church age began the day after the Sabbath. The man’s mission was completed, the Lord’s work had just begun.

Hebrews 9:14 English Standard Version (ESV) how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

We get to serve God with a clean conscience.