A Time of Rejoicing, from The Coming Day of Redemption
The answer is as follows:
In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22)
Now we can understand why the writer of Hebrews presents the rest of God in such strong terms. The goal of the plan of redemption is to construct a house in which God can find rest. We are not to come short of this!
Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. (Hebrews 4:1)
If the house, the place of rest, were just for us, it would be of importance. But because the house, the place of rest, is for God, it is of the greatest importance.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the House of God. In God's House there are many rooms. We are invited to become a room, a place of rest, in God's eternal house.
Because God is seeking to dwell in us for eternity, we must be delivered totally from all the sins of our flesh and spirit, and all self-will. God cannot find rest in a house that breaks His moral laws, or is exerting it's own will. The only legitimate will in the universe is the will of the Father.
The process of redemption must work in us until there is no sin or self-will operating in us. If there were any left in us, neither God nor we would find rest.
God is not content to remain invisible in the spirit realm while His creatures, whom He loves dearly, can neither see Him nor have fellowship with Him. Abraham and Moses are God's friends. God would like to have more than two friends. Would you like to be a friend of God? Then seek His face at all times and be strictly obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the new heaven and earth rule of Christ there will be a great Tabernacle, the new Jerusalem. This Tabernacle is the House of God, the glorified Christian Church. It will not be in an invisible form in the spirit world but very prominent on the new earth. From this vantage point, God can be close to His creatures, blessing, governing, and assisting them for eternity. Can you imagine anything more wonderful than that? I can't either!
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God." (Revelation 21:3—NIV)
"God's dwelling place" is the Christian Church, that is, you and I.
Such is the destiny of the Christian Church, the Body of Christ, and of each of us who lives a victorious life in Christ.
We have to make an effort to enter this wonderful rest of God. There are many items of interest in the world that call for our attention, as well as fears, dreads, ambitions of very kind, and so forth. We must pray continually that we may be able to keep our eyes focused on Christ in every situation.
Today, in America, there are so many problems, and so many pressures to abandon Bible morality, that it is easy to get our eyes off the Lord and onto the antics of people who are moved by Satan. We can become angry and frustrated. God is not at rest in us when we are angry and frustrated!
America is sinning grievously, with its worship of sexual activity and money, as well as the practice of abortion. For this reason God is going to diminish America until it no longer has a powerful voice in world affairs.
I do not know whether we are going to be destroyed by forces inside America, or by an invasion from the outside. But I do know the Lord has told me that the leadership of the world is going to move to the East.
Even though we may understand that the Lord Jesus Christ is very aware of the mistakes our government is making, and has everything under control, it still is easy to become incensed against the political leaders and other people of prominence, who have no fear of the Lord and are acting in terms of their own interests.
But if we really believe Christ is in control, and knows what He is doing, then we must make the effort to enter the rest of God and praise the Lord continually. In fact, we can sing and dance on the heights of Zion no matter what comes to pass on the earth, if we will stay close to Jesus,.
The nations of the earth are but a drop of water in the ocean to Him. He does as He will with people, and no one can hinder Him in any manner. We are to do the best we can, and then rest with Christ who, in turn, is resting with the Father.
There is a statement in the fourth chapter of the Book of Hebrews that you may not have noticed:
Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, "So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'" And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. (Hebrews 4:3—NIV)
And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world.
God created everything in six days. This means that every event, every circumstance, the role of every person in the Kingdom of God, his or her image and destiny, was created in that time–-all the way through to the new heaven and earth reign of Christ and His saints.
"His works have been finished since the creation of the world"!
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. (Ephesians 1:3,4)
God is resting. His Word is bringing to pass everything God created in six days.
We are exhorted to make every effort to enter that rest—not our rest, but the rest that God entered at the time of the conclusion of the creation.
This means that your life and my life were designed and established at the time of the creation.
Why do we have to strive to enter that rest? Because we have a variety of things, forces, and circumstances that seek to turn our eyes away from the Lord Jesus, causing us to think, plan, speak, and act in ways that are not of Christ. It is as simple as that. They are not what God envisioned in the beginning.
We must be willing to learn to live by the Life of the Lord Jesus.
For through the law I have died to the law, so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:19,20—Holman)
We must die to our own ways that Christ may live in us. This is how we enter the rest of God. There simply is no other way!
Peter speaks of the Day Star, who is Christ.
We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts. (I Peter 1:19)
Next Part Jesus said the same thing