Enter His Rest
3-4-04

In the last two messages, we've considered the glory of the Lord. We saw how we are now God's Temple and are to "reflect the Lord's glory" (2 Corinthians 3:18) into the world as we are transformed into the likeness of Christ. It is a great honor to be in the presence of the Lord and we have been given the awesome responsibility to reflect an "ever-increasing" amount of His glory.

But what does this really mean? How can we increase the glory our life reflects?

When we place our life in the Hands of God through faith in Jesus Christ, we are given His Spirit "with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30). We reflect His glory as we submit to His leading and allow the fruit of His Spirit to be evident in our life; "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23). As we further submit and allow His fruit to define the character of our life, God's glory will shine!

Notice that the focus of reflecting His glory is on submission, not on our effort. When the glory of the Lord filled Solomon's Temple, "the priests could not perform their service" (2 Chronicles 5:14). God's glory and the work we perform through our own effort are incompatible.

Hebrews 4:10-11
"For anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest."

God created the heavens and the earth in six days; "By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all His work" (Genesis 2:2). God was satisfied with His work and entered His rest for all eternity. He is still intimately involved, but God accomplishes everything from a confident and calm position of rest because He KNOWS the final outcome.

Likewise, we must not cease from doing the things God calls us to do, but we must cease from working in our own strength and for our own self-righteous rewards. God will certainly keep us active, but the focus of our effort must be on serving and growing from a position of rest with a true desire to do ALL for the love of God.

Many of us are attempting to walk His path in our own strength by working hard and carrying the burdens which are rightfully His. This is not our call! We must love Him with all our heart and serve Him with all our strength. But we must do so through joyful surrender, daily submission and obedience. He will accomplish His work in His time and according to His purpose. Let's continue to reflect more and more of His glory. Let's draw closer into His presence and make every effort to enter His rest.

Have A Great Day!