Enter Into God's Rest
Last week I needed to cut down 2 trees to make room for a new drain field. At the end of the day, I truly needed physical rest. What a blessing rest is, especially when your whole body really hurts! This made me think about the gift of grace we have in eternal spiritual rest.
The concept of entering into God’s rest comes from Hebrews chapters 3-4. The word “rest” is used twelve times in chapter 4 alone. God is certainly driving home a point! What is this rest the Hebrew writer is talking about? How do we enter it? And how do we
fail to enter it? The writer to the Hebrews begins his discussion of God’s rest in chapter 3, where he references the Israelites wandering in the desert. In giving them the land of Canaan, God had promised them that He would go before them and defeat all their
enemies in order that they could live securely. All that was required of them was to fully trust in Him and His promises. However, they refused to obey Him and lived in unbelief. Instead, they murmured against Him, even yearning to go back to their bondage under the Egyptians. But let’s not be too hard on the Israelites. We need to ask ourselves, why do we keep going back to the bondage of sin and disobedience? Romans 8:2 tells us, “For the law of the Spirit of Life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” Like the Israelites, we hold onto our sinful nature, and unbelief, rather than trusting, obeying, and resting in Him.
Using the Israelites as an example of those who were not resting in God’s promise, the writer of Hebrews goes on in chapter 4 to make the application personal, both to the Hebrew Christians and to us: Hebrew 4:1, “Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seems to have failed to reach it”. The promise that still stands is the promise of salvation through God’s provision – Jesus Christ. He alone can provide the eternal rest of salvation through His blood shed on the cross for the remission of sins. God’s rest, then, is in the spiritual realm, the rest of
salvation.
Faith, the author goes on to assert, is the key to entering God’s rest. The Hebrews had the gospel preached to them, just as the Israelites knew the truth about God, but the messages were of no value to them because those who heard did not combine it with faith (see Hebrew 4:2). Some had heard the good news of Christ, but they rejected it for lack of faith.
Hebrews 4:10-13 explains the nature of this faith. The kind of faith that enables us to enter God’s rest is a faith that first demands that we rest from relying on our own works, also known as self-righteousness. Paul drives home this point throughout his letters even going back to Abraham. In Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast”.
Hebrews 4:11, “make every effort to enter that rest” by choosing to depend solely on God, to trust Him implicitly, to yield totally to the promises of God through the free grace of His salvation. Why? So “that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience” We either trust ourselves to save us, or we trust God to do that through the once for all sacrifice of Christ on the cross, (Hebrews 7:27). By failing to trust God fully in His promises, we become disobedient and fail to enter the rest that is eternal life, just as the children of Israel became disobedient when they failed to enter the Promised Land.
Hebrews chapters 3-4 is encouraging us to let Christ alone who is our Good Shepherd take us into our spiritual Canaan where we will find rest, green pastures, and blessings. Unlike the Israelites whose unbelief prevented them from entering the Promised Land, we are to enter God’s rest by faith in Him.
The author of Hebrews closes chapter 4 with the significant role of God’s Word in our life. God’s Word is alive and active, powerful, and penetrating. It diagnoses our needs and points us to God’s power. It discloses the condition of our heart. It demands our obedient response. Hebrews 4:12, “For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two -edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
May we rest in Christ alone for salvation, the founder and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).
Your brother In Christ, Jim Nelson
The concept of entering into God’s rest comes from Hebrews chapters 3-4. The word “rest” is used twelve times in chapter 4 alone. God is certainly driving home a point! What is this rest the Hebrew writer is talking about? How do we enter it? And how do we
fail to enter it? The writer to the Hebrews begins his discussion of God’s rest in chapter 3, where he references the Israelites wandering in the desert. In giving them the land of Canaan, God had promised them that He would go before them and defeat all their
enemies in order that they could live securely. All that was required of them was to fully trust in Him and His promises. However, they refused to obey Him and lived in unbelief. Instead, they murmured against Him, even yearning to go back to their bondage under the Egyptians. But let’s not be too hard on the Israelites. We need to ask ourselves, why do we keep going back to the bondage of sin and disobedience? Romans 8:2 tells us, “For the law of the Spirit of Life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” Like the Israelites, we hold onto our sinful nature, and unbelief, rather than trusting, obeying, and resting in Him.
Using the Israelites as an example of those who were not resting in God’s promise, the writer of Hebrews goes on in chapter 4 to make the application personal, both to the Hebrew Christians and to us: Hebrew 4:1, “Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seems to have failed to reach it”. The promise that still stands is the promise of salvation through God’s provision – Jesus Christ. He alone can provide the eternal rest of salvation through His blood shed on the cross for the remission of sins. God’s rest, then, is in the spiritual realm, the rest of
salvation.
Faith, the author goes on to assert, is the key to entering God’s rest. The Hebrews had the gospel preached to them, just as the Israelites knew the truth about God, but the messages were of no value to them because those who heard did not combine it with faith (see Hebrew 4:2). Some had heard the good news of Christ, but they rejected it for lack of faith.
Hebrews 4:10-13 explains the nature of this faith. The kind of faith that enables us to enter God’s rest is a faith that first demands that we rest from relying on our own works, also known as self-righteousness. Paul drives home this point throughout his letters even going back to Abraham. In Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast”.
Hebrews 4:11, “make every effort to enter that rest” by choosing to depend solely on God, to trust Him implicitly, to yield totally to the promises of God through the free grace of His salvation. Why? So “that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience” We either trust ourselves to save us, or we trust God to do that through the once for all sacrifice of Christ on the cross, (Hebrews 7:27). By failing to trust God fully in His promises, we become disobedient and fail to enter the rest that is eternal life, just as the children of Israel became disobedient when they failed to enter the Promised Land.
Hebrews chapters 3-4 is encouraging us to let Christ alone who is our Good Shepherd take us into our spiritual Canaan where we will find rest, green pastures, and blessings. Unlike the Israelites whose unbelief prevented them from entering the Promised Land, we are to enter God’s rest by faith in Him.
The author of Hebrews closes chapter 4 with the significant role of God’s Word in our life. God’s Word is alive and active, powerful, and penetrating. It diagnoses our needs and points us to God’s power. It discloses the condition of our heart. It demands our obedient response. Hebrews 4:12, “For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two -edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
May we rest in Christ alone for salvation, the founder and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).
Your brother In Christ, Jim Nelson
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