sabbath rest | The Spirit and the Word
The Word of God and His Rest
This is the last post in the series about entering God’s rest. In my previous article, we saw that the writer of Hebrew’s final statement was about the Word of God.
This section of Scripture has been talking about the Word of God throughout chapters three and four.
Based upon these Scriptures, there are three facts that we can conclude.
First, God has spoken to us a Word concerning our entering His rest. Next, we have heard that Word. Finally, we MUST, therefore enter His rest. The reason that we must enter His rest is because the Word of the Lord is living, active, sharp, penetrating, and judging.
The Word of God is both living and active. It doesn’t just lay dormant waiting for you to do something with it. It is, right now, in the process of working in you.
The literal Greek reads that it’s sharp enough to cut through with a single stroke. The Word doesn’t need to keep chopping and hacking. One cut is all it takes and it can pierce through all the layers of your life – body, soul, and spirit.
No matter how you receive it, God’s Word can change everything. If you receive it with your spirit, the Word can cut right through to your flesh. If you hear it with your ears, it can make its way to your spirit. Nothing is beyond its reach.
Another word that’s used about the Word of God in this passage is judging. This means that it’s decisive. It decides the deliberations of your heart. It looks at your moral understanding, intents, and thoughtfulness.
The Greek word used for that thought means an exposed neck for the killing stroke. There’s absolutely no defense against this weapon. This is especially true when wielded by the One to whom we must give account.
The Lord God has called us to enter His rest by His powerful Word. And it’s that same Word that will judge our response to it. Thank God that we have a Great High Priest who has traversed the heavens. He has bridged the gap between us and God’s resting place. We can now hold fast to our profession of faith. This means that we can speak the same way that He speaks.
What will our response be? We’ve been called to enter the powerful place of the Lord’s rest. We’re now responsible for that knowledge. How will we answer? Will we make every effort to enter in? Or will we ignore it like the children of Israel? Remember, we have the Great High Priest to help us. He’s standing with you right now. Here’s the bottom line.
We must make the decision to enter the place of rest with confidence. That’s what the throne of grace is all about. The word confidence means outspoken, with publicity. It should be common knowledge to all that you’re resting in Christ and are relying upon His power.
The throne of grace is where we have that perfect rest in God. It’s the intimate place of mercy which we talked about in chapter 4. It’s in that place that you find all the grace needed for life and godliness. The passage literally says that this grace will hold you tightly and right on time.
Remember, the key to resting in God is the knowledge that we don’t work to bring about an outcome. We rest in faith knowing that God has already accomplished it. I have the assurance that God will provide all of my needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
I don’t work to provide for myself and my family. I merely need to respond correctly to the leading of the Holy Spirit in my life. The world has no concept of this rest.
Unfortunately, a lot of the church doesn’t either. My greatest need is to learn how to respond to God. It requires me to put forth the faith to lay hold of this. It should our greatest joy to know that we’re fellow participants in Christ. We can experience the manifestation of His rest and His power. Make every effort to enter into His rest today!
Question: What do you need to do to enter this resting place?
Posted by Revzacc on November 4, 2015 in Faith, Power of God, Spiritual Walk, The Church
Tags: Christ, confession, faith, God's rest, God's resting place, grace, Jesus, profession of faith, rest, resting in Christ, resting in the Lord, sabbath rest, sword, throne of grace, word of God
God the Chess Player
I’m posting a series about resting in the Lord. Of course you can’t talk about rest without mentioning the Sabbath.
For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.”
At this point the writer of Hebrews begins talking about the Sabbath – the seventh day. There’s a lot of controversy in the body of Christ over the concept of the seventh day. I believe that if you just read the Scripture with open eyes it will go a long way to clear things up. It’s obvious that in this verse the writer is referring to the creation account in Genesis.
Once everything was in place, God rested from His work. That’s how God rests. God entered His rest knowing that the world had been established such that everything would turn out as He had planned. This is why the principle of God’s rest is so elusive to us.
This is just the opposite of how we view it sometimes. By observation, we get the wrong impression. We think that each time someone or the enemy makes a move; God has to find a way to answer it. That is absolutely NOT the way it is.
Think about a master chess player. When they play chess, they plan 20 or more moves ahead. Then there comes a point in a match when one will declare, “Checkmate in 5 moves.” That means that the board is set in such a way that no matter what the opponent does, the victory is a sure thing.
This is what God did at Creation. As He formed the world, God knew every choice every person could ever possibly decide. He also knew how to bring about the end He desired no matter what choice anyone made. It will all turn out as planned.
He established the world so that He knows all the right moves to make to bring about His victory at the right time. By saying that God rested on the seventh day, we mean that at that point God announced, “Checkmate in 7000 years.” (Or however long it will take!)
God has been resting ever since that day. God was still resting when the children of Israel went into Egypt. That was also the case when they crossed the Red Sea. He was resting when Israel went into Babylonian captivity, and when they returned. God was resting when Jesus Christ walked the earth, died, was buried, and rose from the dead. He was resting on the day of Pentecost. God is resting right now. How can this be?
The Scripture above literally says that God rested off of His work. I believe that this means that His rest is separate from His actions. This brings up the question, can you rest and work at the same time? That and other questions will be answered as we continue to look at this concept of rest. At this point we only need to understand that when everything was prepared and in place, God rested.
God is at rest, not fretting or fussing over the future. If that’s the case, then why should I worry about how things are going to turn out? I can place my confidence securely in the Lord, knowing that He’s already worked out my problem.
Question: Why do believers worry so much about the future?
Posted by Revzacc on October 28, 2015 in Faith, Power of God, Spiritual Walk
Tags: choices, creation, faith, God the chess player, God's rest, rest, resting in the Lord, Sabbath, sabbath rest, seventh day, trust, work, worry