Listen up, little ones
Listen for the word rest.
Reading
Hebrews 4:1–5—The Promised Rest
Optional Reading
Genesis 2:1-3
Keys for kids
- God promises rest.
- Not believing God is rejecting His promised rest.
- We must believe and receive His rest.
Questions
- What is this rest God has promised?
- How does someone miss out on God’s promised rest?
- How does someone enter into God’s promised rest?
Notes
(See Saturday for authors.)
We have here both a promise and a warning. The warning continues from chapter 3. God has promised a rest. We must have a fear (phobia) about missing God’s promised rest. And like in Heb 3, this warning is illustrated with Israel in the wilderness. Because they did not listen to God’s voice but hardened their hearts in unbelief, they did not enter God’s rest. No belief = no rest.
But the opposite is also true. Belief = rest. Believe God and you enter into His promised rest. As Gooding puts it, where a person has once believed truly and genuinely—(notice the tense: ‘we who have believed’) there is no uncertainty about it, that person enters in [to His rest].
There is no rest apart from God. As Augustine stated, you [God] have made us for yourself and our heart is restless until it comes to rest in you. The Psalmist states, I am at rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him (Ps 62:1 CSB). Jesus promises, Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Mt 11:28 CSB).
If then, there is no rest apart from God, and in God Himself, particularly in God the eternal Son, there is rest, let us believe Him and enter His rest—now and eternally. Swedish Method questions
Swedish Method questions
Praise
Psalm 62a, 2a
Prayer
- Rejoice that you can find rest in Jesus.
- Pray for the preparation for preaching God’s Word this Lord's Day.
- Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.