God's Sabbath Rest is an amazing concept. To think that God invites His people into His rest from all our striving and work is just phenomenal. God's Sabbath Rest means that we no longer need to work towards our salvation because He has already done everything on our behalf in Jesus Christ. This fundamental truth should cause us to greatly rejoice. However, many Christians do not properly understand what it means to rest on Christ's Sabbath. In this blog, I shall explain exactly what God's Sabbath Rest is and then I will explain how this truth should have some very profound effects upon our mental health. The purpose of this blog is to give any Christian who is struggling with guilt and shame some encouragement. I must confess that these truths are something that I personally need to remind myself of daily because I am prone to forget them. So, believe me when I tell you that I am preaching to myself as much as I am teaching you. I am in the same exact boat as you are. Too often the enemy creeps in my ear and tells me that I am not good enough for God's grace, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ reminds me that none of us are good enough and that is why Jesus had to come to take our punishment that we deserve upon Himself on the cross. It is because of that sacrificial act that we are made worthy. Christ became sin so that we could have His righteousness! This is an amazing concept for us to grasp. But first, allow me to explain what exactly is God's Sabbath Rest. I must take you back to the beginning in Genesis chapter 2:2. It says the following,
"And on the seventh day, God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done"
As you can see from this text, the Sabbath Rest is the seventh day of the creation week where God created the universe. On the seventh day, God rested from all His work. This does not mean that God was tired or grew weary like we do from our own work. No, God is incapable of growing tired and weary and as Jesus says elsewhere, God is always working until today. So, what exactly does this text mean? What this text is doing is giving us a full picture of the completion of God's work and it is telling us what we were meant for from the beginning of time. God created Adam and Eve to participate in the fellowship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and so were their descendants. However, Adam screwed that up when he decided to rebel against God's command to not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. You see, if Adam would have followed God's command and cast the serpent out, he would have ushered in the New Heaven and New Earth immediately because his stay in the Garden of Eden was only for a probationary period. We were always meant to be in His rest. So, where do I get the idea that we were made for His rest? If we turn to Hebrews 4:9, we read the following,
"So, then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for anyone who has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his"
In this text, we see that as God rested from his work, there remains a rest for His people. This does not mean that we stop working but that we no longer need to strive for our salvation. This concept does not make any sense to our minds because we are naturally prone to legalism. Legalism is our default setting and because of this, it makes logical sense. We work and earn a paycheck as compensation for our work. However, the Gospel turns this concept completely upside down by saying that we are incapable of working due to our sins, and yet God grants us what we did not earn as a token of His grace. For this reason, Paul can tell us in Romans 8:37-39,
"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor thing present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord"
Isn't this simply awesome? Paul is telling us that absolutely nothing will or can ever separate us from the love of God! In other words, if you are a Christian, God is forever pleased with you. Your sin cannot change the way God feels toward you. Please allow this truth to penetrate your hearts and minds because you really need to understand this completely and I pray that you will. You may even need to reread this blog many times to remind yourself. I fully understand that because like I said earlier, I need to constantly remind myself of this truth too.
So, how does all this relate to our mental health? Well, I see three practical ways that God's Sabbath Rest should affect our mental health. These effects should be:
1) It Should Humble Us
2) It Should Cause Us To Have Joy
3) It Should Lead Us Into Doxology
I will elaborate on each of these points, but before I do let me say that these are not the only effects that God's Sabbath Rest should have. These are merely the main ones that I can immediately think of. If you can think of more, please feel free to let me know in the comments below.
It Should Humble Us
When we understand that we are invited into His rest (aka fellowship with the Triune God) not because of anything we have done, but because of His grace toward us, it should cause us to feel extremely humble. The reason why I say this is because we understand that our own wickedness deserves wrath and condemnation, yet God gives us grace because of what His Son did instead. We should never look down our noses on another sinner because a saved Christian is no more morally superior than a crack addict or prostitute.
It Should Cause Us To Have Joy
When we truly understand how God justifies the ungodly because of Christ, it should give us real joy and peace no matter what our circumstance is. The reason why I say this is because no matter our circumstances our standing with God never changes. We are always made righteous in His sight and because of that, we are always pleasing to Him.
It Should Lead Us Into Doxology
When we truly understand both that God brings us into fellowship with His Triune nature and that God freely justifies the ungodly, it should cause us to really praise Him. The reason why I say this is because we should be so thankful for what He has done on our behalf in Christ. God literally came to this earth as a man to take the punishment that we deserve on a cross and then bodily rose from the dead to give us a brand new life. We are literally new creations in Him. If this does not give us cause for rejoicing and praise then I am not sure what will.
I hope that this blog really helps you understand how God's Sabbath Rest is supposed to help your mental health. I thank you very much for taking the time to read my blog and I hope that this helps you when you deal with feelings of guilt and shame. Remember, when our hearts condemn us that God is greater than our hearts. The enemy is a liar and an accuser of the brethren who has come to kill, steal, and destroy. Do not allow him to destroy your joy and peace in the Lord. May the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
Check out the other CCMH Ministry Website
"And on the seventh day, God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done"
As you can see from this text, the Sabbath Rest is the seventh day of the creation week where God created the universe. On the seventh day, God rested from all His work. This does not mean that God was tired or grew weary like we do from our own work. No, God is incapable of growing tired and weary and as Jesus says elsewhere, God is always working until today. So, what exactly does this text mean? What this text is doing is giving us a full picture of the completion of God's work and it is telling us what we were meant for from the beginning of time. God created Adam and Eve to participate in the fellowship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and so were their descendants. However, Adam screwed that up when he decided to rebel against God's command to not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. You see, if Adam would have followed God's command and cast the serpent out, he would have ushered in the New Heaven and New Earth immediately because his stay in the Garden of Eden was only for a probationary period. We were always meant to be in His rest. So, where do I get the idea that we were made for His rest? If we turn to Hebrews 4:9, we read the following,
"So, then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for anyone who has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his"
In this text, we see that as God rested from his work, there remains a rest for His people. This does not mean that we stop working but that we no longer need to strive for our salvation. This concept does not make any sense to our minds because we are naturally prone to legalism. Legalism is our default setting and because of this, it makes logical sense. We work and earn a paycheck as compensation for our work. However, the Gospel turns this concept completely upside down by saying that we are incapable of working due to our sins, and yet God grants us what we did not earn as a token of His grace. For this reason, Paul can tell us in Romans 8:37-39,
"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor thing present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord"
Isn't this simply awesome? Paul is telling us that absolutely nothing will or can ever separate us from the love of God! In other words, if you are a Christian, God is forever pleased with you. Your sin cannot change the way God feels toward you. Please allow this truth to penetrate your hearts and minds because you really need to understand this completely and I pray that you will. You may even need to reread this blog many times to remind yourself. I fully understand that because like I said earlier, I need to constantly remind myself of this truth too.
So, how does all this relate to our mental health? Well, I see three practical ways that God's Sabbath Rest should affect our mental health. These effects should be:
1) It Should Humble Us
2) It Should Cause Us To Have Joy
3) It Should Lead Us Into Doxology
I will elaborate on each of these points, but before I do let me say that these are not the only effects that God's Sabbath Rest should have. These are merely the main ones that I can immediately think of. If you can think of more, please feel free to let me know in the comments below.
It Should Humble Us
When we understand that we are invited into His rest (aka fellowship with the Triune God) not because of anything we have done, but because of His grace toward us, it should cause us to feel extremely humble. The reason why I say this is because we understand that our own wickedness deserves wrath and condemnation, yet God gives us grace because of what His Son did instead. We should never look down our noses on another sinner because a saved Christian is no more morally superior than a crack addict or prostitute.
It Should Cause Us To Have Joy
When we truly understand how God justifies the ungodly because of Christ, it should give us real joy and peace no matter what our circumstance is. The reason why I say this is because no matter our circumstances our standing with God never changes. We are always made righteous in His sight and because of that, we are always pleasing to Him.
It Should Lead Us Into Doxology
When we truly understand both that God brings us into fellowship with His Triune nature and that God freely justifies the ungodly, it should cause us to really praise Him. The reason why I say this is because we should be so thankful for what He has done on our behalf in Christ. God literally came to this earth as a man to take the punishment that we deserve on a cross and then bodily rose from the dead to give us a brand new life. We are literally new creations in Him. If this does not give us cause for rejoicing and praise then I am not sure what will.
I hope that this blog really helps you understand how God's Sabbath Rest is supposed to help your mental health. I thank you very much for taking the time to read my blog and I hope that this helps you when you deal with feelings of guilt and shame. Remember, when our hearts condemn us that God is greater than our hearts. The enemy is a liar and an accuser of the brethren who has come to kill, steal, and destroy. Do not allow him to destroy your joy and peace in the Lord. May the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
Check out the other CCMH Ministry Website
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