Spirituality Column #761

June 15, 2021

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

The Rest of the Day

By Bob Walters

“Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, ‘So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ (Psalm 95:11) And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world.” – Hebrews 4:1-11, verse 3

Have you ever noticed that the basic message of God in the Old Testament seems to be “Fear the Lord,” and the overarching message of Jesus in the New Testament is “Fear Not”?

That’s the difference between commandments and love.  God’s commandments are a tribal bond of daily works (OT Law) while Jesus’ love is a global bond of faith in eternal fellowship (NT grace).  The commands represent God’s correction of the first Adam who sinned in a garden, while love represents the perfect rest of the sinless Second Adam who died on a cross and was raised in resurrection glory in a garden.

When Israel – chosen by God to bring salvation to the world – failed in obedience to a commandment of the Law, it was Israel’s proper reflex to fear Godly punishment.  When God delivered our salvation in the perfect person and divine work of the “Last Adam,” Jesus, it was God’s love, not His wrath, that was on offer to whomever believed Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God.  This was Israel, saving all mankind.

And we come to this wonderful passage in Hebrews 4:1-11, where the writer invites Israel into the new rest Jesus brings; the perfect Sabbath God enjoyed in his perfect Creation on the seventh day.  It is not the temporary rest – the shadow of a rest – as when Joshua led Israel into Canaan ending their time in the desert (Joshua 1).  This is the new, perfect, eternal rest of God, by faith in Jesus.  God’s perfect Creation is renewed by the New Creation of all things in Christ.  This is the point of the entire Bible.

In Christ, the work of the Law was fulfilled and the temporary “rest” in Canaan faded to metaphor.  The Sabbath day commanded in the Law was a reminder to Israel of the perfection, completeness, and good of God’s Creation.  The Sabbath rest offered in Jesus Christ is God’s enduring invitation to all humanity for forgiveness, love, and eternal life.  We celebrate it on The Lord’s Day, Sunday, but its joy is commemorated in the ever-abiding presence of the living Jesus illuminated by the Holy Spirit … always.

God displayed His anger toward the rebellious Israelites by not allowing the generation led by Moses from Egypt to enter Canaan, “the promised land,” and that included Moses.  The Christian believer writing this Letter to the Hebrews asserts the truth of God’s oath of anger, but notes God’s works have been finished since the world’s Creation.  When Creation was “finished,” God entered a day of divine rest.

Think of the last words of Jesus on the cross, “It is finished.”  Just as God rested in perfection on the seventh day after creating man on the sixth day, Jesus was crucified and finished his work redeeming man on the sixth day, resting on the seventh.

By renewing creation through Jesus, God’s perfect rest flows into humanity through the redeeming work of Christ: sins forgiven, iniquities covered, relationship restored, and the trust and comfort of perpetual Sabbath secured in Christ.  Fear not; God’s eternal love for His Creation, not his wrath at sin, wins out in the end. 

That’s not just a rest on Sunday thing; it’s a rest of your life thing.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes: “Enter my rest” is God’s open invitation to all.