Sunday, November 18, 2012

Rest in His Acceptance

In Christ, our Sabbath, we are called to rest.
In the Fourth Commandment (Exodus 20: 8), the Aleph-Tav את the signature of Jesus Christ, the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, appears:
זכור את יום השבת לקדשו׃

His signature in the commandment bears witness to Christ as our Sabbath rest.

Jesus confirms this for us in Matthew's Gospel:

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11: 28)

In Hebrews, the writer further outlines the importance of entering into the rest of Jesus Christ:

"Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword" (Hebrews 4: 11-12)
Rest can turn into a work if we are not informed of who we are in Christ, regardless of our thoughts, words, and deed.

We rest from our own works because Christ has Finished the Work at the Cross, making us righteous and accepted before God the Father:

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5: 21)

and

"To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. " (Ephesians 1: 6)

As we rest in the acceptance, the full justification that we have received in Christ, we then can accept others:

"Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God." (Romans 15: 7)

We are called not merely to stop striving for ourselves, but rather to keep receiving the gift of righteousness (Romans 5: 17).

Rest in the full acceptance that God has given you, for God the Father sees you in His own Son! (1 John 4: 17)



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