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Our Rest in Christ
www.livingwalk.com
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For many years in
a seventh-day, Sabbath-keeping group, I faithfully kept the
commandment given to ancient Israel to rest from my work on this day.
And through it all I heard countless explanations for why God created
the Sabbath, and how it was a blessing in so many ways to those who
honored it. Naturally, these explanations missed the mark entirely.
Like practically
everything given to Israel under the terms of the Old Covenant, the
Sabbath pointed to and hinted at something better, something real,
and something actual (meaning spiritual). It was merely a shadow and
a type, yet its meaning and ultimate spiritual fulfillment touch the
Christian life at its very core, as we shall see.
Come to Me, all
you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My
yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My
burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)
My friends, we
work so desperately hard trying to get to God, don’t we? We have
devised such clever religious systems that rely almost exclusively on
Adam’s toil and effort. Like the Pharisees of old, we pile rule
upon rule, method upon method, system upon system – laboring
tirelessly to improve ourselves, and to return even the hint of a
smile to the Father’s face. And all we have become is all we
ever were - heavy laden, worn down, frustrated – and ultimately
perplexed as to why our religion isn't getting any deeper into our souls.
Today we see that
we are now putting our best minds and talents to work. The greatest
teachers among us are highly doctored men with worldly reputations
and high thoughts. They are able to package and communicate heavy
labor in ways that make it seem highly desirable; so much so that we
want to reach out a grab it. To these, we add the most gifted
musicians and choirs to fill in all of the emotional space caused by
our lifeless regimen of empty practice. Whole crowds who have never
actually seen the Lord of Life, nor touched Him (nor even a scrap of
His garment) can at least hear songs about Him.
Still, a profound
and nagging question lies before us, and it is this – why have
not 2000 years of religious "effort" - movements, revivals,
structure, methods, systems, denominations, books, hymns, seminars,
organizations, rituals, budgets, schemes, practices, fundamentalism,
sensationalism, mysticism, emotionalism&ldots; (the list of 'isms and
'ologies is almost endless) not even come close to approaching the
spiritual reality and life (for either the individual or the church)
we read about in the Book of Acts and offered freely by our Great Shepherd?
My friends and
brethren, the answer is clear. That ancient and holy Sabbath -
marking mere moments in time - pointed ultimately to a timeless
spiritual reality that we must ultimately affirm if ever we are to
touch the life of Jesus Christ, and realize all of His provision and
rest for us.
Yes, dear people,
He alone is our Spiritual Rest. He is our Sabbath day! When the
Creator God rested on that seventh day, it was Christ alone that was
in view! His alone is the life through which all peace, provision and
power flow to the created world below.
In order to bear
this out, I would like here to include an excerpted passage from
Watchman Nee's little book called “Christ The Sum of All
Spiritual Things” Like much of what this man was blessed to see
from behind the veil, this message is profoundly deep, venturing
further into Christ and the Spirit than most of us will ever go. Yet
it conveys our rest in Christ at a level so much truer than I have
ever seen expressed. My prayer is that the Spirit will reveal this to
us, for here is the answer to so many questions rooted in Adam.
Christ Is the Life
(Excerpted from
“Christ The Sum of All Spiritual Things” – Watchman Nee)
Following the
words “I am the way and the truth”, the Lord continues with
“and the life.” We are mindful of the fact that life issues
forth spontaneously in work, but work cannot be a substitute for
life. We ought to be crystal clear here that work is not life—for
life is effortless, life is Christ himself. How people toil to be
Christians. How we are wearied through daily exertion. Most severe
are these doctrines, for they demand of us to be humble, gentle,
forgiving, and long-suffering. They literally wear us out. Many
concede that to be a Christian is a difficult task. This is
especially true with young believers. The more they try, the more
difficult it becomes. Upon having tried for a length of time, they
still bear no resemblance to a Christian. Brothers and sisters, if
Christ is not life, we have to do the work; but if He is life, then
we do not need to struggle. Repeatedly we say that life is Christ
himself, and work can never substitute life.
There is a grave
mistake pervasive among God’s children. Many regard life as
something which they must do in their own strength, or else there is
no life. What all of us should realize is, that if there is life
there will not be the slightest need for our own doing, but that life
will naturally flow. Consider for a moment how our eyes see and our
ears hear. Our eyes see most naturally and our ears hear
spontaneously because there is life in them. We must be clear on this
point: life flows naturally into work, but work is never a substitute
for life. Sometimes work proves instead the absence of life or the
weakness of life. Life will issue in good morals, but good morals are
no stand-in for life. For example, a brother may be very gentle,
moderate and reserved. Someone will praise him, saying, “This
brother’s life is not bad.” No, he has used the wrong
terminology. For the Lord says, “I am the life.” However
gentle, moderate and reserved this brother may be, if these do not
come from Christ they are not reckoned as life. It is perfectly true
to say this man has a good temper or he rarely causes any trouble or
he always treats people kindly and never quarrels; but it cannot be
said of him that he has a rich spiritual life. If these things are
natural to him they are not life, for they do not come from Christ.
Other people
cherish another thought. They conclude that life is power. To have
the Lord as our life means to be given power by Him to do good.
Nevertheless, God shows us that our power is not a thing; it is
simply Christ. Our power is not the strength to do things; rather, it
is a Person. Life to us is not only power but also a Person. It is
Christ who manifests himself in us, instead of our using Christ to
display our good works.
Once a brother
attended a meeting at a certain place. He was asked by an elderly
Christian, “Why do you go there to meet?” “Because
there is life,” he answered. The elderly man said, “True,
as regards enthusiasm, our meetings are not comparable to that
place.” “You do not understand,” replied this brother.
“That place does not have a frenzied atmosphere at all.”
“What do you mean?” asked the elderly brother. “How
can there be life if it is not fervid?” Answered the younger
brother, “There is nothing at all noisy about it, and yet there
is life. For life does not necessarily have to be emotionally
exciting or enthusiastic or fervid or loud.” Then the elderly
man philosophized, “Perhaps young people like fervor, but I
prefer thoughtful words. When I hear profound words, I meet life. I
think this indeed is life.” But the young brother said in
return, “I have many times heard the deep words which you refer
to, but I have not met any life.” Dear people, from the
conversation of these two men, we may see that life is neither
emotional excitement nor thoughtful words. Words of wisdom, clever
sayings, logical arguments and thoughtful dissertations are not
necessarily life.
Not surprisingly,
some will inquire, “How strange that life is neither fervor nor
elevating thought. Where, then, can we find life? What is life after
all?” We confess we do not have a better way to express this
matter of holding forth life. All we can say is that it is something
deeper than emotion and more profound than thought. And once one
meets it, he will instantly be quickened within. This something is
called life.
What is life? Life
is more profound than thought; thought never surpasses life. It also
is deeper than emotion; emotion is superficial in comparison with
life. Whether thought or emotion, it is relatively external. What,
then, is life? The Lord Jesus declared: “I am the life.” We
should not hastily conclude that we have met life when all we meet is
a kind of hot atmosphere, such as a so-called spiritually hot
atmosphere. We should ask instead, whence does such atmosphere arise?
Plenty of experiences confirm to us that many who are skillful in
creating hot atmosphere know very little of the Lord, many excitable
persons are quite lacking in the knowledge of the Lord. Only Christ
is life, the rest is not.
We need to learn
the lesson of knowing life. For life depends not on how enthusiastic
is our emotion or on how manifold is our thought; it rests
exclusively on whether the Lord has manifested His own self. There is
therefore nothing more important than to know the Lord. As we are
knowing Him, we are touching life. We ought to see before God the
meaning of Christ our life. Those who are easily excitable or
especially clever are not necessarily people who know the Lord.
Knowing Him requires a spiritual seeing. Such seeing is life and it
transforms us. If we know the Lord as our life, we realize the utter
futility of all natural efforts in spiritual matters. Hence we look
to Him alone.
When we first
believed in the Lord, we did not realize what looking to Him truly
meant. But gradually we learn increasingly to look to Him, having
recognized that everything depends upon Christ, and not upon us. In
the beginning of our Christian walk we desired to possess one thing
after another; we could not trust Him for everything. After we
learned a bit more, however, we received some understanding as to the
necessity of trusting Him: not in the sense of believing Him to grant
us item after item, but in the sense of trusting Him to do what we
are unable to do by ourselves. When we first became a Christian, we
were inclined to do everything our selves, fearing lest nothing would
ever be done or matters would fall to pieces if we did not do them.
Hence we were working all the time. Later, in having seen the Lord to
be our life, we know that all of Christ and not of us. Consequently,
we learn to rest and to look to Him.
Let us keep in
mind that instead of giving us one object after another, God gives
His Son to us. Because of this, we can always lift up our hearts and
look to the Lord, saying, “Lord, you are my way; Lord, you are
my truth; Lord, you are my life. It is you, Lord, who is related to
me, not your things.” May we ask God to give us grace that we
may see Christ in all spiritual things. Day by day we are convinced
that aside from Christ there is no way, nor truth, nor life. How
easily we make things as way, truth, and life. Or, we call hot
atmosphere as life, we label clear thought as life. We consider
strong emotion or outward conduct as life. In reality, though, these
are not life. We ought to realize that only the Lord is life. Christ
is our life. And it is the Lord who lives out this life in us. Let us
ask Him to deliver us from the many external and fragmentary affairs
that we may touch only Him. May we see the Lord in all
things—way, truth, and life are all found in knowing Him. May we
really meet the Son of God and let Him live in us. Amen.
© 1973
Christian Fellowship Publishers Inc.
Wayne
www.livingwalk.com
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