Entering God’s Day of Rest

(Hebrews 4:9-11 – Entering God’s Day of Rest)

Under the Old Testament law of Moses, one of the Ten Commandments said that people were to rest on the Sabbath from all of their labours. The point of this commandment was to benefit man in two ways.

First, the commandment provided a break from the daily labours and chores that wear us all down. God promised that if His people would rest on the Sabbath, which was Saturday each week, He would bless them. Second, the Sabbath was to be a day of worship. On the Sabbath man was to worship God and praise His name for all that He does for us.

But this scripture in Hebrews 4 tells us more. It says that, “…there remains a sabbath rest for the people of God.” This rest is to rest with God. The seventh day of rest is the goal for all Christians. It is the final destination where we will live with God and Jesus Christ forever. So, let us learn a little more about this day of rest.

Entering God’s day of rest is yet to come

There is a common belief that God created the universe in six days. Then He rested on the seventh day. That is what the first chapter of Genesis and the opening line of the second chapter says, and it is correct. But that first chapter of Genesis is just the plan of God. It is the blueprint for Creation and it is not yet complete. If it were complete, then God would be at rest, and we will see that He is not yet at rest. This is clear from scriptures like this one today, which reads as follows.

9 So then, there remains a sabbath rest for the people of God; 10 for whoever enters God’s rest also ceases from his labors as God did from his. 11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, that no one fall by the same sort of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:9-11)

The writer here speaks about entering God’s day of rest as a future event. It is not something that has already taken place. And the reason why it is still to come is because the work of God, as laid out in the first chapter of Genesis is not yet complete.

We know that on the sixth day (Genesis 1:26-31), God created man in His own image. He said it like this:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)

God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” It is important that we look closely at those words.

There are two Creations for mankind in these words. First, man is created in the “likeness” of God, and then man is created in the “image” of God. These are two quite different and distinct things.

To be in the likeness of someone is to be similar in many ways. Look at two trees of the same species. They are like one another, but not exactly alike. Look at parents and children. They are alike to the point that in many cases you can tell just by looking at them they are related, but they are not EXACTLY alike.

However, to be an “image” of something is to be exactly like the original. A photograph is an image of whatever was photographed. Looking in a mirror gives an exact image of the person using the mirror.

This is the difference between being made in the “likeness” of God, which comes first, and being made in the “image” of God.

Right now, in this world, you could not say that man is in the image of God. Look at the evil, violence, lies, bad behaviour, greed, lust, hatred, and so on. These are not the attributes of God. God is love. God is a God of mercy, compassion, peace, justice and love. Man has the capacity to do these things, and so is in the likeness of God. But if man were in the “image” of God, man would act and behave like God in all circumstances.

As the scripture above tells us, no man will be entering God’s day of rest if they are disobedient. It is the disobedience of man that leads to sin that will prevent us entering God’s day of rest.

No man will be entering God’s day of rest unless and until they throw of the shackles of human passion and are transformed into the image of God. And we cannot do this by ourselves.

Thanks be to God that He has provided the way. We can be transformed into the image of God, and as the scripture says, Jesus is the way.

God is still working

Jesus also stated that He is still hard at work, and that God too, is also still working.

Jesus had just healed a paralytic on the sabbath. The Jews were upset that Jesus had broken the sabbath by working. Now, there are many lessons in this teaching, but the following is the only one I will focus on for this article.

But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working still, and I am working.” (John 5:17)

Jesus showed here that both He and the Father are working still. They were not at rest and so that seventh day rest mentioned in Genesis, has not yet come. Note the use of the word “still.” The two Greek words that were translated as “still” are better translated as “until now.” This is even more emphatic pointing to the fact that both Jesus and the Father have not ceased their work and it still goes on. They have never stopped working, and the unfolding work of the Creation continues.

Since man is therefore in the likeness of God and not yet in His image, then it is evident that we are in the sixth day of the Creation as outlined in Genesis chapter 1. And if we are in the sixth day, then there is still the seventh day of rest yet to come. So, entering God’s day of rest is still possible and available to all who come to Him.

Entering God’s day of rest through transformation

The process for entering God’s day of rest is a process of transformation.

As Genesis 1:26 said, we have to be made in the image of God, after His likeness. Note also that it said, ”Let us make man in our image after our likeness…”

The use of the word “us” indicates that God the Father was including someone else in that statement. This could only be the Son, since the Bible tells us that He is the image of God the Father. Note these words from Hebrews 1.

1 In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has obtained is more excellent than theirs. (Hebrews 1:1-4)

In these words we see the “us” referred to in Genesis 1. God the Father is showing that is was through Jesus, the Son, that the world was created. It is by His word the universe holds together. Both the Father and the Son worked together to create all that we see and know in the universe. This is why, when it comes to the creation of man, they use the term “us.”

In verse 3 we see the reference to the “image” of God. Jesus is the image of the Father as He “…reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of His nature.” I mentioned above that an “image” is like a mirror reflection, and we see that Jesus mirrors the Father in every way that matters. He is the image of the Father as He reflects God’s glory and bears the stamp of His nature.

God wants His people to also bear the stamp of His own glory. This is the process of transformation as we are transformed from the nature of man into the nature of God. And the outcome of this transformation will be entering God’s day of rest.

How are we transformed?

Transformation is a long slow process. It was designed by God the Father and offered through His grace. It was then begun by the Lord Jesus through His death and resurrection. And finally, it will be completed by the working of the Holy Spirit in us. The work of the Spirit is primarily a work of transformation to change us into the image of Jesus Christ, as we see in this scripture.

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:17-18)

Note that the Greek word “katoptrizo,” translated as “likeness” in this verse, actually means “to reflect as in a mirror.” Thus, it would be better translated as an “image” rather than a “likeness.”

As we see here, it is the work of the Spirit of the Lord to change us into the image of the Lord Jesus from one degree to another. This is a slow process as the Holy Spirit works on all aspects of human nature to give us victory over the passions, lusts, and desires of the flesh that cause people to do wrong. He uses the spiritual weapons of warfare to help us overcome by giving us the power to control both thoughts and actions. This is not a spiritual takeover of our minds, but the Spirit adds power to enable us to defeat the passions of the flesh.

So, entering God’s day of rest is a process, and it is still available today. God has not yet entered His rest because the work of Creation is not yet completed. It will not be completed until all sin and causes of sin are removed, and we who seek Christ and the love of God have been transformed into His image. When all is done, the Day of Judgement passed, and the new heavens and new earth are created, then entering God’s day of rest will occur for all who chose Christ over the fleeting pleasures of this life.

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