“For we who have believed do enter into rest…” Hebrews 4:3
Our walk of faith was not given to us to be a toiling, grinding life of can’t-do’s. No, the Bible says, “I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me!” The toil, the work, the sweat and Blood has already been completed, and, as the verse above tells us that, “We who have believed do enter into rest!”
Adam was created on the 6th day. Everything was already prepared for him to live in, have dominion over, and to care for and enjoy. It was a complete creation – made for him. Even his work was prepared for him, to till the garden and make it bring forth abundantly! God created and equipped him to be active, productive, creative, and fruitful.
When we were born into this world we arrived in a fallen state, but God had already prepared a way for us to know Him, to be born into His family, to glorify Him in our work and productivity, and to share our joys and productivity with Him.
This was all possible because He had sent Jesus to the Cross to pay for our sins, reconcile us to God and be born into His family. Our part is to believe in Christ as our Savior and confess Him as our Lord. Everything else was prepared for us to simply believe and receive by faith.
All of us, who have been born again, came from some form of bondage and oppression due to our ignorance of God’s Word and the complete redemption that is ours to discover and enjoy! Jesus completed a perfect work through His death, burial and resurrection. He left nothing undone. He said, “It is Finished.” When we received Christ as Lord and Savior, the Bible says that “we are complete in Him. (Col. 2:10)” Our new birth opened the door to the benefits and privileges of that Finished and Complete Work, and we entered into a rest from the bondages that held us through fear, ignorance and unbelief.
Yet, like the Israelites, who face natural giants, false religions and fears; we too have giants to face, which are those things that play on our minds to keep us out of God’s promises. We also have false religious concepts that need to be driven out, along with fears that need to be replaced with faith and love through meditation on the Word of God. But we are more than equipped to overcome these because we have the Truth living in us and the Spirit of God to lead us. He is the Greater One in us, who has delivered us from the wilderness of demonic bondage and fear. Through faith we have been freed to enter into the rest that only He can give!
With Love,
Pastor Tom