REST IN CHRIST
To rest in Christ is one of the most comforting truths in all of Scripture. It is not discussed often, yet it should be. It is the heart of the gospel. To know that Christ has already done all that must be done to set us right with God, and that we may now rest, is almost too wonderful for words. It silences human pride and brings peace to the weary soul. The gospel tells us that the work is finished. What remains is to trust and rest.
The Bible teaches that rest is the inheritance of those who belong to Jesus. It is not something to be argued or analyzed. It is to be received and enjoyed. Begin at once. Begin resting in Jesus. When ancient Israel entered Canaan, that land was their inheritance, their rest (Deuteronomy 3:18–20; 12:9–11). The writer of Hebrews uses that picture to describe the believer’s rest in Christ. “If Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later of another day. So there remains a 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 4:8–10). This is not merely about the future. It is something believers can know now.
The theme of inheritance runs throughout the book of Hebrews (Hebrews 1:14; 6:12; 9:15). The land of promise in the Old Testament is a shadow of the spiritual rest found in Christ. It was never meant to picture heaven directly, but the believer’s present fellowship with Jesus. Heaven will indeed be a place of rest, but the writer of Hebrews is pointing us to something we can already enjoy—rest in our Redeemer. This rest is not only a destination but a condition of the heart that trusts in the finished work of the Savior.
Rest follows work. After God completed creation, He rested (Genesis 2:1–3; Hebrews 4:3–4). Under the Law of Moses, the Sabbath was a command to rest after labor, a pattern of something deeper that would one day be fulfilled in Christ. Just as God’s work was finished, so Christ’s redemptive work has been finished. When He died upon the cross, He cried, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Then He sat down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 10:12). The sitting down speaks of a work completed, a victory secured, a rest obtained. Because Christ has finished the work, those who are in Him now rest.
To rest in Christ is to believe that His accomplishments are enough. “To the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5). Faith lays down its labor and rests in the merit of another. It no longer strives to earn what has already been freely given. Rest begins where self-effort ends. It begins at the cross.
If you are in Christ, rest. Those who believe in Him are to see themselves as having finished their work. They rest in His fullness. “You are complete in Him” (Colossians 2:10). The rest that Joshua and Caleb entered was a picture of what believers now experience in Christ. The Israelites who refused to believe perished in the wilderness. The same truth holds today. Those who trust in Christ enter rest. Those who rely on themselves remain restless and burdened. “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Your inheritance from God is rest in Christ. When the writer of Hebrews says that a rest remains for the people of God (Hebrews 4:9), he means that in Christ we have been fully accepted. Jesus is our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). Salvation begins and ends with faith (Romans 1:17). He is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Because His work is finished, we can rest.
When you realize that Christ has accomplished everything for you, then peace fills the heart. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). Times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord bring rest to the soul (Acts 3:19). The old life of striving fades away. The new life in Christ begins. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
After this life is over, we will enter a rest that never ends. The heavenly rest is the final portion of those who have rested in Christ now. He gives us a taste of it even here on earth. We are seated with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). Our inheritance is already secured. Christ is the captain of our salvation (Hebrews 2:10) and our forerunner into heaven (Hebrews 6:20). We are as certain of heaven as if we were already there. That is why we rest.
To rest is to trust. After God finished His work of creation, He rested. After Jesus finished His work of redemption, He rested. When we rest in Him, we share in His peace. We rest from working for salvation. We rest from the opinions of others. We rest from the burden of guilt and fear. We live in continual dependence on the One who loves us.
Yet resting in Christ never means idleness. It means that while we no longer labor for salvation, we now labor from it. The one who rests in Christ’s finished work becomes the most willing worker for His cause. Paul said, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10). The believer’s service flows from gratitude, not guilt. We serve because the work of salvation is done. We love because we are loved. We labor because we have found rest in the One who said, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30).
Those who disbelieved in the wilderness died without entering their rest. The same is true for those who reject Christ. They remain in the wilderness of unbelief. Do not fall short. Do not delay. Enter into the life of grace and rest that Jesus offers. Give your heart to Him. Trust fully in what He has done for you. Rest in Christ.
Bryan Dewayne Dunaway
