Possessing God’s Rest
“So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of
God…
…Let us do our best to enter that place of rest. For anyone who disobeys God, as the people of
Israel did, will fall.” Hebrew 4:9, 11
What exactly is God’s rest and how do we enter it?
I. Jesus
sat down in the place of honor!
- Hebrew 1:3 “The Son reflects God’s own glory, and everything about him represents God exactly. He sustains the universe by the mighty power of his command. After he died to cleanse us from the stain of sin, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God of heaven."
- John 17:4 “I brought glory to you here on earth y doing everything you told me to do.”
- John 19:30 “When Jesus had tasted it, he said, ‘It is finished!’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”
- Jesus pleased the Father to perfection!
II. God’s
promise for us to enter his place of rest is there (Hebrews 4) ** so let’s
enter into His rest
A. We should settle down in His finished work.
B. He continues to fight my battles for me.
C. He continues to be called upon to leave His rest
to combat Satan, disease and poverty over and over.
D. 1 Corinthians 3:21, 23 “Son don’t take pride in
following a particular leader.
Everything belongs to you” “and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs
to God.”
E. God the Father fully accepted the work of Jesus;
this work does not have to be done again.
F. Rest in the confidence that Jesus has done the
work for us. Rest knowing His Word will
never fail.
III. We have
to become God minded
A. We have to stop the old way of thinking and
become Scripture lead
B. The Holy Spirit is here with us to see to it
that the rest is not disturbed
- Ephesians 3:20 “Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope”
* The difficulties
that we face sometimes overshadow the reality of God’s promise and some people
doubt that God will fulfill his promises.
When we trust our own efforts instead of Christ’s power, we are in
danger of turning back. Our efforts are
never adequate, only Christ can see us through.
The Israelites of Moses’ day are perfect illustrations of
the problems facing many of today’s Christians?
They profess to know a great deal about Christ, but they do not know him
personally, they don’t combine their knowl3dge with faith. Let the Good News about Christ benefit your
life. Believe in him and then act on
what you know. Trust in Christ and do
what he says.
God did not rest on the seventh day because he was tired, no
He was indicating completion of His creation.
His creation was perfect and He was well satisfied. This rest was a foretaste of our eternal joy
when creation will be renewed and restored, every stain of sin will be removed
and the world will be made perfect again.
Our rest in Christ begins when we trust him to complete his good and
perfect work in us, our future eternal life with Christ, which we will only
attain through faith and obedience.
God offers us the opportunity to enter his ultimate place of
rest; he invites us to come to Christ.
To enter his rest we must believe that God has this relationship in mind
for us, wemust stop trying to create it, we must trust in Christ for it, and
we must determine to obey him. Today is
the best time to find peace with God, tomorrow may be too late.
God wants us to enter his place of rest, for us Christians
this place is peace with God now and eternal life on a new earth later. We do not need to wait for the next life to
enjoy God’s rest and peace; we may have it daily now. Our daily rest in the Lord will not end with
death but will become an eternal rest in the place Christ is preparing for us
(see John 14:1-4)
Since Jesus has provided for our rest through faith why must
we do our best to enter that place of rest? This is not the struggle of doing
good in order to obtain salvation, nor is a struggle to overcome
selfishness. It refers to making every
effort to appreciate and benefit from what God has already provided. Salvation is not to be taken for granted, to
appropriate the gift God offers requires decision and commitment.
The Word of God is not simply a collection of words from
God, it is living, and life changing, and dynamic as it works in us. God’s Word reveals who we are and what we are
not. It reaches to the core of our moral
and spiritual life. It discerns what is within
us, both good and evil. The demands of God’s
Word require decisions. We must not only
listen to the Word, we must also let it shape our live.
Nothing can be hidden from God, He knows about everyone everywhere
and everything about us is wide open to his all seeing eyes. God sees all we do and knows all we
think. Even when we are unaware of his
presence, he is thee. When we try to
hide from him, he sees us. We can have
no secrets from God. It is comforting to
realize that although God knows intimately he still loves us.
We should be comforted knowing that Jesus faced temptation,
he can sympathize with us. We should be
encouraged knowing that Jesus faced temptation without giving in to sin. He shows us that we do not have to sin when
facing the seductive lure of temptation.
Jesus is the only perfect human being that has ever lived.
Prayer is our approach to God and we are to come boldly, not
with our heads hung low, afraid to ask him to meet our needs. Neither flippantly, giving little thought to
what we are saying. Come to God with
reverence because he is our King, but also come with bold assurance because he
is our Friend and Counselor.
He gave us His rest.
God Bless All,
Pastor David J Barberis
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