(Hebrews 4:10) Enter God’s rest.

On the seventh day of creation, the Bible tells us that God “rested,” which is known as the Sabbath rest.

What does it mean that God “rested”? Why would God need to rest? Was God tired?

No, God wasn’t tired; He had completed creation. Creation was finished. The creative work of God had ended.

In this light, entering God’s rest relates to entering the completion and fulfillment of His creation.

Following creation, we can almost hear God declaring, “It is finished.”

The book of Hebrews is unique in the New Testament because its primary focus is on how Jesus Christ completes and fulfills the Old Testament, including Sabbath rest.

In the context of Hebrews, we are called to enter God’s rest through the completed salvation of Jesus Christ.

Theologically, there are two aspects of salvation in the New Testament: justification and sanctification.

Justification (being made right and reconciled with God) refers to the fact that our salvation was accomplished through the perfect life, sacrificial death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

On the cross, Jesus cried out, “It is finished!”

The New Testament completion of salvation in Jesus Christ parallels the Old Testament completion of creation in Genesis 1.

In Christ, we have become new creations.

As this passage emphasizes, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, a new Sabbath rest remains for the people of God.

We cease striving and live in the Sabbath rest of grace because Jesus has done it all. We cannot add anything to the eternal salvation that Christ has accomplished.

In our Christian lives, we must ground ourselves in the truth that we are made right with God apart from anything we have done or can do.

When we place our faith in Christ, we are declaring that the death and resurrection of Jesus are enough.

In this sense, we enter God’s rest.

When we are born again, we enter the new creation. We enter the final and completed work of salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ.

When we realize this, we surrender and embrace the full work of Jesus as sufficient for our salvation.

When we place our faith fully in Jesus Christ, we enter the eternal rest of God.

Today, I encourage you to enter God’s rest of grace.

In Jesus Christ, “It is finished.”

Jesus Christ is enough!

It is upon the foundation of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross that we grow spiritually in our faith.

It is finished!

Live in the rest of His forgiveness, grace, and peace.