Hebrews 4:1-2

(Hebrews 4:1-2)

『 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.  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.』

Many people think of the Sabbath as a rest. In Genesis 1:1, 『In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Before the creation of heaven and earth, the kingdom of God is rest itself. The Bible (Revelation) says that in the last days, "He who enters the new heaven and the new earth enters the rest." God Himself is the rest, Jesus Christ is the rest. If you think of “rest” as the general term of rest, then there will be another day to work, but it is not the concept of working and rest when you enter the kingdom of God.

Before the creation of the heavens and the earth, it was a rest, but because of the creation of the heavens and the earth, the rest was broken. And after the creation of the heavens and the earth was finished, God withdrew his hand from the earth and rested. In Genesis 2:1-3『 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.  And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.  And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. 』 These words are like the kingdom of God, that is, rest under God's rule. Rest as it refers to in the creation of the heavens and the earth means the end of the work of creation in this world. The phrase “God blessed the seventh day” does not mean that he blessed the world, but that he blessed the “day”. Day is a day in the time and space of the material world. It is said that God blessed this day in the material world, not material blessings, but that God blessed the kingdom. In other words, it contains the promise that God will give eternal rest on the day the world ends.

We must look at how the Bible explains rest. In Hebrews 4:8-10, "For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 』If Joshua gave Israel rest, it is the land of Canaan. The land of Canaan is a shadow that symbolizes the kingdom of God. It is not a true rest. Therefore, the time for rest remains for God's people. True rest is entering into Jesus Christ. Because God is truly rest. Those who are born again are those who have entered the rest if they are connected to God in Christ.

From Ephesians 2:6 『And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 』
Those who are in Jesus Christ, his old man (bodily body) die with Jesus Christ, and a new man (spirit body), are born with Jesus Christ in a new life. The new man is seated in heaven with Christ. As in Colossians 3:3, 『For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 』 The dead are old. And he said, "The life of a new man is hidden in God." In Hebrews 4:10『 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 』

 Those who die with Jesus Christ and are born in a new life with Jesus Christ are already at rest. The Old Testament mandates the keeping of the Sabbath day holy. If the people do not observe the Sabbath, they are killed.
In Exodus 20:8-10『 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 』 The observance of the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments and is a rule of the law.
In Exodus 31:12-14『 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 』

In Numbers 15:33-36『 And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.  And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him.  And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.  And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses. 』

God tells those who have entered the rest, “Do not do your own work.” The word “your own work” means “to love the world”. Today, those who say "we must keep the Sabbath" are like confessing, "We are not yet in the sabbath." Because they think that they must keep the Sabbath day holy to enter the Sabbath. It is not that different from the case where Jesus Christ has come and is still waiting for Christ. Those who wait for Christ are not yet in Jesus Christ, so they are not in the rest of the kingdom of God. Only those who are in Jesus Christ can be said to have entered the rest. So it can be said that it is those who are in the law that must find Christ who tries to keep the rest holy. If you have found Christ, you must repent and enter into Christ to find rest. But those who are still under the law will be desperately judged by God as those who are trapped in the law and in sin.

In Matthew 12:1-2, “At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. 』
The Pharisees say that "the regulations set by the law" were "broken by Jesus' disciples." By the way, Jesus said in Matthew 12:8, "For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. Those who are in Christ become those who have already entered the rest. Therefore, those who say, "We must keep the Sabbath day holy," will surely die of the law if they break it once. It is the word that all human beings must realize that there is no true rest and repent and enter into Christ through the regulation of rest in the law.