When God entered into a covenant with Abraham, the father of faith, He set in motion the events that would bring Jesus Christ to the earth and, ultimately, to purchase the redemption of all mankind. As a result, we have been given the privilege of living in fellowship with the Almighty God and walking in the grace He continually provides.
This covenant of grace is not like the Law of the Old Covenant. All the benefits of this covenant are received by faith; they cannot be earned or merited. It is by faith and faith alone that we enter this covenant with God, as confirmed by the Apostle Paul: “For by grace have you been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8 NKJV).
Salvation is more than going to Heaven after we die. The inheritance of Jesus became ours to claim after His death on the Cross, not after our death. This means that all of His inheritance is ours now.
Before the sacrifice of Jesus, the people looked ahead to the promise of God that was to come. Now we look back to the promise that was established for us. In the same way, faith does not look at the blessing that will come one day. It sees the Word of God that has been given and established through Jesus. The promises are linked to our covenant and they belong to us now.
Salvation is wholeness: spirit, soul, and body. Our wholeness is received through faith, but that faith comes by the grace of God at work within us.
According to Hebrews 4, there is a promise of rest in God that releases His power when we diligently trust in His power and not our own. It is faith in the deposit of grace and divine ability that He has placed within our inner man.
“Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 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. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:1, 9-11 NKJV).
Disobedience kept the Israelites from entering the territory promised to them. Their example of unbelief demonstrates how faith must be mixed with the promise of God to obtain the results He has offered. Hebrews 4:3 presents a powerful truth:
“For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: “So I swore in My wrath, “They shall not enter My rest,” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world” (NKJV).
Notice what this verse says: The works were finished! Everything the Israelites needed to possess their Promised Land had already been provided before they ever faced the wilderness or the enemies who lived in the land. God had already completed the necessary works for His people to enter the land He had promised them, peacefully and at restfully.
The work for the Israelites victory and for our victory was completed before the world was established. Gods last day of work was Adams first day of life!
