Week 34: Rest in His Finished Work

Good day, Mdm!

For the past few weeks, we have been talking about the resurrection, His blood, God's love, our standing with God, etc.... All these laid the foundation for us as a believer of Christ.

Now, let's take a step back and look at the Bible now... What do you see? Well, we can say that we see the Bible divided into two testament, the old (before the birth of Christ) and the new (after Christ was born). What else? The Bible is God's Word; The Bible was written by men collectively over a span of hundreds of years, yet these collection were divinely inspired. It is the best-seller of all time, better than Harry Potter! It has to be, isn't it? A book published by God!

You may ask:"What's your point, bro?" Well, look at the Bible again. Do you see God's love in this book? Make no mistake, God is holy, yet He choose to reveal Himself as love. He love us so much that He sent His only Son to die for us!

Do you see His plan? His plan to save human race from sin. Do you see His will? Why is He going through so much trouble to redeem us? So that we will continue to be in bondage, in darkness, in sickness and deterioriate in life? Of course, not! His will is that we can rule and reign in life!

His love, His plan, His will are all written in this book called "Bible." Once we look at this Book from God's perspective, we can then understand what the Bible is all about.

Actually, it is very simple. The Bible is all about believing His Word. Simply believe His love for us, His plan for us, His will for us. Amen! And when we believe, we "rest". Huh? Yes, we "rest" in His finished work.

In Mat 11:28, Jesus said:" Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest...."

I like the "The Message" version.. Let's take a look from Mat 11:28-30

28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Notice this phrase "unforced rhythms of grace". Unforced mean effortless. Grace has a rhythms and is effortless.

Do you know the first time the word "grace" is mentioned in the Bible is in Gen 6:8. This is also known as the Law of First Mentioned.

The Law of First Mentioned simply mean when a word or subject is first mentioned in the Bible, that word or subject has significant meaning and revelation to it.

In Gen 6:8, it says "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." Ok, on the surface, it seem like there isn't anything much revealed about the word "grace" other than this person called "Noah."

But, keep in mind, especially whenever you are reading the Bible.. There is nothing insignificance in the Bible, not even names or numbers. Remember, every word written in the Bible are God inspired. Nothing is redundance in the Bible. God would not want to waste our time reading rubbish. Everything written in the Bible has meaning.

So, grace has something to do with Noah. And we know Noah is a person. But, do we know the meaning of his name "Noah"? Ahhhh... are you seeing it now?

If you look up the word "Noah" in Hebrew (Old Testament was written in Hebrew; so we look up the Hebrew meaning for Noah)  it mean "rest, comfort".

Bingo! Grace has something to do with "rest". Now go back to Mat 11:28-30

Jesus said :" ... I'll show you how to take a real rest.... unforced rhythms of grace...I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly."

Jesus is the source for grace and He want us to "rest" in Him. It will be a life free and light as long as we are in His company!

Let's take another passage and understand God's will for us... The familiar passage Psalms 23

1 The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack.
[Remark: If the Lord is our Shepherd, then we are Christ-focus and not self-focus.]
2 He makes me lie down in [fresh, tender] green pastures; He leads me beside the still and restful waters.
 [Remarks: lie down speaks of "rest"]

3 He refreshes and restores my life (my self); He leads me in the paths of righteousness [uprightness and right standing with Him—not for my earning it, but] for His name’s sake.
[Remarks: The gift of righteousness, not self-righteousness.]

4 Yes, though I walk through the [deep, sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort me.
[Remarks: We are never alone in our trials if there is any.]

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with [a]oil; my [brimming] cup runs over.
[Remarks: God want us to feast despite the presence of our enemies]

6 Surely or only goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and through the length of my days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be my dwelling place.
[Remarks: That's God's will for us!]

All in all, it is clear God want us to be restful. If today we have a toxic emotion (eg fear, guilt, condemned, bitterness, worries,etc), it mean that there is something amiss in our thinking and that thinking is a result of wrong believing.

God want us to be at rest, peaceful and flow in the unforced rhythms of grace.  Before Jesus left the disciples to go to the cross, He said:" Peace, I leave with you.  My peace, I give to you..." He did not say:" Fear, I leave with you. My fear, I give to you..."

While the devil comes to steal, kill & destroy, our Lord Jesus is here to give us life and more abundantly. Amen! If we confess "Aiya, I fear I may fail the test." " I hate talking to that selfish man." " I feel so guilty I didn't help that old lady." The devil has just successfully "steal" us from God. If God is love today, what make the devil? Devil is hatred. The devil hate men, that's why he wants to kill & destroy! But, he can only destroy us as much as we are drawn to him.

But, fear not! Today, Jesus is seated in the heavenly place, far above principalities, power and the rulers of darkness. The Bible says "As He is, so are we in this world!" Not "As He is, so are we in heaven."

So, instead of confessing the negatives... start confessing God's word. If you are fearful, ask yourself is Jesus fearful now? No. As He is not fearful, so are we in this world! Amen!


Whatever we apply from what we have been discussing... be it taking holy communion, confessing the Word of God or speaking in tongue, all these has to do with "resting" in our Lord, Jesus and His finished work.

Grace & Peace be with you!



Shalom,

Bro