REST IN CHRIST

To rest in Christ is not a widespread topic of interest, it seems, but it certainly should be. It is one of the most encouraging—and even thrilling—doctrines in the Bible. Knowing that Christ has done all that must be done to set us right with God, and therefore we may rest, is an amazing idea. I simply don’t know how to describe it, or even understand it fully in my own mind.

I know the Bible teaches that rest is the inheritance of those who accept and love Jesus. It is something that comes to us through the work of Christ. It is not to be debated, dissected or even understood. It is to be enjoyed. Start at once. Start what? Start resting in Jesus.

Rest was the inheritance of ancient Israel (Deut. 3:18-20; 12:9-11), and this is the example used in the fourth chapter of Hebrews concerning the believer’s “rest.” There it is stated that there remains a rest for the people of God. “Now if Joshua had succeeded in giving them this rest, God would not have spoken about another day of rest still to come. So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall” (Hebrews‬ ‭4:8-11‬ ‭NLT‬‬).

What significance does rest have for the follower of Christ? Considering the fact that inheritance is a central theme of the Book of Hebrews (Heb. 1:14; 6:12, 17; 9:15), it is more than reasonable to assume that the rest the Israelites enjoyed in the land of Canaan is a type or shadow of the rest that we enjoy in Christ. The promised land of Canaan in the Old Testament was not a direct type of heaven, but of the relationship we have with Jesus Christ now. Its ultimate fulfillment will be found in eternity, of course, and there is certainly a sense in which heaven will be a place of rest. But there is far more to it than that. Heaven is not specifically what the writer is talking about in these verses. This “rest” is something we enjoy now.

To know that we rest in Christ now is a source of tremendous comfort to the heart of God’s child. Rest follows work. Finished work, in particular. After God completed the work of creation, he rested (Gen. 2:1-3; Heb. 4:3-4). One of the Ten Commandments given to Israel was to rest on the seventh day. Just as God finished his work and then rested, his people are to do the same. Under the Law of Moses, it was a literal, physical rest. Everything about the Law of Moses was a type or shadow of what we have in Christ now. The Sabbath rest was a picture of the salvation rest.

In Hebrews 10:1–14, the writer speaks of how Christ fulfilled the law and died on the cross for our sins. Following this, he took his seat at the right hand of God. The work is finished. What we know about resting in Christ is contained right there in that chapter. Because everything that Jesus did counts for us, we now rest just as he did. Because the work that sets us right with God is finished, we are in a position of rest. Like Paul told the Romans, “To the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.” Learn to rest in the accomplishments of Jesus.

Dewayne Dunaway