I am going to write a bunch of blog posts on the REST of God and see what the Lord reveals. I will be throwing out many ideas and will attempt to expand and elaborate on them and how they apply to us and God. So I hope that these words on Rest will encourage and bring you into a place of confident rest inside your Abba daddy God.
By the phrase REST, I believe that it pictures and describes our union inside of Jesus. Just as Jesus said that we abide in Him and He abides in us. This is resting in the Lord. Nothing can be brought forth or birthed unless we are resting. To rest is to be untroubled, not agitated, still, calm, clear. To rest is to be carried fully by another even as a mother carries a baby in her womb. God looked for a place of rest, a place to be carried by another. We look for the same thing–a place of rest where we are carried by another. Both God’s and our desire to be inside a place of rest is fulfilled through Jesus Christ.
One of the strongest themes in Scripture is that of REST.
From the beginning of the story of mankind rest has been something that we have fought to acquire or been prevented from having. Rest is given or rest is taken away. The REST that God offers our soul is also the most hotly contested and warred over things in the life of a Christian. Our enemy fights viciously to keep us from entering God’s rest. He fights to get us out of God’s rest and he will fight to keep you in a place of unrest. The battle is in the mind and imagination, it is fought in the seeing and hearing of the heart. Yes, what we believe.
Right there in the beginning of the story of Man kind I see rest. Adam experienced being put into a deep sleep by God in order to bring forth from Adam a woman. I have highlighted the blue type for a reason.
Gen 2:18 And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
Gen 2:19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.
Gen 2:20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.
Gen 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.
Gen 2:22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
Gen 2:23 And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”
Gen 2:24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Gen 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
The book of Genesis is the book of beginnings. Contained within it’s chapters are the beginning of many different coloured threads that God embroiders together to make His wonderful tapestry. Here in Chapter two of Genesis Moses writes about Adam being put to sleep and Eve being brought out of him. The thing to note here is that Adam could not find a helper comparable to himself. God did it for him. God saw that it was not good that man should be alone…..we too would agree. But instead of trying our hardest to solve that problem, we should let God solve it for us.
Adam slept or RESTED….while God did His thing. God lovingly brought forth out of Adam a woman, a helper comparable to Adam.
Also from this we see that Jesus came out from God the Father into visible form–a Man. Jesus said I came forth from the Father and I return to the Father.
Joh 16:27 for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.
Joh 16:28 I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.”
Jesus revealed the Father…always resting inside Him and He in Jesus. And so it is the same for us. The woman was taken out from the Man(Jesus) and reveals Jesus….Her life is hid with Christ in God. This is the rest and union we live inside of.
When God says in Gen 2:18 “not good that man should be alone” the word in Hebrew means separation. It comes from a root word meaning ‘to divide, that is ‘be solitary’: – alone. A helper comparable to Adam means in Hebrew…one who manifests and declares and announces the one you are in union with. The word in Hebrew has the meaning of counterpart…someone who stands out boldly opposite someone and announces them…reveals them….makes them known! When this passage goes on to speak about Adam and Eve being bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh and being joined to his wife….it speaks of becoming ONE with each other in all ways.
The Apostle Paul writes about this great mystery of union described in Genesis 2, but he writes it about the Church and Jesus…the woman and the Groom. It is true of the church as a whole that we are collectively the Bride of Christ by faith in Jesus Christ. But also it is true personally, individually. We are all members of Christ’s body, in particular and corporately. The Father was prophesying the union we have been brought into in Jesus here in Genesis 2. That union is REST inside of another Person—Jesus Christ.
We are joined to the Lord Jesus as one spirit….just as a wife is joined to her husband.
1Co 6:17 But he who is in union with the Master is one with Him in spirit. (Weymouth translation)
We have become bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh. We are the very body of Jesus Christ. Jesus lives in our heart, our spirit. And He fills every part of us. So much so that our flesh is His flesh and our bones are His bones. Read Paul’s revelation based upon Genesis 2 which he wrote to the Christians in Ephesus…
Eph 5:30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.
Eph 5:31 “FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.”
Eph 5:32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Through faith in Jesus we have come to abide inside of Jesus and He inside of us. That is something to believe, not to try to do. You cannot do it, you believe it IS ALREADY YOUR TRUE CONDITION. You are one flesh with Jesus–declare it out loud….I AM one flesh with Jesus. I am one spirit with Jesus. I am bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh!! I am joined intimately with Jesus. I am His bride, joined to my Saviour. I am at rest believing these things to be MY TRUTH.
You are that helper comparable to the Lord Jesus. You are standing out opposite Jesus, with Him inside you, joined to you, declaring by your very presence the Lord who lives fully inside you. If we have seen you, we have seen Jesus. You are like Him in every way. You are one with Him at every level of your being. You are shining forth His light and His goodness as you believe He lives as one with you.
Bless you as you rest inside of Jesus!!
Dennis Rhodes.
