As a born again believer what does the Sabbath rest mean to you? There are disagreements in between believers whether Sabbath rest is relevant for today. Let us see what it means.
Sabbath rest means “to rest from work or cease from work.”
This is important in understanding the Sabbath day and the role of Christ as our Sabbath rest. We can find the origin of “Sabbath” in the creation story. God created heaven, earth and all the leaving things and then he rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2). We know that God is all-powerful and omnipotent so He does not need rest.
Then, what does it mean that – God rested on the seventh day?
It means He ceased from His labors. The Sabbath rest symbolized the coming of the Messiah, who would provide a permanent rest for His people.
God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments and told them to follow them. The fourth commandment tells about the Sabbath rest. One out of every seven days, they were to rest from whatever work they were engaged in.
Hebrews 4:9-10 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.
That day was holy to the Lord (Exodus 20:8-11). The Bible says that this Sabbath rest was a picture of the spiritual rest that now belongs to us in Christ.
Jesus is our Sabbath rest
Colossians 2:16-17 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
The Sabbath was a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.The rest pictured in the Sabbath is fulfilled in Christ. God wants us to live the Christian life from a understanding/position of rest.
Jesus is the Sabbath rest for us because He is “Lord of the Sabbath”.
Matthew 12:8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.
In the Old Testament, people failed to learn the lesson God was teaching them about the Sabbath. In the New Testament, it is very clear in the scripture. So, we should not want to make the same mistake as people of Old Testament days. In the book of Hebrews (4:1-11) we find Sabbath rest is connected to Jesus. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that the Sabbath rest is provided by Christ.
In this passage, the writer to the Hebrews is seeking to establish a clear understanding of
1) Why God instituted the Sabbath and
2) What it means to us now.
Verse 1: Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. We are warned not to make the same mistake as the Israelites who died in the wilderness (also verse 11).
The picture of the people of Israel entering into the Promised Land is used as a picture of entering into a Sabbath rest (Hebrews 3:16-19; 4:4-5).
Verse 2: The message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not combine it with faith.
Those Israelites died because of disobedience (verse 6) and because they did not believe in the rest God had prepared for them (verse 2).
Verse 9: There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God
The writer to the Hebrews begins to show how the picture of the Sabbath is a picture of the rest that God has prepared for the Christian.
Verse 10:For anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.
This is the most important point of the message the writer is bringing in this passage: The Christian life is the fulfilment of the Sabbath. Just as God rested on the seventh because the work was complete, so we too now can rest because the work is complete.
What is the Sabbath day for the Christian?
Hebrews 4:7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”
There are debates in-between Christians about the exact day to observe Sabbath. Some insist it is still Saturday, and others believe that it has been changed to Sunday. According to Scripture, both are wrong. There is no other Sabbath rest besides Jesus. He alone satisfies the requirements of the Law, and He alone provides the sacrifice that atones for sin. He is God’s plan for us to cease from the labour of our own works. The Sabbath day for the Christian is “Today”.The promise of entering into his rest is open to you every day.
