Exodus 16:11-31; 20:8-11; 31:13-17 Part Three: Final
Jesus is our rest:
The sabbath is a sign between God and those who trust in Jesus for salvation because they are redeemed by Him. It symbolizes resting in God’s work for salvation not our own. In the New Testament Jesus is our Sabbath. He is our rest from the works of trying to make ourselves better and acceptable to The Holy God. What we do in our strength and our best efforts are just not good enough to make us, sinful man, any holier than we already are. The Bible says, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23; also see Isaiah 64:6). Just as God stated that Israel could work for 6 days and rest on the 7th from their work, spiritually we rest in Jesus for the work that He did on the cross by taking upon Himself the sins of the world. As we believe in what He did on the cross, we come into His rest.
The sabbath focuses on celebrating the sanctifying or redeeming work of God. Jesus is our Redeemer and Sanctifier. We rest in the finishing work of Christ Jesus. The sabbath represents what God has done. We can not redeem ourselves. It is the work of God. To work on the sabbath is symbolic of us trying to work out our salvation by our own efforts. It is the work of God in us. The result of salvation being our work is to reject Him, and this will bring about death. In Galatians 2:14-21 Paul was adamant about Jesus bring about salvation. In verse 16 it says, “knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”
We don’t have to strive any longer to purify ourselves. He has already done that. Jesus is The One Who makes us holy unto The Lord God. The sabbath was to be celebrated and now we can celebrate because our sins were poured on Him by The Father (Isaiah 53:6). He took the penalty of sin which is death for us. For those who believe in Him are now alive and are in a continuing covenant with God for eternity. We can come and worship Him for giving us life in Himself. It is here spiritually that we rest in Jesus Christ from our work. We rest in the finishing work of God on the cross. If we try to add to what He did, then we have not accepted His finishing work and are not resting in Him.
Today, are you able to celebrate with me what God has done for us through His Son, Jesus? Are you enjoying the joy of your salvation by resting in Him? May His peace with you today and always.
Posted on April 24th, 2006 by Daniel
Filed under: Truth To Live By