Read Hebrews 4:1-11

“Wherever rest appears in 3:1 to 4:11, it refers to an experience of salvation we enter by faith in Jesus Christ.” (Tommy Lea, Holman NT Commentary on Hebrews).

The Sabbath is a symbol. The day has meaning beyond itself. That meaning has been fulfilled in Christ (Matthew 5:17 & John 19:30), who is Lord over the Sabbath (Mark 2:28). We will realize it when we rest in Him.

The Sabbath was a perpetual reminder to the Jews to trust YHWH. “Cease striving and know that I am God.” The psalmist wrote that for Israel to sing (Psalm 46:10).  Stop striving to please God on your own; instead, rest in Christ. He pleases the Heavenly Father. You and I fall short, even when we are at our best. Trust Him to care for you; trust Him to forgive you when you fail. Follow Jesus and obey Him by all means, but do so as the result of an active faith, not as an attempt to win his favor. His favor is given freely when you have faith.

The Pharisees never figured that out. Instead, they made the Sabbath a legalistic nightmare of rules to keep people from work, which caused plenty of strife and unrest.  Ironic. Obviously, that is not why God established the Sabbath. As Jesus clearly stated, “God made the Sabbath for man and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).  

Sunday is not the same as the OT Law Sabbath. Saturday is. Our present passage is not teaching Christians to observe the Sabbath as a special day, be it Saturday or Sunday. It is leading us to understand the purpose behind the Sabbath, to enter God’s rest.

As those who are in Christ, we leave behind our striving to please God because we believe that Jesus Christ, who dwells within us, has fully pleased His Father. Therefore, we are pleasing to God as our Father, so long as we remain in Christ. We enter this rest by trusting Christ’s completed work at Calvary. “It is finished.” My salvation was bought with His precious blood. There is nothing more for me to add. Death was conquered.  There is nothing more for me to fear. I am under Christ’s authority. There is no law for me to keep. I am already justified, made right positionally, even before I begin to produce the fruit of righteousness.  

So, do not harden your hearts and go back to the old way of seeking to live a holy life on your own to please God. Legalism kills. You can never be holy enough for the Holy One. Trusting Him and admitting His Spirit into your heart, which is the inner chamber of your life, will make you holy. Do not doubt the love and goodness of your Heavenly Father when you are going through trouble. Trust Him to protect, and provide as He did for His people in the wilderness. That is rest.

Finally, realize that the Promised Land itself was the ultimate rest for the Israelites. That is what the author of Hebrews is speaking of here. When we strive to please God, we tend to make Him promises:  “O, God, I’ll do this for You if you’ll just bless me.”  “O, God protect me from this tornado,” or “from these terrorists, and I’ll serve you.”  That is not New Covenant religion!  God has made the promises. Discover them and trust Him to fulfill His own word. Jesus has promised, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of these other things will be done for you” (Matthew 6:33), and “If you remain in me and my word remains in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). Put your hope in these promises. Begin to ask and seek and knock (Matt. 7:7-11, Luke 11:9-10), and rest in the faith that your good and loving God will answer your prayer and give you “above and beyond all that you can ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20).

You enter the Lord’s rest by faith. “This faith demands a dependence on God’s work instead of on our own works.” (Tommy Lea, ibid.) When you “believe in yourself,” rather than trusting God, then you will fall short of His rest. You will either start making up your own rules, or striving to keep your understanding of the Bible’s teaching on your own. This is not the way to live the life of a Christian as God designed it to be. Rule oriented religion is common; it is very human. We are competitive. We seek to perform, to earn. We want to deserve good things. The Gospel is nothing like this. Christ offers justification, being made right with God because of His sacrifice. Christ offers a free gift of eternal life if we will receive it by faith. Then we live our lives in gratitude for what the Lord has done. We are transformed by grace and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The fallen human nature is replaced with a spiritual one: I am reborn by the work of the Holy Spirit, and I begin to produce good works organically. Religion is inherently artificial. Genuine Christian life is supernatural, sustained by the Spirit of God. In Christ I don’t fear, I don’t strive, I am kept from falling or failing. That is rest.

When I have financial needs, I am stressed. Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Interestingly, the Greek word translated daily may mean tomorrow’s bread, which I pray for today. The idea would be that I don’t worry about tomorrow, as Jesus plainly says (Matt. 6:34). Instead, seek His kingdom and righteousness and trust him to provide everything you need (Matt. 6:33). That is rest.