The Principle of Faith Rest - Part II
Update from two weeks ago: the Social Security card got to it’s destination and all is well with the help of Faith Rest! This principle is so pivotal, let’s explore it deeper, starting with the scripture from where it comes…
Hebrews 4:9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their (Israel) example of disobedience.
From this passage we see a Sabbath-rest for God’s people. but what is Sabbath-rest? We know it is not practicing the Sabbath as described in the Mosaic Law, because Christian’s are not under the law but under grace. Romans 6:14. So what is the Sabboth-rest of Hebrews referring to? Let’s start with Genesis 2:2-3 for the foundation of rest.
By the seventh day God finished the work he had been doing; on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
It’s important to pause and understand what it means that God finished ALL His work. All means that ALL creation is complete, including all work related to his creation… like our problems.
God is omniscient. There is nothing He doesn’t know or needs to learn. He knows all the decisions we will make, and He knew them in eternity past. And in His Omniscience, God made a plan for each of us, and in that plan He included the solutions to all our problems. Having finished ALL His work, God now invites us into that rest with Him. Does that mean we are not to work? Not to plan? Not to reason? NO.
Resting with God means trusting the plan He made for us in eternity past. If we trust God enough to follow His perfect plan, we can rest knowing that God’s got everything already figured out. We simply need to follow His direction and principles…that’s Faith-Rest.
When we reject God’s plan, desiring to forge our own plan, we are not resting because our plan now requires our effort. God’s plan for us requires only our obedience as he does all the planning, and all the execution, and is responsible for all the results.
Christians do not observe the Sabbath of the Mosaic Law that was mandated to be observed once a week on Saturday. We are mandated to something higher and greater, and that is the filling of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 (See my resource on the Holy Spirit HERE)
When we are filled with the Holy Spirit we rest from our own power. The Sabbath-rest of Hebrews 4:9 is for the Christian’s continuous 24/7 rest from our plan and rely 24/7 on the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s our mandate, our “law” of freedom, liberty, & grace.
This doesn’t mean we lie around doing nothing. We are to work God’s plan, producing the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-26). Faith Rest is resting on God’s promises and by faith, trusting God’s answers, instead of our own. It’s using God’s wisdom and God’s principles in faith, to guide us. And just as God rests from the work He planned in eternity past, we are to enter that same rest. Read the passage again in light of this…
Hebrews 4:9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their (Israel) example of disobedience.
Next week we’ll discover what Faith Rest looks like in action. I’ll give examples and walk you through the mechanics of what it means to rest on God’s promises. Until then, God bless.
