Remember His Rest
“Rest” is the one word characterization of our of Grace/Faith relationship with God, which is at the foundation of His Parent/child relationship with us. Grace is what He offers to His children, and Faith is what we give back to Him. And it is all wrapped up symbolically in the word “Rest”, which aptly describes the nature of the relationship. Our Father conveyed this relationship to us in the beginning when He confidently assured us that we were “good” in His eyes and had what it takes inherently to successfully administer the affairs of His creation and Kingdom on earth. To be fruitful and multiply, and subdue the earth, were His encouraging words. There was nothing we had to earn first. God considered this ability to be innate to us as created. We were His incomplete children, but He would help us grow into our roles and responsibilities as the adventure proceeded along. As long as we remained sincere, transparent, and believing children, our destiny was secure. That’s a Father’s grace toward His children.
However, as a result of our disbelief in this “Rest”, we entered into a knowledge and performance based relationship, which of course is the very antithesis of “Rest”. This type of relationship is based on our own perception that we do not inherently have what it takes to do what God has designed us to do, and are not “good enough”. We became convinced (by Satan) that somehow we needed to be something more than human to be valuable and lovable in our Father’s eyes. In this sense we then “fell from grace”. God didn’t make a decision to push us from it, but we ourselves chose to leave it through disbelief. God accurately predicted that this work-based justification method would result in our total inability to administer the Kingdom (see Adam and Eve’s curse concerning the futility of a “works” and “labor” based relationship with Him). This misperception of how we are justified in the eyes of our Father has been a curse on humanity ever since. The human mind was not designed to successfully operate under this perception and within this kind of belief system. It results in dysfunctional (sinful) behavior toward our Father and our siblings, from one generation to another. We become fearful children living in jealousy, envy, covetousness, greed, hatred, adultery, and with other destructive attitudes and behaviors.
Now here is a lesson we can learn from the law of Moses. Remember that at the very heart and core of the covenant that God later made with Israel, there was this principle of “Rest” (the weekly Sabbath command). In the 10 commandments, the first three concerned the foundational principles of our relationship with God, and the last six concerned our relationship with other human beings. Sandwiched significantly between them like a bridge is the fourth commandment regarding the Sabbath. In it Israel was to recall the “Rest” of God which was established at the beginning, as well as the escape of Israel from captivity in Egypt, which is symbolic for sin. Here is the significance; it is only through the relationship characterized by “Rest” that we can escape this captivity to sin. Our correct understanding of who God is translates into correct behavior toward our fellow man only as it filters through the context of this “Rest”. When Abraham believed God concerning the Kingdom promises that he and his descendants would one day receive, he was dwelling in the “Rest” relationship with Him, and it was accounted to him as righteousness. That’s because God has always known that from the heart one believes unto righteousness. Jesus the Messiah was the ultimate example of a human being living in this “Rest”. Hebrews, chapter 4 says we must, by belief in the gospel through Christ, cease from our works just as God did from His. We must dwell in this “Rest” just as Jesus did so perfectly, and as Abraham did before him. The Old Covenant through Moses has been replaced by the New Covenant through the Messiah Jesus, but we should remember the spiritual significance of the sabbath Rest as it defines our relationship with God…how our Father sees us and our acceptance of that.
You see, justification of our essential worth, value, and lovability through the method of knowledge and works is not how the human mind was designed to successfully operate and fulfill its ultimate potential…ruler-ship in the Kingdom of God on earth (and presumably over all physical matter eventually). We must all become children of Abraham by believing in the promises of God concerning His coming Kingdom, the conditions for which will be restored through the man Jesus Christ. Because of his perfect faith as evidenced by his perfect obedience in all things, it is through him that we become descendants of Abraham. We must have the faith of Jesus, and it will be counted to us as righteousness. That’s because God has known from the beginning that it is from the heart one believes unto righteousness. If we trust in our Father’s grace-filled assessment of us and have faith in His desire and ability to help us grow, then we have the very best foundation possible from which to become His healthy and mature adult children. By believing in the gospel of the Kingdom of God, and those things concerning Jesus as the Messiah, we are confessing our faith in our God, the Father of us all, who has our best interest at heart and knows we have what it takes to realize the destiny for which He created us.
