The Rest of the Gospel No One Teaches

When I was a boy, my Dad used to turn off my bedroom lights, tuck me in, and pray with me. I remember his sweet, comforting words that my little heart clung to like lifesavers on an emotional lake of uncertainty. He’d say he loved me, walk to the door, smile, and whisper these profound words:

“Rest in Jesus. Goodnight.”

They have changed the way I understand the gospel.

The Gospel We Tell

If someone asked if you can explain the gospel, my guess is you’d be pretty sure you would get it right. And you probably would say it well. But I bet there’s one part you wouldn’t mention. So I’m going to ante up, put my biblical cards on the table, and go all in on the part of the gospel I think might be forgotten.

I’m talking about rest.

The Gospel No One Teaches in Sunday School:

1. God’s Rest

The gospel starts with God.

Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest?” Isaiah 66.1

What a strange thing for God to say. Most of us have heard this verse so many times it stops the shock we should feel at God implying he wants to chill out and kick around a bit. Yet, that’s exactly what an omnipotent God with limitless energy did directly after we were created, setting up our story.

2. Man’s Rest at Creation

So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. Genesis 2.3

This seventh day, as Watchman Nee points out, was man’s first day, since he was created on the sixth: it was the day God invited man into his story. Our story, and the gospel, starts with rest.

3. Sin

But this goes deeper than creation and how God spends his day off. The Bible depicts it cutting to the heart of every part of the gospel. Look at what the punishment from God was for the Israelites’ sin:

They shall not enter into my rest. Hebrews 3.11

The people who doubted God never entered the promised land; they circled for forty years in the wilderness. Only the next generation that believed would receive it.

4. Hell

Yet, it goes even deeper. Have you noticed what the Bible says about hell — the eternal place of punishment for sin?

And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image. Revelation 14.11

Hell is a place of no rest? Where is God going with this?

But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt. “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” Isaiah 57.20-21

5. A Savior

The plot races to the climax. There is an answer to the world’s problem of sin. A Savior. And you will be blown away by what the Bible, not some Fool blogger who reads it, but what the Word of God says about him.

Behold, a son shall be born to you who is a man of rest… 1 Chronicles 22.9

This is written about Solomon as a prefigure of Christ. Solomon represents the Kingdom of rest that will come to God’s people after the days of war under King David (the old covenant), foreshadowing Jesus coming as our peace. So, much more than about Solomon, this is written about Jesus. Man of power? Man of heroism? Exciting manifestation? No, simply… rest. Everything else comes with it, but the gospel is much simpler than we’ve made it. To life’s greatest questions, our soul-torn struggles, our most pressing fears, our sin-filled suffering, Jesus offers rest.

Rest in Christ. Like a perfect, ironic bedtime prayer, that is the gospel.

Rest in Jesus. That is the gospel.

Ever wonder why Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath? It isn’t some weird Christian Scrabble word entry. Jesus is Lord of the Rest.

And here is the gospel:

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength…” Isaiah 30:5

Rest was there all along in our Bibles, often left out because we don’t understand its implications. Yet, if this is what the gospel is all about, think of its impact on your life.

It is intimately tied to you becoming more like Christ in your relationship with him:

Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord, and whom you teach out of your law, to give him rest from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked. Psalm 94.12-13

It’s not a side note or an extra bonus. This is God’s goal.

And here is the best part. The rest God has for you is intimacy with God. Remember Jesus honoring Mary for sitting at his feet instead of getting caught up in the work like Martha? The gospel is, refreshingly, found at this place, even in the Old Testament:

And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33.14

God bought rest for you in Christ. It’s essential to every part of the gospel, and when you understand it, it will change your life.

This is what the Bible says will happen,

And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. Isaiah 32.17

Are you ready for this gospel? Not religiosity, hype, duty, or show. What life with Christ is really all about is — “in repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength….”

This gospel is the incredible news for everyone who carries guilt, emotional scars, stress, concerns, or doubt. It isn’t yours. Worthiness isn’t achieved through determination, hobbling and thrashing every inch to the finish line to win your prize. The prize is rest.

It’s handed in a cross-shaped box with a tomb-shaped opening. The whole gospel fits inside. And the story invites you to curl up next to God as he turns out the bedroom lights on your sin condition, tucks you in, and quietly affirms how he loves you before whispering the best of what life with him has to offer: not self-assured spiritual perfectionism, but rest.

Rest in Jesus.

JP says

April 16, 2015 at 10:12 pm

The thing is, I don’t think God is primarily talking about a physical rest. I think the physical rest of the Sabbath day was actually an allusion or foreshadowing of a spiritual rest in Christ. I think he wants us to lay our burdens down emotionally and mentally and take up the joy of living with him and being loved by him in return, rather than take more time off. Physical rest is important, too, but I think he’s getting at one that changes our motivation and focus at the core of our being.

I can’t bear to cut any of this out, so I’ll quote the bulk of Hebrews 4:

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. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

“So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’”
And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”

Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”
For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

Comments

Susan Conger says

April 14, 2015 at 2:56 am

Thanks JP for the interesting and informative article. It’s very true! Americans are missing the boat on rest altogether. Hardly anything is closed on Sundays anymore, except banks and mail delivery. At the shore In New Jersey I remember the “Blue Laws” in the 60s and 70s stating no business could open its doors on Sundays. What a blessing. Can you imagine that happening nowadays?!!
Christians are guilty of missing out on rest and quiet, even more so than the national average. We can get so busy doing good deeds that we burn ourselves out and forget the point of it all. Thanks for pointing out the verses commending and requiring rest. It’s as simple as that! We can make the Bible so complex when in reality God is trying to make it straight forward for us.
It’s great to be reminded that both God and Jesus took rest. Since we are to be Christ like, it makes sense that we remember to rest, as He did.
Thanks :)
Zzz

- JP says
  
  April 16, 2015 at 10:12 pm
  
  The thing is, I don’t think God is primarily talking about a physical rest. I think the physical rest of the Sabbath day was actually an allusion or foreshadowing of a spiritual rest in Christ. I think he wants us to lay our burdens down emotionally and mentally and take up the joy of living with him and being loved by him in return, rather than take more time off. Physical rest is important, too, but I think he’s getting at one that changes our motivation and focus at the core of our being.
  
  I can’t bear to cut any of this out, so I’ll quote the bulk of Hebrews 4:
  
  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. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,
  
  “So I declared on oath in my anger,
  ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”
  And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”
  
  Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:
  
  “Today, if you hear his voice,
  do not harden your hearts.”
  For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.
  
  - Susan Conger says
    
    April 17, 2015 at 12:19 am
    
    Our resting the mind makes sense, especially as God didn’t need physical sleep. And when anxious and worried, we can’t get to sleep at all.
    When my husband had surgery, your dad said to me, “rest in Jesus” he clearly meant to tell me to rest, i.e. rest my mind and trust in God. That’s what it conveyed to me, and your message confirms the truth of this.
    Thanks for the message reminding us all to rest, “rest in Jesus!”
    
    - Susan Conger says
      
      April 19, 2015 at 12:49 am
      
      Another great passage on rest is Matthew 11:28-29.
      “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
      This also confirms your message that it’s our “souls” that will find rest, not just our bodies.
      
      - JP Demsick says
        
        April 19, 2015 at 2:31 pm
        
        Yes! That was in the 1,400 word version of this post before I edited it down to 1,000. Great verse. :)
Susan Conger says

April 20, 2015 at 12:34 pm

:)
The Bible is so full of gems. Thanks again for this article.
Rest in Jesus, JP