Creation
Rest (since broken by sin) ~ “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them,
were finished. And on the seventh day
God ended His work which He had done, and He
rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and
sanctified it, because in it He rested
from all His work which God had created and made” (Genesis
2:1-3).
Redemption
Rest (secured in Christ) ~ “In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: ‘Do not fear;
Zion, let not your hands be weak. The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty
One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with
singing’” (Zephaniah 3:16-17).
The
Sinner’s Rest (by
coming to Christ) ~ Jesus said, “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one
knows the Son except the Father. Nor
does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills
to reveal Him. Come to Me, all you who
labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest” (Matthew 11:27-28).
The
Saint’s Rest (in
learning of Christ) ~ Jesus continued on saying, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle
and lowly in heart, and you will find
rest for your souls. For My yoke is
easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30).
Servant’s
Rest (in communion with
Christ) ~ “Then the apostles
gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what
they had taught. And He said to them, ‘Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place
and rest a while.’ For there were
many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. So they departed to a deserted place in the
boat by themselves” (Mark 6:30-32).
Paradise
Rest (presently) ~ “Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, ‘Write: “Blessed are the dead who die
in the Lord from now on.”’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they
may rest from their labors, and their works follow them’” (Revelation
14:13). “For
we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building
from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to
be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been
clothed, we shall not be found naked. For
we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be
unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very
thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident, knowing that while
we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to
be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord” (2
Corinthians 5:1-8).
Eternal
Rest (future) ~ “There remains
therefore a rest for the people of God.
For he who has entered His rest
has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His” (Hebrews
4:9-10). “But the rest of the dead did not live again
until the thousand years were finished. This
is the first resurrection” (Revelation 20:5).
~
Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT
LIFE NOW
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