It's Finished, So Work Hard at Resting
Char and I finished a sprint triathlon on Sunday: a 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike ride, and 5-kilometer run. Don’t be impressed. First: we did it mostly for fun (meaning we were underprepared). Second: I’m really impressed by those who completed Ironman triathlons (a 3.86-kilometer swim, 180-kilometer bike ride, followed by a full marathon). That’s crazy.
I had the strangest feeling when I was done. First, relief of course. But then I experienced an overwhelming feeling: it’s finished. Once I stepped over the finish line, there was absolutely nothing I could do to change or improve the results. In the months before, there were lots of things I should have been doing, like the training plan I bought but didn’t execute. In the two hours before, I could have pushed myself harder. Once I stepped over the finish line, there was nothing I could do or had to do. I was done. I could rest.
Of course, I still had things to do. I grabbed my cell phone so I could take a picture of Char as she crossed the finish line shortly after me. We still had to get back home, and I had to prepare for a flight later in the day. But I was done, and I felt it. I could rest.
There Remains a Rest
That’s the feeling that all followers of Christ can experience. The writer to the Hebrews says, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his” (Hebrews 4:9-10).
The invitation to follow Jesus is the invitation to rest in the finished work of Christ. When Jesus said “It is finished,” the verdict was spoken for all who are in Jesus. There is nothing we can do — nothing — to change or improve upon that verdict. We get to rest. As with much of the Christian life, the rest is a present reality, but one we will experience more fully later. Right now we can enter and experience this rest. His work for us has already been completed. The verdict of those who are in Christ has already been rendered. The rest is a present reality. There’s nothing more we can do to improve upon Christ’s work on our behalf. In a sense, the finish line has been crossed by Jesus, and he’s carried us across with him. We no longer have to depend on our own works.
I need to hear this news, believe it, and rejoice in it. I’m so tempted to rest in my own works, reputation, and identity rather than resting in the finished work of Jesus. You’re not much different, I suspect. There’s still work for us to do — we’ll come to that in a moment — but we can truly rest in what Jesus has done for us. We have the highest acceptance from the highest Being, and an identity that can’t be taken away. It’s finished.
Can you feel this in your bones? You can rest. If you’re in Christ, there’s nothing more for you to do when it comes to your standing with him. It’s all been done for you.
Work Hard at Rest
The irony? Hebrews says we need to work hard at this rest. “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest,” it continues (Hebrews 4:11). What? Strive to enter rest? Yes. We only get the rest that’s ours in Jesus by working hard to live in light of it.
How do we rest? By applying ourselves to the hard work of entering into and applying what Jesus has accomplished for us, and living in light of it.
Christian: rest today. What Jesus has done for you is enough. There’s nothing left for you to do. Work hard at living in light of this reality for as long as you live. It’s finished, so work hard at resting.
This is the essence of the Christian life: it’s finished, so work hard at resting in Jesus.