Document Actions
A Rest Only Jesus Can Give
Board for Evangelism Newsletter: July 2008
Does a “day off” sound good to you? How about a three day weekend? After the work week, a day off or a long weekend can be refreshing. Here’s the question: what happens if we can’t stop thinking about the unfinished projects waiting for us when we get back? The day off or the long weekend may do us no good at all. We may find ourselves thinking: “I wish I could take the whole week.” Even then it may not be enough.
Did you know that this is a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin against God? Because they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God had forbidden, the paradise God created became a hard place. God pronounced the unhappy news to now sinful Adam, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground” (Genesis 3:17-19). Since Adam’s sin has been passed down to us today from parent to child, this unhappy reality troubles our lives too.
Yet, hard work and the fatigue it brings to our minds and bodies are the least of our problems. Our conscience testifies to us that we do not do what is right before holy God (no matter how hard we think we work). We sinners do not deserve to go to our eternal rest in heaven. This fact puts us in a constant state of unrest in the heart.
Eve sinned, God came to them and promised them a Savior. This Savior would come into the world to bring the fallen human race rest with God, both in the world and forever. This Savior is Jesus, God’s almighty Son in
the flesh, who speaks these comforting words for sinners, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
What sort of rest is Jesus talking about? If Jesus were talking about mere rest for our bodies, we have weekends and vacations for that. Instead He is talking about a rest only he can give. It is a spiritual rest for the conscience and eternal rest in heaven.
When the troubles of the world burden you, the rest Jesus gives lightens the load. When your personal failures wear you out, the rest Jesus gives restores. He gives it through the wonderful Gospel promise: “Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2). Jesus has the authority to forgive us because He went to the cross to bear the penalty for our sins once for all. His forgiveness puts our conscience at rest with God. This forgiveness also brings us the promise of eternal rest in heaven. Where there is forgiveness of sins there is also life and salvation! His rest will never fail to refresh us.
Did you know that this is a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin against God? Because they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God had forbidden, the paradise God created became a hard place. God pronounced the unhappy news to now sinful Adam, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground” (Genesis 3:17-19). Since Adam’s sin has been passed down to us today from parent to child, this unhappy reality troubles our lives too.
Yet, hard work and the fatigue it brings to our minds and bodies are the least of our problems. Our conscience testifies to us that we do not do what is right before holy God (no matter how hard we think we work). We sinners do not deserve to go to our eternal rest in heaven. This fact puts us in a constant state of unrest in the heart.
Eve sinned, God came to them and promised them a Savior. This Savior would come into the world to bring the fallen human race rest with God, both in the world and forever. This Savior is Jesus, God’s almighty Son in
the flesh, who speaks these comforting words for sinners, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
When the troubles of the world burden you, the rest Jesus gives lightens the load. When your personal failures wear you out, the rest Jesus gives restores. He gives it through the wonderful Gospel promise: “Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2). Jesus has the authority to forgive us because He went to the cross to bear the penalty for our sins once for all. His forgiveness puts our conscience at rest with God. This forgiveness also brings us the promise of eternal rest in heaven. Where there is forgiveness of sins there is also life and salvation! His rest will never fail to refresh us.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest” (Jesus, Matthew 11:28)
Last modified
2008-07-16 11:11 PM
2008-07-16 11:11 PM
Northwest Women's Mission Society Rally
August Newsletter Available
