Jesus Christ, our Sabbath Rest

I thank God for this opportunity which he has afforded me this day to elaborate on this important subject matter. The biblical term, "Sabbath" simply means "to cease from labor or to rest from work". The idea of sabbath can be traced to God after he completed the work of creation. God used six days to finish the work of creation and he rested on the seventh day: Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made (Genesis 2:1-3). 

It is essential to understand that God rested not because he was extremely tired, he is the all powerful God, but he rested in the sense that he ceased from work, because there was no more work to be done. He rested from all his labor, because he has finished creating whatever he has to create. The etymology of sabbath conveys the idea of rest. God in his wisdom instituted sabbatical rest for the children of Israel, just has he rested from all his work: Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy (Exodus 20: 9-11). 

 From the passage, we can see they were to legitimately work six days a week, but on the seventh day, they were to observe the sabbath. It was mandatory on the part of the Israelites to cease from work once every week. The observance of the sabbath is one of the ten commandments which was to be strictly obeyed by the Israelites. The sabbath was a type that pointed to the ultimate rest which the antitype will give to all who will call upon him for salvation. When Jesus came, he fulfilled the law in it's entirety in his life and substitutionary death, see (Matthew 5; 17, Galatians 3; 13). After he had perfected the work of our salvation, he sat down at the right hand of the father. His session at the right hand of God denotes rest, because he has finished his work, there is no more work to be done. The bible says: 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 (Hebrews 4: 9-10). The rest that remains for God's people is not a physical rest, but a spiritual rest. The sabbath foreshadowed the spiritual and eternal rest which the Son of God will give to his people. You can only enter into God's sabbath rest by faith in Jesus Christ. The only requirement to enter into God's rest is by faith. We who have trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation have entered into God's rest. 

  One important element of the sabbath was that, God blessed it and sanctified it as holy: Therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy (Exodus 20; 11). So the Man Jesus Christ was blessed and set apart as holy when he came into this world (John 10; 36). He also blesses and sanctifies as holy all who repose their trust in him as their Lord and Savior. Many people out there are still laboring just for them to be accepted of God. But the truth of the matter is that, God is not interested in their pharisaic righteousness, for he is only interested in the one who will have faith in his Son Jesus Christ. True rest for your soul can be found in none else, save in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, see (Matthew 11; 28). To have faith in Christ is synonymous to entering into God's rest. In the old testament, the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years because of their disobedience and unbelief. They failed to enter into God's rest, which was the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey because of their unbelief: For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief (Hebrews 3:16-19).

 Jesus Christ is God's eternal sabbath rest for whoever that will exercise saving faith in him. The consequences that accompanies unbelief is a failure to enter into God's sabbath rest. A man openly lived in defiance to God's commandment to set aside a day of rest, but he experienced the reward for his disobedience: Now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation; and they put him in custody because it had not been declared what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, "The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp." So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the Lord had commanded Moses (Numbers 15: 32-36).

 Like the Man who broke the sabbatical law, and paid the price for his disobedience, so all who reject God's call to enter into his rest will also experience the dire consequences. It is to your own advantage if you enter into God's rest by faith in Jesus Christ, because if you come by works you will be rejected. Faith and not works is the only essential ingredient required to enter into God's rest. Those who will not enter into God's rest shall be forever separated from God. Therefore I beseech you, to call on the name of the Lord and thou shalt be saved, if you have not yet entered (Romans 10; 13). God bless you

                      A thought to Ponder

      Faith and not works is the only essential ingredient required to enter into God's rest

     We defend and exposit the truth of the gospel