Rest according to Hebrews - Rest #5

Over the last few weeks, we've been thinking together about the nature of Biblical rest. Hebrews chapter 4 provides another perspective on rest that is both challenging and helpful for us. In Hebrews 4:9-11 we read:

"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 example of disobedience."

Understanding this passage really requires us to grapple with the context of Hebrews chapters 3-4, and when we do that we note that the writer is aiming to exhort his Christian readers to greater love for Christ, greater faithfulness to Christ, and greater obedience to Christ. We see this summary teaching in Hebrews 3:1-6. In 3:7-4:13, the writer continues his exhortation, but this time he does so by way of warning. He exhorts them that rest is available, but they must be careful that none of them fall short of it (4:1), like (by analogy) the rebellious Israelites did before them in missing out of the promised land. The good news: it is still possible to enter this rest. But what does this rest look like?

Commentator George Guthrie provides 4 descriptors of this promised rest:
1) It is a rest that the readers must fear missing (4:1)
2) It is a rest that some in the community are in danger of rejecting because they have not combined faith with obedience to God's Word.
3) It is a rest that consists of ceasing from one's own works (4:10)
4) The rest may be entered now and will be consummated at the end of the age.

All this is pointing to the fact that the reader of Hebrews must beware. There is a "rest" that is available, and this rest "is a position of being righted related to God and partaking of His blessings," (Guthrie, pg. 166) but the reader can miss out on it.

So, what does this possibly have to do with us? Follow the logic of the passage above. First off, we should fear God. We need ask ourselves this question: "Am I in a right relationship with God?" If not, we have no hope of entering into the rest Hebrews describes, instead I deserve to be kept out of God's rest like the Israelites before me. Secondly, this rest cannot be entered apart from faith in Christ, and this faith is not a stagnant faith. Faith demonstrates itself in obedience to God's Word. Are our lives marked by increased obedience to the Word of God? Is your faith firmly planted in the finished work of Christ on the cross, and are you demonstrating this faith by a life that is ever-conforming to the image of Christ?

Christ is our rest. He frees us from spiritual death, and leads us into spiritual life in the here and now and in the world to come. He is our hope. In Him, and through His atoning work on the cross we can experience true Sabbath rest now and in the age to come. The readers of Hebrews needed to hear this and be exhorted to greater obedience to Christ. We also need to hear the same. Press on to that promised rest.