Entering into God's rest

What God did in the Old Testament was a shadow of what He really wanted, and we need to understand that it was a part of a step by step unveiling of God's plan of salvation for man. It was Jesus Christ who brought forth the reality that the shadow pointed to (He.10:1). What was seen as the Sabbath rest actually stood for something deeper than not doing any work for one day. "For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience" (He.4:8-11).

For us under the new covenant, it is our privilege to enter into the rest of God now, which was not available to people earlier. The first step is to cease from our own efforts to become acceptable to God, and instead to receive salvation as an undeserved gift from God. We find rest by realising that we have no condemnation for our sins because our punishment has been borne by the perfect Lamb of God when He died on the cross, and knowing that God has robed us with the righteousness of Jesus which gives us perfect acceptance before God (Is.61:10). Another part of this rest is to realise that God has a plan for our life, in an overall sense and also about how we must live moment by moment. We can learn to live by submitting to God instead of making our own plans for our life apart from God and doing whatever we like. As we submit to Him we find peace and rest for our mind (Ps.37:5).

What gives us this rest in our mind is from knowing that we are safe in God's love. He has accepted us fully knowing all about us, about our past and also our present situation. He knows what is best for us, and He is almighty to do for us whatever is necessary (Je.29:11).

We experience this rest as we walk faithfully before Him. That is why there is an exhortation for us to be diligent to enter this rest. One mistake many Christians make is to think of all that God has provided for us and to assume that they will automatically experience all of that. But we must understand this, that Adam and Eve sinned when they made a choice to ignore what God said and to follow a step that they thought was going to make them happy. Now, in order for God to take us back to Himself, He has to not only forgive our sins that stand between us, but also to help us to become able to make the right choices now.

Once we understand this, it will be clear that there is a part that we have to do in order to experience God's rest. We have to first repent from our sins and turn to Jesus to receive free forgiveness. After that, for the rest of our life, we must find rest by doing the will of God in every part of life as we learn from Him. For this, we have to deny to ourselves what we feel like doing (Lk.9:23).