{"id":28784,"date":"2023-11-17T22:00:22","date_gmt":"2023-11-18T05:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/hebrews-3_7-19-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-11-07T19:40:55","modified_gmt":"2023-11-08T02:40:55","slug":"hebrews-4_1-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/hebrews-4_1-11\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesus\u2019 Finished Work Brings You Rest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hebrews 4:1-11<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is\u00a0Hebrews\u00a04:1-11.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Hebrews\u00a04:1-3a (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore, 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.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,\u00a0“So I declared on oath in my anger,\u00a0‘They shall never enter my rest.'”\u00a0\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses\u00a01-3a:\u00a0\u00a0What \u201crest\u201d is the writer of\u00a0Hebrews\u00a0talking about here?\u00a0\u00a0What \u201crest\u201d is he not wanting his readers to miss?\u00a0\u00a0To be clear, the writer of\u00a0Hebrews\u00a0is not referring to resting once a week from your normal work as per the 10 commandments.\u00a0\u00a0The rest he is referring to here is a spiritual rest in God, a rest that comes from being forgiven of our sins, a rest where we are no longer separated from God but reconciled to Him.\u00a0 Another way to describe this \u201crest\u201d is having peace with God, such that instead of being slaves to sin and doomed to hell, we are now children of God and citizens of heaven.\u00a0 This is the ultimate rest, a rest that brings benefit to us not just today but for eternity.\u00a0\u00a0This rest comes only from trusting in Jesus Christ, and God offers this rest to all of us today.\u00a0\u00a0As verse\u00a01\u00a0says, \u201csince the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

How do we enter the rest that God offers to us?\u00a0\u00a0By accepting and\u00a0believing the message that Jesus\u2019 finished work on the cross has fully paid for our sins.\u00a0\u00a0As verse 3 says, \u201cNow we who have\u00a0believed<\/em>\u00a0enter that rest\u201d (v3).<\/p>\n

Hebrews\u00a04:3b-4\u00a0(NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0\u2026And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 3b-4:\u00a0\u00a0On the seventh day God rested after completing His work of creation (Genesis 2:2-3).\u00a0\u00a0There was nothing more He needed to do, so God rested.\u00a0\u00a0Similarly, God wants us to rest from the work of relying on ourselves and our own effort, a kind of work that will never earn us the rest we are looking for.\u00a0\u00a0Instead of trusting in ourselves, God wants us to trust in Christ\u2019s finished work on the cross, believing that Jesus has completed all the work necessary for our forgiveness.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As verse 10 says, \u201canyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hebrews\u00a04:5-6 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 5-6:\u00a0\u00a0How do we miss the rest that God has for us?\u00a0\u00a0Through unbelief.\u00a0\u00a0When I refuse to accept the message that Christ has paid for my sins on the cross, when I consciously deny any need for\u00a0Jesus and disobey God\u2019s command to believe in Jesus\u2019 finished work on the cross, that’s when we miss the rest that God has us.<\/p>\n

Hebrews\u00a04:7 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 6-7:\u00a0\u00a0At the beginning of each week a devout Jew following the Ten Commandments would think, \u201cSix more days and then I can finally rest.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But how long must we wait before we can enter the rest that comes from trusting in Jesus?\u00a0\u00a0No wait necessary.\u00a0\u00a0We can enter that rest today and every day!\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t wait and delay entering into the rest that God makes available.\u00a0\u00a0Today and every day, trust that Christ\u2019s finished work on the cross is enough for you to enter God\u2019s rest.<\/p>\n

Hebrews\u00a04:8-9 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 8-10:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When Joshua famously led the Israelites to take possession of the Promised Land, many Jews thought that physical possession of the Promised Land was the greatest rest God could give the Israelites.\u00a0\u00a0But the writer of\u00a0Hebrews\u00a0clarifies here that there is a far greater, future rest that God wants His people to enter into — \u201cThere remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God\u201d (v9).\u00a0\u00a0This greater rest is not based on the physical possession of real estate on earth, but based on spiritually possessing a relationship with God in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

Hebrews\u00a04:11 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 11:\u00a0\u00a0Work to rest?\u00a0\u00a0It sounds paradoxical but it\u2019s true: we need to make every effort to enter the rest that God gives us.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In other words, we need to be vigilant and intentional about not slipping into our old tendencies to trust in ourselves, or try to earn God\u2019s love by our own merit, and in so doing disobey God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 We must consciously remind ourselves to place our hope not in what we do but in what Jesus Christ has done for us.<\/p>\n

Father, thank You that Jesus Christ did everything needed so that my sins could be forgiven and that my soul could find rest in a relationship with You.\u00a0 Today I trust that Christ\u2019s finished work on the cross has won salvation and forgiveness for me.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is\u00a0Hebrews\u00a04:1-11.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Hebrews\u00a04:1-3a (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0Therefore, 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.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,\u00a0“So I declared on oath in my anger,\u00a0‘They shall never enter my rest.'”\u00a0\u2026<\/p>\n

On verses\u00a01-3a:\u00a0\u00a0What \u201crest\u201d is the writer of\u00a0Hebrews\u00a0talking about here?\u00a0\u00a0What \u201crest\u201d is he not wanting his readers to miss?\u00a0\u00a0To be clear, the writer of\u00a0Hebrews\u00a0is not referring to resting once a week from your normal work as per the 10 commandments.\u00a0\u00a0The rest he is referring to here is a spiritual rest in God, a rest that comes from being forgiven of our sins, a rest where we are no longer separated from God but reconciled to Him.\u00a0 Another way to describe this \u201crest\u201d is having peace with God, such that instead of being slaves to sin and doomed to hell, we are now children of God and citizens of heaven.\u00a0 This is the ultimate rest, a rest that brings benefit to us not just today but for eternity.\u00a0\u00a0This rest comes only from trusting in Jesus Christ, and God offers this rest to all of us today.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28786,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28784"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28787,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28784\/revisions\/28787"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}