Enter into God’s Rest to Enjoy God; God Rests when man Expresses and Represents Him

If we want to have the proper understanding of the Sabbath rest in Hebrews, we need to know the significance of the first mention of the Sabbath rest in the Bible: God created all things including man in six days, and on the seventh day He rested; man’s first day was a rest day, a day of enjoying God! Hallelujah!

This week we come to a new topic in the morning revival, Christ as our Sabbath Rest, Typified by the Good Land of Canaan. Our Sabbath rest is Christ; He is the reality of the Sabbath rest.

Rest is only in Christ, and Christ is rest to us. And this is not something out there in the air, in the heavens, while we’re down here; Christ today is the Sabbath rest in our spirit.

For us to enter into the Sabbath rest is for us to come to our spirit and enjoy being at rest with the Lord and in the Lord.

The children of Israel were promised the good land, which was a Sabbath rest to them; the good land was everything to them, and only in the good land could they enjoy true rest, for that’s where God wanted them to be.

Today the good land is the all-inclusive Christ as the life-giving Spirit with our spirit.

And in a very practical way, we can enjoy the good land by coming to the Lord in spirit and enjoying Him.

Similarly, for us to enjoy the Sabbath rest today, we need to exercise our spirit and be in spirit.

However, like the people of Israel, we many times – maybe even most times – wander in the wilderness of our soul.

We are so much in our soul, wandering in the soul; we do not enter into the promised rest by exercising our spirit.

We may be delivered from the world, and we left the world far, far behind us, even as the people of Israel left Egypt behind, and they crossed the Red Sea.

But we are still not in our spirit, for we have not yet broken through to get into our spirit, remain in our spirit, and live in our spirit.

The land of Canaan was the land of rest for the children of Israel, and the all-inclusive Christ as the life-giving Spirit in our spirit is the good land for us as believers in Christ.

In order for us to enter into the rest, we need to enter into Christ.

Where is Christ today? He is in our spirit and with our spirit.

For us to enter into Christ and enjoy Him as our rest, the reality of the good land, we need to no longer wander in our soul but come to our spirit, contact God in spirit, exercise our spirit, and live in spirit.

We need to make a choice today and every day: do we live in our flesh, in our soul, or in our spirit? We need to choose.

Are we still in the world, enjoying or partaking of what the world has to offer?

Are we in our soul, wandering in the wilderness of our soul and having so many troubles in our soul, even being in rebellion toward God in our wandering mind and stubborn will?

Or are we coming forward to God in our spirit to enjoy Him as our Sabbath rest in our spirit?

The First Mention of Rest in the Bible: God Rested after He Finished His Work of Creation, for He Obtained Man to Express and Represent Him

When we speak of the Sabbath rest, many Christians today think they know what it is; however, we need to come to the Word of God and see what the Bible says that Sabbath rest is.

To have a proper understanding of the Sabbath rest in Heb. 3:7-4:13, we need to see what’s the first mention of rest in the Bible and what’s the significance of rest.

There are millions of brothers and sisters in the Lord on this earth, but how many of them really know what is the Sabbath rest in Hebrews?

May the Lord enlighten the eyes of our heart to see Christ as our Sabbath rest and to enter into the rest, one with the Lord, for the rest of our life!

In Gen. 1-2 we see how God came in to do a work of recovery and a further work of creation, and He created the heavens and the earth with all things in them in six days.

At the end of every day, with the exception of the second day, God said, “Good.”

Then, on the sixth day, God created man in His image and according to His likeness, and He designed man in such a way that man would express Him with His image and represent Him with His authority and dominion (Gen. 1:26).

Therefore, at the end of the sixth day, God said, “Very good.”

When God gained man in His image and according to His likeness, a man who would express Him with His image and represent Him to exercise dominion over all the earth, God was satisfied.

When God said, Very good (Gen. 1:31), this means that He was satisfied.

Seeing the man He created according to His likeness and in His image, a man that would represent Him to rule over the entire creation, God was satisfied.

Therefore, on the seventh day, God rested (Gen. 2:2).

The principle of rest, the principle and meaning of the Sabbath rest, is that, when God gains man to be His expression and representation on earth, He rests, for He is satisfied.

We see this with the Lord Jesus, in whom and with whom God was satisfied, for this man in God’s image expressed God and represented Him on the earth.

We also see this with the New Jerusalem, the holy city, that bears the image of God and exercises God’s dominion; in the New Jerusalem, God is fully satisfied and enters into an eternal rest.

As the holy city, we will exercise God’s authority and maintain His dominion over the entire universe.

God will be reigning in us, through us, and with us over the whole universe.

And we will bear God’s image (Rev. 20:11), bearing God’s glory to express God corporately and eternally in His glory. Hallelujah!

God rested on the seventh day because He had finished His work and was satisfied; God’s glory was manifested because man had His image, and His authority with His dominion was about to be exercised for the subduing of His enemy. Hallelujah!

When there is a situation on earth in which man expresses God and represents God, that situation is a Sabbath rest to God! Amen!

The Sabbath rest is simply God’s satisfaction in His heart’s desire.

The Sabbath rest is not a specific day of the week which we need to legalistically keep and divide ourselves from others if they don’t; rather, the Sabbath rest is God’s satisfaction in His heart’s desire being fulfilled.

When God gains a corporate man that expresses Him with His image and represents Him with His dominion, God is at rest; that is the Sabbath rest, and we rest when God rests. Praise the Lord!

Thank You, Lord, for creating us in God’s image and according to God’s likeness so that we may express God and represent Him! Hallelujah, we men are in the image of God and bear God’s likeness for God’s corporate expression and for God to gain His dominion over the earth! Amen, Lord, we want to be those who express You and represent You today. We come to You to be joined to You and even be one with You so that You may express God in us and we would have Your authority over the enemy! Amen, Lord, gain Your Sabbath rest today. Gain Your satisfaction in Your heart’s desire! Gain a corporate expression of Yourself in Your Body, and gain the dominion through the Body over the enemy! May we be those who enter into Your rest today. May we be those who are part of the corporate expression of God today. Amen, Lord, we want You to be satisfied and at rest, for when You are at rest, we are also at rest. Bring us into the Sabbath rest with You!

We need to Enter into God’s Rest by being Satisfied with God and Enjoying God

If we read the record of God’s work of creation, a day starts not in the morning but in the evening; there was an evening and a morning – that was a day.

The seventh day was a day of rest for God, and this was also the first day for man.

Man was created by God in His image and according to His likeness, and man’s first day was a day of rest.

God has created everything for man’s enjoyment, and now here was the man created by God, and the first thing he had to do is enter into God’s rest.

We need to enter into God’s rest by being satisfied with God and enjoying God. Man’s first day was God’s seventh day, and it was a day of rest (Gen. 2:2-3).

What did man do on his first day of being created? He did not work for God nor did he do any work to please God.

Rather, his very first day was a day of rest. With God, work comes first and then He rests; with us, we first rest with God – we first enter into God’s rest, and then we work with God and for God.

This means that we need to forget about trying to do this or that for God; we first need to enter into God’s rest and enjoy God, be satisfied with God, and partake of all His riches.

We don’t have to first join in God’s work; we first need to enter into God’s rest, enjoy the Sabbath rest with God, and then we can work with God.

Man was created not to work for God but to be satisfied with God and rest with God.

Based on what we see at the time of man’s creation, man was created to be satisfied with God, rest with God, and enjoy God, not to work or labor for God. Wow!

Many times, however, we think that we need to do a work for God. Many Christians think that, now that they are saved, they need to work for God and do many things for Him.

It is true that we need to work for God, but the priority is not our work for Him but our being satisfied with Him, our entering into God’s rest.

Don’t think you need to do something for God; first of all, you need to enjoy God.

We may labor for God and be very burdened for Him, for the work of God weighs heavily upon our shoulders and it may be quite hard.

But the Lord keeps coming to us and encouraging us to come and enjoy Him.

Before we can do anything for God, we need to enjoy God.

Before we can work for God and labor for Him, we need to enjoy God and be satisfied with Him. Hallelujah!

This doesn’t mean that we rest and that’s it, we do nothing; rather, as we enter into God’s rest and enjoy God, we will be inwardly strengthened and supplied to work for God and one with God.

When we rest with God, He is at rest, for He is satisfied with man coming to Him to enjoy Him (Matt. 11:28-30).

When God is satisfied, we are satisfied, and when we’re satisfied, that’s a proof that God is at rest and satisfied.

May we be those who pay more attention to life than to work.

Yes, there is a great deal of work to be done for God, but at the same time, we need to realize that first we need to enjoy God and be satisfied with God, and only then can we work for God.

Instead of trying to do a great work for God, we should simply come to God, enter into God’s rest, and let God reach His goal.

His goal is to have His image be expressed and to have His dominion exercised.

When we enjoy God and are partaking of His riches, we will be transformed into His image to express Him and represent Him (2 Cor. 3:18).

This causes God to be happy and satisfied, and we can work with Him by first resting with Him and in Him.

The Sabbath rest signifies that God has done everything; He has completed everything and He has prepared everything, and now man must stop all his work and just enter into God’s rest.

To keep the Sabbath rest is to stop our work and to take God and all that He has accomplished for us as our enjoyment, rest, and satisfaction (Exo. 20:8).

This is God’s economy.

In His economy, God prepares everything for us, He accomplishes everything for us, and He does everything for us; there’s no need for us to do anything except enter into God’s rest, enjoy Him, and partake of His riches.

When we enjoy God and rest with God, we can work one with God and in God, and this work will actually be Christ working in us.

Paul testified of this: I laboured more than the others, yet not I, but the grace of God which is with me (1 Cor. 15:10).

May we be those who enter into God’s rest today by enjoying God and partaking of His riches so that we may be one with God in all we do, say, and work.

Thank You, Lord, for doing everything for us and in us. Hallelujah, God has done everything, completed everything, and prepared everything, and all we need to do is enter into God’s rest and enjoy God! Amen, Lord, we stop our working and doing and simply enter into God’s rest to enjoy God and partake of God. We want to stop our work and take God and all that He has accomplished for us as our enjoyment, rest, and satisfaction. We love You, Lord Jesus! Thank You for being everything to us and in us. We want to enter into Your rest today. We want to pay more attention to life than to work. May we start every day by entering into God’s rest to be satisfied with God and at rest with God! How good it is to be here, dear Lord, just enjoying You and being satisfied with You and in You. Bring us into the reality of the Sabbath rest and keep us in Your rest today and for the rest of our life!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ed Marks in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Genesis, msg. 9 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Laboring on the All-inclusive Christ Typified by the Good land for the Building up of the Church as the Body of Christ, for the Reality and the Manifestation of the Kingdom, and for the Bride to make Herself Ready for the Lord’s Coming (2023 Winter Training), week 6, entitled, Christ as Our Sabbath Rest, Typified by the Good Land of Canaan.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – God’s rest, a portion from, God’s Plan and God’s Rest, Chapter 1, by Watchman Nee.
  – Christ Is the Reality of Every Positive Thing, via, Bibles for America blog.
  – Keeping God’s Sabbath, a portion from, Life-Study of Leviticus, Chapter 59, by Witness Lee.
  – Resting with God and Working with Him according to the Principle of the Sabbath, via, Living to Him.
  – God’s plan and God’s rest, article by Watchman Nee in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – Rest, a portion from, Spiritual Man, The (3 volume set), Chapter 30, by Watchman Nee.
  – 70 Aspects of Christ as Everything for Your Enjoyment, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – Why is the Sabbath Rest Mentioned in Hebrews 4:9? Read more via, Gluten Free and God Seeking.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Lord, I believe a rest remains / To all Thy people known; / A rest where pure enjoyment reigns, / And Thou art loved alone. / A rest, where all our soul’s desire / Is fixed on things above; / Where fear and sin and grief expire, / Cast out by perfect love. (Hymns #424 stanzas 1-2)
  – Christ is my life, my light, my way, / My comfort and my health, / My peace, my rest, my joy, my hope, / My glory and my wealth. / Christ is my sabbath and new moon, / My morning and my day, / My age and my eternity / That ne’er will pass away. (Hymns #510 stanza 5 and 12)
  – Thy glorious, radiant face / My heart delights to see; / Here I’d abide and ne’er depart, / Beholding constantly. / In such a fellowship / Thou, Lord, art grace to me; / My heart and spirit gladdened, filled, / I enter rest in Thee. (Hymns #812 stanzas 3-4)