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3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” 5 And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.” 6 Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, 7 God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. ~ Hebrews 4:3-10
Today, we return to our study of Hebrews 4 wherein the writer of Hebrews is addressing the second of five warnings that he gives in the book of Hebrews. The second warning is found in Hebrews 3:7-8 which reads, "Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness."
In v.3-4 of today's text we read, "3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, 'So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: 'On the seventh day God rested from all his works.'"
Every Christian who has trusted the Lord Jesus as our Savior has entered into the rest which was long ago promised to us by God Himself. God’s rest has, is, and will always be accessed by faith in the God of the Bible. It is through faith that we accessed justification which is a one point in time event when we trusted the Lord Jesus to be our Savior. It is also through faith that we access our sanctification which is a process whereby God begins to change us from the inside out. Sanctification is a process whereby God is changing us from the inside out for our good and for His glory in the lives of others. The point of our justification is to bring us into right relationship with God, whereas, the point of our sanctification is to bring us into right fellowship with God. Relationship is the beginning of our personal interaction with God, whereas sanctification is the continuation of that interaction with Him.
God’s rest is not a rest of inactivity but a bi-product of His finished work in our daily lives. God has finished the work of justification on our behalf, making us right with Him through His Son's death on the cross. He is finishing His sanctifying work in us as we yield our lives to Him daily by faith. It is justification that gets us into heaven and it is sanctification that gets heaven into us, right now. We could say that sanctification is the acquisition of God's wisdom into our lives, right now.
The last sentence of v.3 and v.4 provides unique insight into the scenario of the Fall of man and God's remedy: "And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: 'On the seventh day God rested from all his works.'"
Before sin entered the world, God’s rest began right after the sixth day of creation. God was infinitely satisfied and He rested. It was at that moment that man could enter into God's rest. God had made man a perfect world wherein man could trust God for everything he needed. The criterion was faith. But, Adam and Eve chose not to believe in God. In fact, they chose to believe Satan. They were for the first time defined by something other than God. They were defined by Satan’s lies. Immediately, unbelief forfeited the rest of God in man's life. As a result, Adam was made restless. Adam and Eve spent their entire existence trying to avoid God. And, the history of the Bible is the effort of God wooing man to Himself.
In order to do that, God had to do for man what was impossible for man to do for himself: God had to render man's sin null and void. And so, the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth and addressed mankind's sin problem at the cross. And, through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, mankind can enter into God’s justification rest. And since, everyone who has not received the free gift of forgiveness through Christ has not entered into God's rest, are told these words: "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts." Once we are justified, it is then that we benefit by God's sanctification rest. The confusion of these two is what creates most false teaching in this world.
In v.5-7 we read, "5 And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.” 6 Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, 7 God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."
We, having trusted in the finished work of Christ on the cross, are saved because God designed to redeem us before the world was ever created. There is always, this side of eternity, a "today," with God. There will always be those opportunities, on this side of eternity, to respond to God's voice of justification and sanctification, and to access His grace, we must be vulnerable enough to believe that He is just and He is the justifier of all who believe.
In v.8-10 of today's passage we read, "8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his."
God's rest confronts man's performance based religion, the idea that if we do not perform well enough, He will not accept us or bless us. The greatest salve to this faulty way of thinking is Click here for the Hebrews 4:3-10. The writer of Hebrews wrote to a group of people who were quite legalistic. It was Spurgeon who once said, "Grace puts its hand on the boasting mouth, and shuts it once for all." And, it was Jerry Bridges who brilliantly once wrote, ""Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace."
The Sabbath-rest found in v.10 is the rest that ushers us to the place where we cease from all our labors to earn God's favor. In fact, this type of rest causes us to want to do for God. This type of rest causes us to want to pray, read our Bibles and share the good news with others. These Christian practices, once we have experienced His grace, become "get to things" not "got to things."
In Revelation 14:13 we read, "Then I heard a voice from heaven say, 'Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.' 'Yes,' says the Spirit, 'they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."'
Hebrews 4:10 is a reference to that final day when we cease from everything and enter into the presence of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. So, you see, God's rest is two-pronged: it involves His justification and His sanctification. And, the good works that follow us will be the works produced by Him. In that day, we will look back and recognize that it was by God's grace that He sought us in our sin, and it was by His grace that we experienced His life, His definition of all things. Then we will proclaim, "It is all by His grace. All of it!"
