Matthew 22:44
“The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”
Ephesians 2:6
For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.
Promised Land rest comes from God. We enter that rest by sitting down until He makes all of our enemies our footstool. The place we are sitting is next to God in heavenly places with Jesus. In the same way God defeated the enemies of Jesus at the Cross, these enemies are placed at Jesus’ feet and are now under our feet. The enemies of sickness, poverty, and destruction have been defeated and are our Promised Land of rest blessings. We put our faith in the finished work of Christ and enter into this place of rest in Him. Our promised land is very similar to the children of Israel in that God has already prepared it for us and makes it happen by His power and not our efforts.
The Promised Land of His Rest
When the children of Israel were brought to the Promised Land they sent out spies to check out the land. These spies came back with a negative report except for Joshua and Caleb, who were positive and said they could defeat the people of the land with Gods help. The negative report of unbelief caused the current people of Israel to miss-out on entering the Promised Land. Forty years later only Joshua and Caleb of the original spies were allowed to enter into this Promised Land and receive the great blessings God had provided for them there. Today our promised land of rest is to sit down with Jesus at the right hand of God. This is a place of rest that God wants us to enter into, where God Himself makes our enemies of sickness, poverty and destruction our footstool. Where all we do is walk in the Promised Land and enjoy the great fruits thereof as God provides for us.
- (Mark 3, Luke 13, and more) We are told most of the miracles Jesus did were on the Sabbath day of rest
- (Matthew 22:44) Jesus was told to sit down at God’s right hand and rest and God would do the work
- (Ephesian 2:6) We are seated with Jesus in heavenly places; being seated is a place of rest
- (Ephesian 2:8) Grace is unmerited favor where God moves on our unearned behalf while we rest
- (Ephesians 2:9) By grace are you saved through faith; resting in faith – not of works
- (Hebrews 4:11) Some may not get the benefits of the promised land because of unbelief
- (Hebrews 4:11)we are encouraged to make every effort to enter Gods promised land rest
Redeemed to Rest in the Promised Land
(Hebrews 4:1-3) Now [Therefore], since God has left us the promise [the promise remains/still stands] that we may enter his rest, let us be very careful [beware; be wary/afraid] so none of you will fail to enter [appear/be found to fall short]. [For] The Good News [Gospel] was preached to us just as it was to them. But the teaching [message; word] they heard did not help them, because they heard it but did not accept [combine; join] it with faith. [For; Now] We who have believed are able to enter and have God’s rest [the rest].
The only place in the New Testament we are told to fear is failure of our faith to believe God’s promises of entering the promised land rest. Never be afraid to come to God to receive His promises but be afraid of not coming to Him because of not believing these promises are yours. We might look back at the old testament promised land picturing ourselves like the heroes of faith: “Joshua and Caleb” believing we can enter into the promised land God has for us. I know for myself many times I have not been like Joshua and Caleb, but struggled without faith like the opposing spies. That is why I constantly cast down these thoughts of unbelief and remind myself that I am redeemed from the curse and Jesus put the enemies of sickness, poverty, destruction and anything else that came with the curse, under my feet at the cross with Him. We have been made to sit in heavenly places in Christ and we should see all these enemies under our feet since they are under Jesus’ feet. As He is in this world so are we. (1 John 4:17)
Beloved, we are told only we who believe in faith can enter into the promised land rest of God and receive the benefits of the blessings of Gods work, for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His.
We receive these promises as we believe and speak our faith in the righteousness of Jesus. This gift of righteousness is why we qualify for these wonderful promises of the Promised Land rest in God. We enter that rest as we hold firmly to the faith we profess and come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. As we believe and speak of the promises of God, we will find grace brings us into the rest of the Promised Land blessings. (Hebrews 4:3-15)
