Rest in Christ - Teachers Comments

2021 Quarter 3 Lesson 11 - Longing for More

Teachers Comments
Sep 04 - Sep 10

The Old Testament is filled with types, shadows, and rituals that, although often neglected by twenty-first-century Christians, have deep spiritual significance. The lessons taught in these types are rich with meaning. Understood correctly, they enhance our spiritual lives immensely.

The entire history of Israel is an example of our Christian walk with God. As the Israelites were miraculously delivered from Egyptian bondage, passed through the Red Sea, ate manna in the wilderness, and drank from the rock on their journey, we, too, are on a spiritual journey. Christ providentially delivers us from sin’s slavery, leads us through the waters of baptism, nourishes us by the manna of His Word, and quenches our raging thirst in the desert of this world through His own life.

God instructed Israel to construct a sanctuary in the wilderness that He might “ ‘dwell among them’ ” (Exod. 25:8). This sanctuary was to be built according to the “pattern” of the heavenly reality (Exod. 25:40). Everything about its construction and services reveals eternal truths about the living Christ. Jesus is represented in every offering. The entire priesthood, every article of furniture, and every service point forward to Christ. The sacrificial system of the shedding of blood foreshadows the shed blood of Christ.

The goal of Israel’s deliverance and journey out of Egypt was arrival in Canaan. The Promised Land would provide them Heaven’s rest. The Sabbath rest foreshadowed this larger rest in Christ and was a pre­cursor of the rest God intended for them in the Promised Land (Heb. 4:1–11).

Part II: Commentary

The apostle Paul often referred to the experience of the Israelites in their journey to the Promised Land as an example for Christian believers. In 1 Corinthians 10:11, he states, “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (NKJV). The examples of the Old Testament provide valuable insights for Christian living.

In our imagination, let’s visit the sanctuary. We watch a man with a lamb approach the altar and place his hand upon the lamb. Leviticus 4:33 makes the meaning clear: “Then he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering” (NKJV). The laying of his hand upon the lamb implies confession—and genuine confession is specific. Leviticus 5:5, in its description of the trespass offering, points this out: “He shall confess that he has sinned in that thing” (NKJV).

In symbol his sin has been transferred from himself to the lamb. And so, the lamb must die. Why must the lamb die? What has the lamb done wrong? Nothing, absolutely nothing. But here is a central message of the sanctuary. When we confess our sins, they are, in fact, transferred to Jesus, the Lamb of God. Who slays the sacrifice? The repentant sinner who has transferred his sin to the substitute. “And he shall . . . slay it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering” (Lev. 4:33). Notice the steps involved.

The book The Great Controversy describes the scene this way: “Day by day the repentant sinner brought his offering to the door of the tabernacle and, placing his hand upon the victim’s head, confessed his sins, thus in figure transferring them from himself to the innocent sacrifice. The animal was then slain.”—Page 418.

The priest then took the blood from the slain animal and sprinkled it before the veil in the Holy Place of the Sanctuary. In some special instances, the priest ate the flesh and then entered the sanctuary. The sin was then transferred in the body of the priest who had eaten the flesh. The common person, of course, was unable to enter the sanctuary. When that individual’s sins were transferred to the sanctuary, they were hidden from human view. No one could see them. They were covered by the blood of Christ.

Therefore, David exclaims in Psalm 32:1, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” The word “blessed” means “happy, contented, fulfilled, at peace, or at rest.” When we come to Jesus and confess specific sins, our hearts are at peace. Our sins are transferred in fact to the heavenly sanctuary. So, the psalmist can joyfully exclaim, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:12, NKJV). We no longer bear the burden, the guilt, the shame, the condemnation of sin. It has been transferred to our dying Lamb. Our Living Priest bears it through the blood to heaven’s sanctuary.

Lessons From the Lamb

In the typical service when the contrite sinner transferred his sin to the innocent lamb, it became a sin bearer. So, concerning Christ the Scriptures state, that He is the One “who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2:24). As the repentant sinner brought a substitute that died in that person’s place, so every penitent person can come to Calvary and, looking at the crucified Son of God, say, He “loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

Christ’s grace is unmerited, undeserved, unearned. Jesus died the agonizing, painful death that lost sinners will die. He experienced the fullness of the Father’s wrath, or judgment, against sin. He was rejected so that we could be accepted. He died the death that was ours so that we could live the life that was His. He wore the crown of thorns so that we could wear a crown of glory. He was nailed upright in torturous pain upon a cross so that we could reign on a throne with the redeemed of all ages, wearing the robes of royalty forever. In our shame and guilt, Jesus did not reject us; He reached out in love to accept us. The dying lamb represents the bruised, battered, bloodied body of our Savior. It speaks of a love so marvelous, so amazing, so divine, that it would rather take the condemnation, guilt, and penalty of sin upon itself than to lose even one of its children eternally.

Ellen G. White explains the significance of the Cross in The Desire of Ages, page 753: “Upon Christ as our substitute and surety was laid the iniquity of us all. He was counted a transgressor, that He might redeem us from the condemnation of the law.” This is the story of grace. This is the story of a Savior’s love beyond measure.

Sabbath Rest in Christ

True Sabbath rest is the rest of grace in the loving arms of the One who created us, the One who redeemed us, and the One who is coming again for us. Do you remember that unique phrase in Genesis 2:3: “in it [the Sabbath] He rested from all His work which God had created and made” (NKJV)? The Sabbath is God’s rest. He rested on the seventh day as a divine acknowledgment that His work was completed.

Hebrews 4:9, 10 likens God’s rest at the end of Creation week, when He ceased from His works, to our ceasing from our human works, entering Christ’s salvation rest. Hebrews puts it this way: “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” (Heb. 4:9, 10, NKJV). According to Scripture, our Sabbath rest is an act of supreme worship in which we rest totally in Jesus for our salvation. Commenting on Hebrews 4:4, The SDA Bible Commentary makes this insightful statement: “As God’s original purpose for this world—His ‘rest’—remains unchanged, the seventh-day Sabbath, the day of ‘rest’ He established to be a memorial of creation and thus a reminder of His purpose in the creation of the world, likewise remains unchanged. The observance of the seventh-day Sabbath thus testifies not only to faith in God as the Creator of all things, but also to faith in His power to transform the life and qualify men and women for entering into that eternal ‘rest’ He originally intended for the inhabitants of the earth.”—Volume 7, p. 420.

There is a richness in the concept of divine rest. The book of Hebrews expands the concept quite dramatically. For the author of Hebrews, divine rest involves a faith relationship with Jesus that leads to resting in the One that created us, knowing that He will never leave us nor forsake us. It also includes resting in His finished work on the cross. Resting in Christ is trusting His grace for our salvation; but the rest in Hebrews 4 includes much more. Christ’s goal for the Israelites was to get them into the Promised Land. His purpose was not for them to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. Their hearts would always be restless until they arrived safely in their homeland. When the covenant promise was fulfilled, they would find lasting peace and heavenly rest. Whatever challenges we face on this earth, the rest that Christ offers is not temporary. Sabbath rest foreshadows the eternal rest that Jesus desires for us in heaven’s Promised Land. Then, and only then, our hearts will be in permanent peace. Our rest in Christ today is preliminary to the glorious day in which we will be at rest with Him in eternity.

Part III: Life Application

Have someone read the following anonymous poem aloud in class. Take into consideration what we studied in this week’s lesson, and answer the questions following the poem.

Just let me rest in Thee, O Lord,

Nor strive, nor fret, nor strain

Against the burden of the days

That bring me tears and pain.

Let me remember that Thy Hand

Can lighten every load.

And in Thy presence, I shall be

Safe on life’s darkest road.

For Thou hast said that Thou art near

To all who need Thine aid.

Then, foolish mortal that I am,

Why should I be afraid?

Discuss the questions below in the context of today’s lesson:

• What does it mean to enter Christ’s rest?

• How does the ancient sanctuary service contribute to our understanding of rest in Christ?

• Reflect on these three events in salvation history—Creation, the Cross, and the second coming of Christ. How does a deeper understanding of each of these events provide the basis for peace and rest in Christ?

• What reason do Hebrews 3:9 and Hebrews 4:13 give for Israel’s not entering God’s rest, and how can we enter His rest?