For six days God was engaged in his work of creating, and on the seventh day he rested. The six days of creation we understand, but what about the “rest”?
To take it literally means God took a break. But how likely is it that God retired to a shuffleboard court in Florida where he has been ever since?
Hebrews takes the thought further. It tells us that God’s desire is that we join him in his rest. It also informs us that up until the time of Christ, we blew every opportunity we had of taking him up on his offer. This idea of rest is presented as fundamental to our life and experience as believers in Christ. So we need to understand what it is.
What did God do when he had finished creating? He installed his representatives in the garden, and his intention was for them to extend its boundaries to the ends of the earth. The Hebrew verb in the Genesis account actually implies that God put Adam into the garden to rest. So Adam’s rest was Adam’s reign.
So rest has nothing at all to do with sitting around. It is all about ruling.
When Solomon dedicated the temple, the glory of God filled it. And there God took up his rest. How do we know this? Describing the dedication of the temple, Psalm 132 tells us: “Arise, O Lord, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength.”
The resting place of God is the very place where he begins his rule. Once he had subdued the Egyptians by bringing Israel out of Egypt and destroying the armies of Pharaoh, God established his presence in the tabernacle, took up his place of rest and began to rule over the people he had created.
The tabernacle of Moses was deliberately designed by God to mimic the pattern of Egyptian military encampments of that time. In the innermost place of the Egyptian “tabernacle” there was nothing but an idol which represented Pharaoh, but in the Holy of Holies was located the invisible but invincible presence of Almighty God. God ruled from his place of rest. The ark was God’s mobile war headquarters.
God’s rest is not his retirement. It is the place of rulership where all his enemies have been defeated. God did not go into the garden, the tabernacle or the temple to sit down and retire. He went in to sit down on his throne and reign!
At the moment of his ascension, having subdued all his foes, as God the Father had done beforehand, Christ entered his rest. And when he ascended and sat down at God’s right hand, he began his rule, just as God the Father had done in the garden, at the tabernacle and at the temple.
And not only did he begin to rule, he began to draw us up into his rest and his reign. That is why, as he was about to ascend to the Father and take his seat at God’s right hand, he said this: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.”
To grasp the meaning of this truth will change your life. We are not just hanging on till Jesus delivers us from this evil world. We are called to proclaim God’s rule over it. We may reign, as Jesus did, through the laying down of our lives. But never forget that while he was hanging on that cross, Jesus was controlling the course of history.
It’s time to enter that rest. It’s there and only there that we will see his kingdom come.
CONSIDER PARTNERING WITH DAVID & ELAINE CAMPBELL IN HELPING TO SUSTAIN THEIR ACTIVE MINISTRY.
AWAKENING MINISTRIES // FOUNDATION of FAITH Project
Foundation of Faith Project is strengthening generations in faith and bringing beautiful changes to the communities around them. Through teaching, mentoring and coaching, many are finding out who they are and who they are destined to be. They are bringing more to their world. David Campbell is the key leader in this initiative and you can support him financially directly through Awakening Ministries.
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