Hebrews 4 highlighted God’s displeasure with Israel and the latter’s not entering the promised land, the place of rest in God, and the death of all those who disobeyed God with unbelief in the wilderness.
The promised land is a type of the ultimate rest in God in the new heaven and new earth, the rest promised to all those who believe in Jesus and continue to trust and obey Him until they enter into this wonderful hope of eternal rest in the Lord. This is the rest similar to that which God instituted after creating the world and resting on the seventh day. It depicts a state, a relationship and a fellowship with God which He intended for man. Unfortunately, this rest was disrupted by man’s rebellion and sin against Him. Yet God is still working towards re-establishing this rest for man, a rest which is even more beautiful and wonderful, in the eternal heaven and earth to come.
We who believe in Jesus have this hope and rest to look forward to, even in the midst of living in a broken world with broken relationships. To realise this ultimate rest, we must not regress to unbelief and disobedience. “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 3:15). We must continue to trust Him and continue to love Him by keeping His commandments.
But, even in the present context, we can already enter into this rest, it is provided for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ invites us to come to Him. To those of us who are weary and heavy-laden, He will give rest. He shared in John 16:33 that in Him we might have peace (a picture of rest) even though in this world, there is tribulation. He urges us to take courage for He has overcome the world.
We need not struggle to achieve our rest; we need only to come to Jesus, share His yoke, and find that His burden is not heavy (Matt 11:28). This rest in Him will continue to carry us through our pilgrimage on earth until we enter the ultimate rest in God.
MAKE EVERY EFFORT
Hebrews 4:11 has the phrase “making every effort” and this is followed by “to enter that rest”. The NASB puts it in the following way, “let us be diligent to enter that rest”.
Some of us may feel it odd that scriptures encourage us to make every effort and be diligent to enter God’s rest. Is not rest opposite to effort and diligence? Is it correct to say that “God helps those who help themselves”? Is it not true that transformation unto godliness is solely the work of God and it does not require our effort or contribution to realise it?
Yet, in the scriptures, this concept of making effort and being diligent appears again and again in different parts of the Bible. The apostle Peter, for instance, wrote in 2 Peter: “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence in your faith, supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love” (2 Peter 1:5-7).
In 2 Peter 1:10 the apostle Peter again reiterated,
Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you, for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you” (NASB).
The apostle Paul, in Colossians 1:28-29, refers to his ministry as labouring, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in him. He urged the Ephesian Christians in Ephesians 4 to “put off your old self…put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:25).
It seems pretty obvious that making effort and diligence are involved in the pursuit of holiness and godliness. It is not just “letting go and letting God”. It requires our effort, choices and cooperation, albeit in dependence on God entirely through the enabling of His Holy Spirit, to make this pursuit and longing a reality. It is definitely required to enter into God’s rest.
The Lord God moulds us into the image of the Lord Jesus through basically three means. He uses godly brethren to teach us and influence us. He makes use of circumstances (which include suffering) to transform us. Finally, He gives us the ‘disciplines of grace’ to enable us to grow unto holiness and godliness. The ‘disciplines’ include reading and studying the Bible, the fellowship of the brethren, the worship service, the communion service, the baptism service and fasting and meditations on His Word. All these require our godly choices and cooperation and they need our diligence and moral effort to observe them regularly.
If we neglect the ‘disciplines of grace’ and we are complacent and indifferent, do not expect to grow in holiness and godliness. But let us be careful not to end up being legalistic and conclude that it is our effort that makes the difference. It is only God who blesses our efforts made to grow to be like Him. Only God effects transformation in our lives and all glory and honour belong to Him when we do make progress in our spiritual lives.