There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:9-10)
Here’s a great question, “If God is omnipotent, possessing all the power in the universe, how are we to understand God rested on the seventh day of creation” (Genesis 2:2)? Please read on and be greatly encouraged today.
Perhaps the simplest way of putting this truth into words so that we might understand is this: God stopped His doing, but He never stopped His displaying. God stopped creating but He never stopped His sustaining. God was not tired as if His strength and power had diminished in any way over the previous six days of creation. After six days of work, we are tired and we are in need of a rest, but never our God. Isaiah puts it this way, “The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary” (Isaiah 40:28). And Jesus put it this way, “My father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working” (John 5:17). So, what does it mean to rest in the One who never rests?
Everyday Rest – the first rest we are to understand is the rest we receive when we first become a Christian. Because of the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we are raised from death to life, we are immediately and forever more, given a rest from our self-salvation project. We can stop trying to save ourselves because God in Christ has saved us. We no longer have to try to work ourselves into God’s favor because Jesus has already done this for us on our behalf. We are free from the works of the Law because Jesus has accomplished that Law on our behalf. Our doing is to be exchanged for our devotion as we work out our salvation in the strength of the grace that saved us. But that’s not all . . .
Eternal Rest – the second and final rest we are to understand is the rest that “remains” to be received on the other side of the grave. This is the life that awaits us in glory when we stand before the face of God. This is the life where all of our rebellion will be removed, our sin slain, and our disobedience turned into divine devotion. We will, for the very first time in life, be fully resting in the promises of God.
So, regardless of where this finds you, whether tired or utterly exhausted, cheer up. Look to your Lord and enter into your everyday rest by resting in your redemption, the finished work of Christ. And when you find yourself up against it, tired, weary, and heavy laden, look beyond the horizon to the promised rest that awaits you in heaven. It won’t be long now even if you live to be 100 years old.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 