I have recently been studying the book of second Corinthians, which is a very amazing book in the New Testament which is about the apostil Paul and the church he planted in Corinth which is a part of Greece down on the southern peninsula or island by the Aegean Sea in the east of Europe.
Please see the maps below for reference
As you can see above the 2 places we are addressing are Corinth and Ephesus then known as Asia modernly the country of Turkey.
There are a wealth of great scriptures and teachings in this book, my focus here is concerning the term or ideal that a good majority of us have heard of which is “Rest in Christ”.
The reason we are talking about these two specific locations is to illustrate the point of Paul’s faith, now as you may know already, and if you don’t the book of 2nd Corinthians is a letter that Paul has written to his congregation or his church in Corinth, he touches on a great and many different subjects but to highlight a couple specific subject we are going to talk about Paul’s time in Asia or Ephesus.
Paul’s comments on his time in Ephesus doesn’t states that while there he was in real trouble, now Paul doesn’t go into the details of what it was that he faced there but what he does say is that the trials he faced were so great that he was essentially certain that he would die as a result, but it’s what he says next that really is astounding. Here is the verse
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Basically what we read in this verse is that Paul having been in a situation that pushed him beyond his own strength beyond what he knew to be his own limits in every way to the point where he believe that he would surely perish , and all he could say about it is essentially “we trust not in ourselves” meaning we are not the capable party in any given situation, “but in god which raiseth the dead” he is saying that in Christ we have everlasting life, that with Christ who is the capable party in all things strong where we are week and truly the raiser of the dead. IN Christ we live forever therefore our worry is for nothing because our heavenly father promises our everlasting life through his son Jesus.
So how does this relate to the concept of our rest in Jesus?
It is our dependency in Jesus that gives us rest , Jesus said he would bare all burdens which means that when you are struggling you need only raise your issues up to God and focus on your Godly works Jesus will in fact take care of your problems for the bible tells us that “the lord knows what you are in need of even before you know yourself” the bible also says in Mathew chapter 6:
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”
Essentially the point here is that if you toil first for God striving ever more for the glory of God, making the lord your first concern and all other things? Let them be background details for when you seek god he will provide, he will bare your burdens he will keep you fed and clothed and safe, you need not waste all your time worrying about yourself and your own pursuits.
If you have questions or comments or something to add to this please contact me here.
If you want to know more about the rest Jesus provides or just want to know more about God and the bible please contact me and I will do everything in my power to help you find the answers you seek through Jesus in whom all things are possible.
God Bless you
