Is Jesus our rest according to Scripture?
First we have to understand what it means to rest.
God worked for 6 days and on the 7th He rested. This was the institution of the Sabbath, so its where we must start.
God rested on the 7th day not because He was tired, He's omnipotent, His rest was to CEASE from His labors.
Jesus is the rest of God. He allows us to cease from our labors.
Jesus says this about Himself,
Matt 11:28Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
In Christ we no longer need to labor, we find rest for our souls.
In regards to the Sabbath, we don't serve the Sabbath.
The Sabbath was given to serve us. Man was not made for it, it was made for man. It was a sign of Christ to come. It pointed to a time when we could enter into the rest of God.
Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath and now WE are in Christ. If we have passed from death to life.
First lets deal with the argument that there is a rest coming, but we can't enter into it now.
This is completely false.
Let's look at the chapter written about the Sabbath.
Hebrews 4:1Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.
The author of Hebrews is clearly telling us there IS a promise of rest. Please notice this is written to Hebrews, this is the people who the Law was given to through Moses. So it's time for them to move into the promise of rest.
And if they haven't yet entered in? They should be afraid because they had FAILED to reach it. If rest wasn't available to us NOW in Christ and was some sort of promise we enter into later, we wouldn't need to fear not reaching it now.
So how do we enter that rest?
3For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,
“As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’”
although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.”
It is through BELIEF in Christ that we enter to the rest of God. And what is the rest of God? Ceasing from our own works, as God ceased from His works from the foundation of the world. This was when the Sabbath was instituted.
So we see clearly in Hebrews 4:1-4
- There is a promise of rest.
- We must enter in now.
- We enter in through belief in Christ.
- This rest was the SAME rest that God was speaking of in regards to the 7th day.
9So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
So here's the thing, people who think they are keeping the Sabbath according to the OT falter at this point. This Scripture tells us those who kept the Sabbath perfect, had failed to enter into God's rest, and there still remained a Sabbath rest for them.
Why? Because the refused to cease from their own labors.
And to those who so desire to be obedient to God. And teach on it continuously, this Scripture is for you.
What is disobedience in Scripture? It is refusing to believe Christ is the ceasing from your own labors.
11Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
There is only ONE Sabbath for God's people and that is belief in Christ. No other Sabbath remains.
First we have to understand what it means to rest.
God worked for 6 days and on the 7th He rested. This was the institution of the Sabbath, so its where we must start.
God rested on the 7th day not because He was tired, He's omnipotent, His rest was to CEASE from His labors.
Jesus is the rest of God. He allows us to cease from our labors.
Jesus says this about Himself,
Matt 11:28Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
In Christ we no longer need to labor, we find rest for our souls.
In regards to the Sabbath, we don't serve the Sabbath.
The Sabbath was given to serve us. Man was not made for it, it was made for man. It was a sign of Christ to come. It pointed to a time when we could enter into the rest of God.
Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath and now WE are in Christ. If we have passed from death to life.
First lets deal with the argument that there is a rest coming, but we can't enter into it now.
This is completely false.
Let's look at the chapter written about the Sabbath.
Hebrews 4:1Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.
The author of Hebrews is clearly telling us there IS a promise of rest. Please notice this is written to Hebrews, this is the people who the Law was given to through Moses. So it's time for them to move into the promise of rest.
And if they haven't yet entered in? They should be afraid because they had FAILED to reach it. If rest wasn't available to us NOW in Christ and was some sort of promise we enter into later, we wouldn't need to fear not reaching it now.
So how do we enter that rest?
3For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,
“As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’”
although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.”
It is through BELIEF in Christ that we enter to the rest of God. And what is the rest of God? Ceasing from our own works, as God ceased from His works from the foundation of the world. This was when the Sabbath was instituted.
So we see clearly in Hebrews 4:1-4
- There is a promise of rest.
- We must enter in now.
- We enter in through belief in Christ.
- This rest was the SAME rest that God was speaking of in regards to the 7th day.
9So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
So here's the thing, people who think they are keeping the Sabbath according to the OT falter at this point. This Scripture tells us those who kept the Sabbath perfect, had failed to enter into God's rest, and there still remained a Sabbath rest for them.
Why? Because the refused to cease from their own labors.
And to those who so desire to be obedient to God. And teach on it continuously, this Scripture is for you.
What is disobedience in Scripture? It is refusing to believe Christ is the ceasing from your own labors.
11Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
There is only ONE Sabbath for God's people and that is belief in Christ. No other Sabbath remains.