Hebrews 4:1
Part ii
God’s Rest
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. (Hebrews 4:1)
The Progression of Let us
Remember when we began our study in the Book of Hebrews how dramatic the very first word was to our soul. It was the God of all creation announcing Himself by the Spirit of God in all His majesty as we began into the Book of Hebrews. In Chapter 4, verse 1 the simple, but complicated word ‘let’ becomes an immense step in the process of salvation. This word is used 4 times in this chapter: verse 1, we have let us therefore fear, in verse 11 let us labor, in verse 14 let us hold fast, and in verse 16 let us therefore come boldly. We use this three-letter word in many ways. I will give you a few examples: let us do good, let us do evil, let us be saved, and let us remain lost. This simple three letter word becomes a mighty door of the Spirit of God.
He is using the apostle to relate the gospel of Christ to all the Hebrews. This also takes in consideration all that has gone before in Chapters 1 through 3. For Chapter 1 through 3 has led the apostle to introduce God’s rest to the Hebrews. Let us think of the first three chapters in light of Chapter 4. In Chapter 1 we have Moses and the children of Israel at the mountain of God (I am only speaking figuratively). In Chapter 2 we have the law given to Israel. In Chapter 3 we have their wanderings through the wilderness, and now in Chapter 4 it is time to enter into God’s rest, or with Israel, enter into the land. Do you see the progression? and this leads Paul to declare to them, Let us. This is a plural unction from the Spirit of God to all the Hebrews who were Paul’s kinsmen.
I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, (Romans 9:1)
That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. (Romans 9:2)
For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: (Romans 9:3)
According to Roman 9 Paul had a tremendous burden for his own kinsmen, and this burden included the entire nation of Israel or all Israelites. Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;. (Romans 9:4) In Chapter 4 of Hebrews the apostle is including himself with the entire nation of Israel. So far in this book he has been drawing them away from the law, and he has been introducing them to the Person of Christ. Now he approaches God’s rest, which the law could not do. Truly, the law was holy and righteous; however, the law could not remove the sin of Adam and the death that came by sin. Paul is addressing them by including himself, Let us.
This is to show us the collective, not of the church, but of all Israel as in Chapter 9 of Romans. He is revealing his compassion for all of Israel, and his earnest desire is to see Israel after the flesh saved from the flesh and from the law and sin. He wanted to deliver them unto Christ so that they would behold that Christ had removed all for them. Although he was the designated apostle born out of due time to the Gentiles, he always had a godly burden given to him of the Holy Spirit concerning his kinsmen after the flesh. He desired, by the glorious gospel, to lead them into God’s rest which was in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s Rest and Promise Refused and Rejected
When the twelve spies returned from spying out the land promised to them by Jehovah; the report that they (ten of the twelve representatives from the tribes of Israel) gave to Moses was filled with fear and terror that this land was unconquerable. Joshua and Caleb, however, gave a good report of a land filled with all the goodness of the earth that God had promised. From the report of the faithless ten, the nation made a decision not to enter into the land; consequently, God caused them to wander in the wilderness for a total of forty years, and all who came out of Egypt perished in the wilderness, except faithful Joshua and Caleb. Only these two righteous men out of the multitude who came out of Egypt entered into the land of promise. If only the nation had entered into the land when the twelve spies returned from their mission of observing the territory and the inhabitants, they would have entered into God’s rest. He would have fought for them, and no man would have had to pick up a sword, for all would have fallen under the divine work of Jehovah. We have an example of this with the city of Jericho. Jericho fell and not one of the Israelites were lost. God gives us this example of how it could have been if they had entered into God’s rest previously. For all would be of God. Concerning Jericho: they marched around the city and when God was ready, He collapsed the walls on their enemies. This was to show them what could have been. Why did you miss that? You see the entire nation of Israel would have entered into God’s rest and peace would have ruled the day. All would be in their possession; however, because of unbelief much blood would be shed by them. And in their history, they would not enjoy peace in a complete sense because of unbelief.
God’s Order: God’s Peace — God’s Grace — God’s Rest
We find in John’s Gospel, Chapter 14, that God’s peace comes through the Lord Jesus Christ; John 14 is a great transition chapter. The Lord Jesus looks over His own and uses the words, let not your heart be troubled. The Lord Jesus is declaring that He is going away, but He wants them to understand that He is leaving His peace with them. In Hebrews, Chapter 4, verse 1, the apostle wanted to bring the heart of the Hebrews to the same place; for one cannot find God’s rest unless they have peace with God. We have God’s peace, then we have God’s grace, and God’s rest, all three go together; however, grace is the center part. This is how I view this: God’s peace comes from the finished work of Christ on the cross. He has fought the enemy for us, and He has declared peace by the words, It is finished. Now on God’s part the same work has brought grace to man, God no longer looks on our transgression, but looks on His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and finds all grace in Him. Then we have rest: if our battles have been fought by another, and God the Father has received and blessed the work of His Son on the cross of Calvary, and He has given all this to us then we take the peace of God and the grace of God, and through faith enter into God’s rest. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ; and by this we enter into the Father’s bosom, the place of God’s rest. God’s rest is not an accomplishment after salvation, but a standing in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. I repeat: if Israel had entered into God’s rest at their first opportunity they would have stood still, as Jehoshaphat and his people later stood in amazement and seen the salvation of the Lord over all their enemies for not one arrow would have been shot, nor one sword would have been drawn. The Almighty would have destroyed all their enemies by His divine power, and they would have been partakers of God’s rest. But with Israel, this was not to be, for they could not enter in because of unbelief. And this is how the Holy Spirit of God approaches the people of Israel in Hebrews Chapter 4. The last message was ‘let us fear,’ but once we are over that bridge of fear by the divine work of the Lord Jesus Christ we are not to fear, but to rest. Without Christ they would be standing under a mountain belching fire and thunder and the earth shaking. The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: [even] Sinai itself [was moved] at the presence of God, the God of Israel. (Psalm 68:8)
For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, (Hebrews 12:18)
And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (Hebrews 12:19)
(For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: (Hebrews 12:20)
And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) (Hebrews 12:21)
But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, (Hebrews 12:22)
To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, (Hebrews 12:23)
And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. (Hebrews 12:24)
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: (Hebrews 12:25)
In Hebrews 12 we are made aware of the fear that came forth at the holy mountain of God. We also see the deliverance in the Person of the Lord Jesus as the Mediator of the new covenant and the better blood than that of Abel. The soul that is offered grace and does not respond to the loving kindness of God will not enter in, or could not enter in, to God’s rest.
Man’s Quest for Peace and Tranquility
The world uses a word, and that word is tranquility, they are always trying to find this place. This tranquility is supposed to put away all of man’s fears. It is supposed to be a place of peace and rest, there is no such place in the realm of Adam. One must step outside of this world to a Man in heaven named Jesus Christ to find peace, and rest, and to remove all of the fears of man. Man will never be able to create a perfect surrounding to find tranquility. In order to achieve this perfect environment of true inner peace and tranquility man must forget all that he is, and all that he has done, and all that he will ever do — would not this be impossible?
God’s Way of Peace and Rest
Can man free himself from sin? Yes, it is only through the finished work of Christ that we have God’s way to God’s rest. Man must be completely transformed from what he is. Man became sin in Adam and, consequently, surrendered all his rights and his total position before a holy and righteous God. Man in his sin became enmity against God, and this is ALL men. Only a new creation could annul or take away man’s position, thus, God sent forth the perfect man in His Son, Jesus Christ. And by the death of this perfect man Christ overcame the sentence of sin which is death, and sin itself was destroyed at the cross of Calvary. Christ, the second man, with the power of an endless life went into death and destroyed it in His resurrection; therefore, the Holy Spirit of God is able to bring forth a new creation, a heavenly creation by the power of Christ, the glorified man in heaven for us. I mentioned in a previous article that we, as children of God, are divine beings; after reflection I should have given my entire definition, and this definition can be found in the context of Galatians 2:20. If you examine this verse, first we have a place of crucifixion: God sees me, the Adamic man, dead in Christ. In the new creation, that is resurrection glory, I am bonded with the Man in heaven, Christ Jesus. The phrase nevertheless I live leads me directly to a life with the presence of the Son of God within me in the phrase Christ liveth in me. I live this life in the flesh, I am left here on earth to be a witness for my Savior both in word and deed. And I live this life by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. This faith that I have is not my own, notice that it is the faith of, and not in the Son of God. This faith belongs to Christ Jesus, and this faith is imparted to those who have been created anew by the Holy Spirit of God according to the divine and determinate counsels of God. For what man has been God’s counselor? Therefore, as a child of God, I am brought in by God as a joint heir with Jesus Christ. I am not an angel, and I am not Adam, I am a being who has been created by God wherein He may dwell to bring forth His will and His determinate counsel in the world of men. I live in the flesh, and the flesh in not divine! It must pass into dust, but the Christ who lives within me is the Son of God who gave Himself for me. Only in this relationship can any Christian be known as a son, or an heir with Jesus Christ. It is the second man. Christ Jesus, as both the son of man, and the Son of God who has brought us into this relationship with our heavenly Father by His death upon the cross of Calvary.
God’s Rest in The Fullness of Time
Now we must consider God’s rest. There would be no God’s rest without the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. We have to examine the complete works of Jesus Christ to understand God’s rest. God the Father sent forth His Son in the fullness of time. This was not at the beginning or at the end of the history of man. God had appointed a time in the realm of man’s history that God Himself would determine what was the fullness of time. And at this particular point of time, according to His determinate counsel, He would send forth His beloved Son to change the course of man’s history. This history of man was changed in its past, in its present, and in its future. This all took place in the fullness of time: Old Testament saints would be justified in the cross, present saints, in the day of Christ, would be justified in the cross, and future saints would be justified in the cross. This made Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection all part of this mystery that we call the fullness of time. This time brought forth a rest for man that was accomplished by the eternal God of creation on the cross of Calvary. We wonder at such a marvelous transaction that God through giving His Son for the sin of the world has brought us to our knees and we can cry out, Abba Father. We were not merely brought in as servants, but as children. We have a heavenly Father, and a Savior, who was tempted in all parts as we are, yet without sin: this is Jesus Christ, the righteous Son of God; therefore, in the completed work of Christ, He presents us to His Father. Those of us in the Church age are known as the body of Christ; in this realm we are present on earth; and in a future realm we will be the completed bride for God’s dear Son in His eternal state, or the new heaven and the new earth. This will truly be the eternal rest of both God and His people. The apostle is trying to open our eyes to this future rest in that entering in we might have that rest today. We are presented to the Father by the Son. Everything has been accomplished, there is nothing left for Christ to do in regard to our salvation. If we have entered into God’s salvation, we have entered into God’s peace, we have entered into God’s grace, and therefore, we have entered into God’s rest. The apostle wanted the Hebrew believers to understand that this was a much higher plain than that of the law that was given by Moses at the holy mountain; that what the law could not do in that it was weak in the flesh, thus, God sent His only begotten Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, condemned sin in His flesh. Making of twain, therefore, both the son of man and the Son of God into one new man: Christ Jesus, who is now in heaven for us.
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: (Ephesians 1:10)
Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:14)
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; (Ephesians 2:14)
Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; (Ephesians 2:15)
And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: (Ephesians 2:16)
The New Creation in the New Creature
God has reconciled the world unto Himself through the death of the Lord Jesus and has created a new creature in Christ which is every believer who has had faith in the Son of God. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Through the miracle of grace we have become a new creation by the hand of God. We have not reconciled ourselves to Him, He has reconciled us to Himself.
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; (2 Corinthians 5:18)
To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:19)
Through this wonderful work of reconciliation God has established us, a new creature, in Christ to enter into His rest. Hebrews 4 is not a question of accomplishing our own rest but entering into God’s rest through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Now this is the sum: Christ has died for us to present us without blemish before a holy and righteous God. He has adorned us with His own righteousness. He has created us to share His eternal existence as His bride. In all this, how can one not be at rest with God — for He is at rest with you. Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. (Hebrews 4:1) Amen.
— Part iii to follow —
© Copyright 2016, Michael Haigh
Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the Authorized King James Bible. (KJV)