Hebrews 4:9

Hebrews 4:9

A Sabbath rest for the people of God

The Lord Jesus was able to proclaim, from the cross just before He laid down His life, that “It is finished!” His suffering was over, His blood had been poured out, the taunts and mocking of His enemies was ended and now all that remained was for Him to submit, without restraint, to the entangling chords of death. What happened next was completely in His Father’s hands although He trusted the Word of God and that this was not the end. 3 days later He, of course, was raised up from the grave and revealed Himself to over 500 people who all saw the prints of the nails and the scars that He bore as a result of the Roman soldiers’ violence and abuse.  There was no question in the mind of the witnesses that Messiah was risen from the dead! 

In 40 days, Jesus would bid farewell to His closest friends and leave them as He ascended, alone, to His Father’s side in the heavens. Was that it? Was that His place of eternal rest? Had Jesus now entered His Promised Land leaving His disciples to stay and fight for the cause? That was NOT it. 10 days later, at the Feast of Pentecost, 50 days after His resurrection, Yeshua returned, not in human form but as a spiritual power that indwelt the bodies of the faithful disciples. 120 of them were treated to this most exhilarating encounter with Him, and to their astonishment they discovered that He had returned to indwell them and empower them, by His Spirit, to continue His ministry on earth. Their task was to take the Good News of His salvation to the whole world. Were they alone? Were they suitably equipped for the task? How were they to plan their roles? Who would provide the strength, the energy and the abilities needed to fulfil His commands? Let’s face it, sharing the Good News with the whole world is a bit of a daunting task and would require a lot of organisation and fund raising, there would have to be an aggressive advertising strategy along with the construction of suitable headquarters and the necessary transport for those who led the project! Did any of this bother the likes of the apostles such as Peter and Paul? No! The reason being that they were at rest, in Christ, and the strategic planning and the required resources were His responsibility. They were able to serve so efficiently because they were totally submitted to Him and His will, by faith. This is still the rest that is available to all who believe, and there’s the rub, if we do not believe and we disobey, we can never enter this Sabbath rest that comes when we cease from our own labours. 

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