(Heb 4:9,10 NLT) So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God's rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world.
This morning we continue to wind down we have already covered the fact that God rested from Creation, not because He was tired, but because He was finished. The only thing that God is creating today is Born-Again believers, as they accept His Son Jesus as Lord. God rested when He finished the work of creation. God's Son rested when He finished the work of making new-creation available to all men. And now, when we accept Jesus as Lord, we are made new creatures in Him (2 Cor 5:17). For those believers, those children of God, those who have been born of His Spirit, the Father offers a special rest. After making peace with God the Father offers us the peace of God, which far exceeds human understanding, reasoning, or even explanation. This is not a heavenly rest that will be experienced 'some day,' but rather a current rest that is made available to every believer by faith.
The Hebrew writer tells us that "All who have entered into God's rest have rested from their labors." Prior to Jesus the Jews attempting to receive atonement for sin through a series of rituals and routines under the Mosaic Law. Because the Law was cumbersome and taxing, it could never provide true rest; especially rest from our own works. It's as if believers before Christ were actually working for justification and intimacy with God. However, you and I, as New Testament believers, understand that we could never work our way to heaven. No amount of labor could ever provide true justification and righteousness. We have been declared righteous because of what Jesus did (2 Cor 5:21) and now we can rest in the salvation we have in Him.
I remember when I thought I had to basically "work" for my salvation. I was always apprehensive, timid, and somewhat weary. Whenever I sinned (which we all do by the way), I wearily asked for forgiveness and attempted my best to reconcile my wrongdoing with God. It was not until the Father revealed to me, through His Word and His Spirit, that my salvation has been purchased by the Blood of Jesus and that I was secure in Him that I was able to truly rest from my own works. Today I serve God because I love Him, not because I am trying to earn my way to heaven. If we could earn our way to heaven it would not have been necessary for Jesus to die for our sin. We could never earn it, and Jesus did die in our stead, so now we can truly enter into divine rest.
So what does this mean to you? It means that Jesus died to get us out of everything that Adam got us into. When Adam disobeyed God satan's dynamic duo, sin and death, were introduced into the earth and Jesus came to deal with both. Jesus conquered sin on Calvary's cross and He then conquered death when He was resurrected three days later. Jesus was both the PASSOVER lamb (for death) and the Atonement lamb (for sin). This means that we no longer need to kill animals, we no longer need to 'attempt' to work our way towards righteousness, and we no longer need to labor to make it heaven. Today our work is simply to believe (John 6:29) and then to rest in Jesus' finished work.
Once we are at peace with knowing that we are going to heaven, then we can truly rest, enjoy God, enjoy life, and be the light and salt the Father desires for us to be!
Father, I will never cease to praise Your name for sending Your Son to die for me. You sent Jesus, who knew no sin, to be MADE sin FOR ME, that I might be MADE the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD by faith. For that I am eternally grateful. You have declared me righteous because of what Jesus did for me and because I accepted Him as Lord. I receive that righteousness by faith, I rest from my own works, and I know I have been delivered from hell. Since I have been delivered from the worse possible thing that could ever happen to me, then I can surely enter into Your rest long enough to enjoy the life that I now have IN YOU! Use me today Father to be light (to shine) and salt (to preserve) in the midst of darkness and decay! In Jesus' name. Amen!
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