In Sunday School we’re starting a study of the Sabbath.

There are a lot of different views on the Sabbath. For example, there are people who believe that:

• Christians are supposed to follow the Sabbath laws, and that Saturday is the Sabbath.
• Christians are supposed to follow the Sabbath laws, but that the Christian Sabbath is on Sunday.
• Christians are not under the Sabbath laws, but the Lord’s Day (Sunday) is the Christian parallel to the Sabbath, and we are supposed to honor the Lord’s Day.
• Christians are not under the Sabbath laws, but we can learn from them that it is a useful practice to set aside one day a week for rest
• Christians are not under the Sabbath laws, but Jesus is our Sabbath, in the sense that we rest from our works when we get saved.

Of course, many Christians believe some combination of these.

I believe that Jesus is our Sabbath rest, but I think that is true in a past, present, and future sense.

• In the past: Jesus’ finished work on the cross is all we need to be saved. We enter His rest when we trust in Him alone for salvation.
• In the future: The Sabbath points to the age to come, when Jesus returns to straighten out history and the universe. We look forward to that final rest.

What about in the present? That’s one of the things I hope to figure out during this study. How do we enter into the experience of Jesus as our Sabbath rest as we walk with God day by day? Is it by being unworried? By trusting in His strength? By abiding in Him? Yes, yes, and yes, probably. But I think there is more to be said. I’m hoping that as we look at these verses over the next few weeks, our class will learn to go deeper into what it means to find our rest in God.

(Check out my wife’s blog this week on this topic, too.)