Entering and Living in God's Rest

What does it mean to rest in Jesus? Does that mean sitting back and doing nothing? Does it mean as many propose to “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die? This is what some people think it means. However, this is not the Biblical use of the term.

God rested on the seventh day after creating the world. This didn’t mean that he was no longer involved in the world or that he set it in motion and is no longer sustaining it, or is involved in it. Sometimes it might seem like God is not involved in our lives and at times in history. However, God does not want to overwhelm us in his ways and presence. He doesn’t want to force us; he gives man free will. God rested when he created the world, but is very much involved throughout history and most perfectly in Jesus Christ and is involved now by the Holy Spirit.

The book of Hebrews, especially in the New Testament, talks much about entering God’s rest. The children of Israel, who were guided by God, were to enter the promised land. They were instructed by God to fight the people who were already in the land and take the land for themselves. This wasn’t because of the Israelites' goodness but the wickedness of the world and their immorality and worship of idols. (Deuteronomy 9:4) Which, if left to themselves, would become totally wicked, or saturated in wickedness, like in the time of Noah. (Genesis 6:5)

The Children of Israel refused to trust and treasure God and his ways, and refused to fight to take the promised land. Therefore, God told them that this generation would die in the wilderness and the next generation would enter because they would not act in faith.

This is how God’s word states it: “Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: “So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest,’” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world” (Hebrews 4:1-3)

Whenever I am actively serving God and acting to extend his kingdom, I usually think about resting in God. Resting in God doesn’t mean being passive, but putting my weight upon Him, trusting and treasuring him even in the midst of fear.

A group of us, much to the disdain of the lifestyle evangelism-only people, do some street evangelism through the Fellowship of Christian Farmers of Canada. We give out free walking sticks and explain the gospel, if people are willing to hear and respond. If they don’t want to hear, we give them a free walking stick anyway. I call it contact and bless.

Most people are afraid of actually doing evangelism because of the fear of rejection or scorn of other people. There may be other fears involved as well, like not doing evangelism well or needlessly offending people because of our manner, etc. However, love overcomes fear. If we love God and seek his glory, we will love people and share the most important aspect of life with them. As the scriptures tell us, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). Love takes risks.

Some people say they are just living the gospel, and those who want the Lord will ask them. This is very rare, although it does happen. However, “our actions are not the gospel. No amount of righteous living can replace the necessity of verbally proclaiming what God has achieved through Christ.” Before You Share Your Faith: Five Ways to be Evangelism Ready, p.70, Matt Smethurst.

Mach Stiles said, “It’s not that evangelism has been tried and found wanting, it’s that evangelism has been found difficult and left untried.” Just like anything, we become more effective with practice. We learn from our encounters and mistakes and press on.

Entering into God’s rest and living in it are not passive experiences. It is a co-operative experience in the Holy Spirit, where we lean on God and treasure him as we move along with him. We don’t just stand on the shore and watch God go by, we get into the water and are immersed in Him and His Kingdom. (Hebrews 2:1) We first enter God’s rest by being brought into the kingdom of God by Jesus in the new birth experience. “Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3). When it says cannot see it means enter and experience the Kingdom of God.

Do you want to live in God’s rest? It is not a spectator sport. “The Spirit’s life is not for observations but participation.” The Familiar Stranger, p. 41, Tyler Staton.

Jesus gave us the great commission. Fulfill it by entering and living in God’s rest. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” How can they become God’s disciples if we don’t assist them to enter into God’s rest and then live in it? Jesus instructed us to assist them and to assist one another.

God in the Bible and Jesus use many ways to express the truth from different angles. Living in God’s rest and abiding in the Lord (John 15:1-11) or walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16) are different ways of saying the same thing.

Christian, when you get to heaven, will God say to you, “Well done,” you entered into my rest and lived in it? Enter into my joy that your partially experience on earth and is now fully realized in heaven. Enter and live in God’s rest on earth and in the future in heaven.