Here's somehting I wrote elsewhere.
The resurrection is also seen as the day in which Christ ceased from His redemptive labors. In Hebrews 4:9-10, we read, "œThere 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." We must, of course, seek to understand the context of Hebrews 4:9-10 to understand its meaning. Hebrews 4:1-8 says:
Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: "œSo I swore in My wrath, "˜They shall not enter My rest,´" although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: "œAnd God rested on the seventh day from all His works"; and again in this place: "œThey shall not enter My rest." Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, again He designates a certain day, saying in David, "œToday," after such a long time, as it has been said: "œToday, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts." For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day.
The "œrest" of verses 1, 3, 5, 6 ("œit"), and 8 is the "œrest" that all believers enter through faith which is experienced in this age and the age to come. It is God´s eternal rest, which He entered into on the seventh day of creation, experienced by all who trust in Christ. Hebrews 4:9-10 comes immediately after discussing the eternal rest that some have entered and others are yet to.
The word translated "œrest" in Hebrews 4:9 in the NKJV is sabbatismo.j (sabbatismos). This is its only use in the New Testament. A verbal form of it is used in LXX of Exodus 16:30, referring to what the Jews did on the seventh day (i.e., they sabbatized or rested on the seventh day). Commenting on sabbatismo.j, Robert P. Martin says:
I think that it is of interest that "œin each of these places the term [sabbatismo,j] denotes the observance or celebration of the Sabbath," i.e., not "œa Sabbath rest" as a state that is entered into but "œa Sabbath-keeping" as a practice that is observed. This, of course, corresponds to the word´s morphology, for the suffix -moj indicates an action and not just a state. This at least suggests that if the writer of Hebrews meant only "œa Sabbath rest," i.e., "œa Sabbath state" to be entered into, he could have continued to use kata,pausij, for he had already established the referent of that word as God´s own Sabbath rest which is to be entered into by faith (cf., 4:1, 3, 4, 11). The word sabbatismo,j suggests a Sabbath action, i.e., "œa Sabbath-keeping," "¦
In every other instance where the English word "œrest" is used in the context of this passage (Heb. 3:11, 18; 4:1, 3, 5, 11) another word, kata,pausij (katapausis), is used referring to the eschatological rest of the eternal state. Why does the author use sabbatismo.j in verse 9? Joseph A. Pipa suggests:
The uniqueness of the word suggests a deliberate, theological purpose. He selects or coins sabbatismos because, in addition to referring to spiritual rest, it suggests as well an observance of that rest by a "˜Sabbath-keeping´. Because the promised rest lies ahead for the New Covenant people, they are to strive to enter the future rest. Yet as they do so, they anticipate it by continuing to keep the Sabbath.
"œ[T]he people of God" in verse 10 refers to the New Covenant people of God (cf. 1 Pt. 2:10, "œwho once were not a people but are now the people of God"). The New Covenant people of God have a Sabbath to keep. But why does there remain a Sabbath-keeping for the New Covenant people of God? Because the eternal rest of God in the eternal state is yet future. So as the old Sabbath both looked back to creation and forward to an eternal rest, so the New Covenant Sabbath looks back to creation and forward to an eternal rest.
Upon what day is the New Covenant people of God´s Sabbath day? Hebrews 4:10 says, "œFor he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His." It is clear from the context that God entered His rest on the seventh day of creation (Heb. 4:4; cf. Gen. 2:2-3). Who is the author referring to in verse 10, when he says, "œFor he who has entered His rest" (emphasis added)? Some refer this to the believer who has "œceased from his works" (Heb. 4:10b). But this interpretation would compare God´s ceasing from His work of creation and being refreshed by it (Gen. 1:31, "œThen God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good." and Ex. 31:17, "œ"¦and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.") with the believer´s ceasing from his unrighteous works of sin and resting in God´s salvation rest. When God ceased from His work of creation, it was not because it was bad but because it was "œvery good." He was refreshed, that is, He took delight in what He had done. God´s ceasing from His work of creation and His subsequent rest does not compare with the believer´s ceasing from sinful works and taking rest in God. There is no parallel with this comparison. Believers don´t cease from their work and call it "œvery good." They are not "œrefreshed" as they look back at their sinful works.
The text presents a parallel between "œhe who has entered His rest" and "œhas himself also ceased from his works" and God who ceased from His work of creation. The words "œhe who has entered His rest" and "œhas himself also ceased from his works" cannot apply to believers. It destroys the parallel. The writer is speaking of an individual ("œhe"¦himself"¦his") who has entered God´s rest as God has entered His rest. To maintain the parallel, it must be an individual "œwho has entered His rest" and "œceased from his works as God did from His." The only individual who can fit this parallel is Jesus Christ, who entered God´s (Christ is God) rest as our representative and "œceased from His works" when He rose from the dead. Pipa comments:
God the Son rested from His work of redemption on the first day of the week as a sign that His work had objectively been accomplished and nothing remained to be done. In the resurrection He entered into the joy of His work and confirmed that eternal life had been purchased (Isa. 53:10, 11; Heb. 12:2). By His example, the day changed.
Just as God entered His rest on the seventh day of creation, thus becoming the Sabbath day by positive example, so Christ entered His rest on the first day, the day He rose from the dead, the day His redemptive work was completed, thus becoming the Sabbath day of the New Covenant people of God by positive example.
In your eyes!
