Longing for rest?
Rest and God’s people
Rest is …
Gen 2:2-3, “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so 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.”
… not idleness
John 5:17, “to this very day the Father is at work and Jesus is also working.”
… is relational
… is never fully realised in the OT
Hebrews 4:5, Psalm 95, Hebrew 4:8
… is continuously on offer
Hebrew 4:9, Hebrews 4:11
… weekly Sabbath rest is a shadow of things to come
Rest is offered by Jesus to all
Matthew 11:28, ‘‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
So what is the rest Hebrews speaks of?
For us today
The rest is to come
Combine it with faith
James 1:22, “do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves do what it says”.
Beware of disobedience
Make every effort
We must give an account