A common reality all human beings desire is to be comfortable and to experience peace and rest. And yet we are born into a fallen humanity that produces anything but comfort and rest. The prophet Isaiah aptly writes: “There is no peace,’says the Lord, ‘for the wicked.’” And this is the status of all of humanity outwith a spiritual union with Jesus Christ; because there is no one good, but God, according to Jesus. If we are going to experience the shalom, or peace of God it can only be as we are in union with Christ; ‘one spirit with Him.’ As the Apostle Peter writes:

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. –I Peter 4:1-6

Here we can finally experience the rest that God has for us as we are participatio Christi. The author to Hebrews writes in a similar vein:

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.” Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 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. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. –Hebrews 4:1-11

Jesus Christ is God’s Sabbath rest for us. Interestingly, as the author underscores, even as Christians we can fail to enter God’s Sabbath rest. We can busy ourselves like Martha with too many things, and not simply sit at the feet of Jesus and sup with Him. This is part of the simul justus et peccator (simultaneously justified and sinner) that the Christian must struggle through all the days of their lives. But the rest is there to be had in God’s rest for us in Jesus Christ. “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God,” as Paul says to the church of Colossae. This is our rest, our peace; it is to recognize that the very ground of our lives is in Jesus Christ’s life for us (pro nobis). As we come to this realization as a Christian we can truly enjoy the peace of Christ, the Shalom of Yahweh even in the midst of the most harrowing storms this life will throw at us. Returning to the author of the Hebrews once more, he writes: “so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” This imagery ought to buoy our souls just as Peter’s gaze on Jesus’s face buoyed him in the tumultuous storm the great sea had thrown his way. It is as Jesus gazes at the Father’s face for us, as we are surrounded by great thlipis (tribulation) in this world system, that we can behold the glory of God and find the rest our bruised lives long for.

I am motivated to write this post because I feel weary along with the rest of the world right now. I have spent too much time on Twitter today, and my soul is worn down exceedingly so. The evil and wickedness afoot in the world gives a palpable experience of the Isianic declaration ‘that there is no rest for the wicked.’ And yet I see many Christians, myself included, getting caught up in the tumult caused by the devil and his hoards. This ought not to be so. Of all people Christians have a refuge, a shalom and rest that this world cannot know; save the eyes and ears of Christ’s faith for them. My mission, as a soldier and ambassador for Christ, is to bear witness to this shalom in the midst of this Beastly system’s paranoia and wickedness. This is the triumph that has made a public spectacle of the satan and his disgusting minions, and the world needs this hope. This is my charge as a Christian: to seek Jesus, His righteousness, and all these other things, including witness for Him, will be added unto me. Shalom

At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all 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 11:25-30

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” –John 16:33