Rest And Be Healed

The Hebrew word for healing is "rapha" which means to mend, cure , repair, or to thoroughly make whole. We know that when Jesus came, He not only came to deal with our sin, but He also came to make us whole. Now its also interesting to know that the root word for "rapha" also means to "sink down into" and to "relax". I really do believe the main way that God heals us and makes us whole is when we learn to sit down and rest in the finished work of Christ.

When we know that we have been once and for all time, forgiven and created new in Christ and that there is now no more condemnation for those who are in Christ (Romans 8:1) we are then able to stop striving and start relaxing. (1Corinthians 5:17)

When we know that it is by grace that we have been saved through faith and that not of ourselves, it is a gift from God and not of works lest any man should boast, we can then again cease from all our striving, lie down in green pastures and start relaxing. Ephesians 2:8-9. Psalm 23

In much of the church today, there is way too much striving and not enough resting.

One day as Jesus stood by observing all the crazy religious activity going on in the temple, He cried out and said :

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” 
Matthew 11:28-30

 I believe that Jesus is still crying this same thing out today! " Come to me and I will show you how to take a real Rest" " I will teach you how to walk in the unforced rhythms of grace".

Jesus came to bring us out of religious stress, condemnation, fear and shame and bring us back into rest and His rest is the only place that we can truly be restored made whole.

In the very beginning man lived in rest and walked in rest, in fact mans very first day was on the day of rest. God had finished creating everything in six days and saved man for the very last. The seventh day was the day of rest, for God had finished creating everything that needed to be created, so mans first full day was on the seventh day or the day of rest and rest is the place that man was created  to live,walk and enjoy all that God had already created.

Yes, we do know that Adam did have responsibilities, to tend the garden and to name the animals, but all of these things were accomplished from a position of rest, not stress and not fear that God was going to judge him, if he did not have a productive day. It wasn't until after the fall that all the sweat and stress came into the picture. Before the fall man lived in rest, walked in rest and everything he did was from a position of rest. After the fall man became driven by condemnation, fear, guilt and shame. Man went from being a restful living being to a frantic, fearful, stressful living doing!

One of the main reasons that God sent Jesus was to restore man back into His rest, but we must believe that God has already finished redemptions work in order to enter into His rest.

The difference between those in rest and those who are not in rest is a matter of faith in the complete work of Christ. God is calling us all to rest in the finished work of Christ and to rest in who we are now In Christ. Many today fall short of entering Gods rest because of unbelief.

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 

For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said:

“So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest,’”[

although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.  For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”;  and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.”

Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said:

“Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.”

For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience (Hebrews 4:1-11)

The Gospel is the Gospel of Rest! Not Stress, but Rest! 

To enter into the rest of God then we must stop trying to be a co-saviour with Jesus!, Jesus does not need any help in saving us.

Jesus  knows how to save those to the uttermost who simply come to Him! (Hebrews 7:25) 

This is the way it works, we come to Him and He saves us! What He began, He will finish! 

The question is this, can we rest in Jesus doing what He promised that He would do?

When we rest thats when grace works. When we work thats when grace rests. 

The bible says that our flesh only frustrates grace!  

Galatians 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

So the best thing that we can do is to stop striving and start resting. The more we sink down into rest, then the more we will see grace work in our lives.

The main struggle that most christians have today is with the flesh !  The flesh desires glory for  what it can achieve, but the flesh will never receive glory for what Christ has already accomplished. When Jesus cried out " it is finished!" He was saying that all the work that needed to be accomplished to redeem man is finished! There is nothing man can do to add to what has already been done! The only thing that man can do is to receive the gift of grace and right standing with God and rest in Christ.

So today if you really desire to see God working in your life then stop striving and start reading.

Boldly go where few have relaxed before!