Working to complete a finish work
Imagine if one day you came home early to prepare a wonderful
dinner to your spouse. Then, after you finished preparing the meal, you
carefully hid it at a special place and quickly went out to get some fresh
flowers and scented candles to fully impress your loved one. On your way back,
to your surprise and disappointment, you found your spouse at the kitchen, busy
preparing dinner. She could be lying on the couch, resting, if she only knew
the work was already done!
Are we acting the same way toward God?
"I gave you land you had not worked on, and I gave you towns
you did not build--the towns where you are now living. I gave you vineyards and
olive groves for food, though you did not plant them".
Joshua 24:13
The Israelites
didn’t believe God had given the land
which flowed with milk and honey (Exo 3:8) and for this reason they didn’t enter
and enjoy it. The Promised Land was a picture of the finished work of Christ,
because it is a land in which God’s people would enjoy living in houses they
didn’t build, eats from vineyards they didn’t plant. Their blessings were based
on the work of another.
Today some
Christians also struggle to believe that God is “that good” to give them
blessings based on the finished work of Christ and not based on their own
performance. Some find hard to believe that by Jesus stripes they ARE healed (Isaiah 53, 1 Peter 2:24); They find difficult
to believe that ALL their sins have been forgiven (Daniel 9:24; Rom 4:7, Eph 4:32,
Col 2:13, Heb 10:17, 18); They don’t believe they are ALREADY complete, and
their ONLY LABOR is to enter in God’s REST and allowing the Holy Spirit to YIELD
HIS FRUIT in their lives(Col 2:10, Heb 4:11, Gal 5:22-25); They don’t believe
that the enemy HAS BEEN defeated by Christ at the Cross, and that today we should ONLY ENFORCE that victory by holding on to the TRUTH that we are RIGHTEOUS
as we proclaim the GOSPEL of Christ which will strengthen our FAITH and make us
rejoice over the SALVATION that is revealed through the WORD (Ephesians
6:12-17).
I strongly
believe that the reason why many are not getting answers to their prayers is
because they are trying to finish the work that has been finished by Christ.
This very act of trying to get something God has declared it’s already yours is
called UNBELIEF. The book of Hebrews
explains this truth brilliantly:
1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of
entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto
them: but the word preached did not
profit them, not being mixed with
faith in them that heard it.
3 For we which have believed do enter into rest (…)
6 Seeing therefore it
remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief”.
9 There remaineth
therefore a rest* to the people of God.
*
(the word here is sabbatismos, a Sabbath rest, a rest from all work).
10 For he that is
entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from
his own works, as God did from his
11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
This is the
only portion of scripture that tells us
to fear and that fear is linked to not believing that THERE IS A REST
provided by God to his people. When we don’t enter in that rest by worrying and
trying to gain God’s approval by self-effort, it does not put our salvation in
jeopardy, but it means that we will not
enjoy all the fullness of the blessings that ARE ALREADY provided in the REST.
The author of the book of Hebrews goes on to explain what is that rest today:
14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is
passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son
of God, let us hold fast our
profession.
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and
find grace to help in time of need.
In verse 14, the word “profession”
in the original Greek means: whom we profess to be ours. In other words, keep
confessing that Jesus is ours and that we are His. Keep confessing that we ARE
HEALED, THE ENEMY IS DEFEATED, WE HAVE FINANCIAL PROVISION, WE HAVE WISDOM, WE
HAVE GOD’S FAVOR, ALL OUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN, WE ARE GOD’S BELOVED...
Jesus is our
Sabbath! He finished the work of redemption at the Cross and created by His on
flesh a new and living way to all of us into a place of rest in the Father’s
heart (Heb 10:20).
Ask the Holy
Spirit to lead you into this wonderful place of peace and rest, prepared to
those who BELIEVE in God’s Word.
