Matthew 11:28-29 "Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you AND LEARN OF ME for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest to your souls."
This passage is too often used as an symptom reliever for the stressed or anxiety ridden. "Jesus promises rest and quiet to the soul, so just claim the promise" And that is true, as far as it goes. But it implies far more that just claiming a specific promise. Yes, there is peace and rest in Jesus, but what He promises is far more than anxiety relief for the temporary mess I'm in! Jesus is here laying out the path of Eternal Rest for the people of God. He says in John 17:3, "and this is Life Eternal, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom You have sent." Here the operant word is KNOW. Learning Christ, knowing Him, is to be the consuming passion of everyone who names His Name. In Ephesians 4:17-24, Paul describes the radical difference of the new man in Christ. He starts with, "I testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind." He goes on to describe this "Gentile mindedness" in some detail. Then in verse 20 he inserts a profound statement, "but you have not so LEARNED CHRIST." He is saying that the source of the "mind/heart change" is their having LEARNED CHRIST! He goes on to describe this learning--"if indeed you have HEARD HIM, and have been TAUGHT BY HIM, as the truth is IN JESUS, that you put off your former conduct.....and be renewed in the SPIRIT OF YOUR MIND, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God (in His Image), in righteousness and true holiness." The putting on the new man IS ACCOMPLISHED BY LEARNING CHRIST, THE ORIGINAL NEW MAN, THE FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY BRETHREN. This is not learning stuff about Christ. This is an intimate "knowing", a feasting, meditating on all scripture says about his Unique Person and Work. This is not informational assimilation! This is communing and worshiping Him in Who He Is, and all He has done! And this is the work of the Holy Spirit Who is the Spirit of Christ dwelling in our innermost being as we saw earlier in II Corinthians 4:6. Paul speaks in Ephesians 3:14-21 of this process of the Holy Spirit, as "strengthening us in the inner man in order that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith" that we might be rooted and grounded in God's love and be filled with the fullness of God.
The child of God enters a whole new curriculum! Jesus Christ is his Subject! Learning Him is transformational. According to Philippians 2:5, we are to "let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus", and then the mind is described as that meek and lowly spirit and behavior Jesus spoke of in Matthew 11. Later on (Philippians 3:8-10), Paul counts everything else as rubbish in comparison to this knowing Christ Jesus--it is the very gaining Christ! He wants to know Him, the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. And remember, as we learn Christ, as we grow in Him, we see the Father! And the Holy Spirit is the Divine Means to bring us into this transformational relationship. "When He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth;........He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things are Mine, therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.".
So you want to grow closer to the True God? Then seek to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ! So you want to put off the deeds of the flesh, you want to do what Jesus did? Then grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This passage is too often used as an symptom reliever for the stressed or anxiety ridden. "Jesus promises rest and quiet to the soul, so just claim the promise" And that is true, as far as it goes. But it implies far more that just claiming a specific promise. Yes, there is peace and rest in Jesus, but what He promises is far more than anxiety relief for the temporary mess I'm in! Jesus is here laying out the path of Eternal Rest for the people of God. He says in John 17:3, "and this is Life Eternal, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom You have sent." Here the operant word is KNOW. Learning Christ, knowing Him, is to be the consuming passion of everyone who names His Name. In Ephesians 4:17-24, Paul describes the radical difference of the new man in Christ. He starts with, "I testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind." He goes on to describe this "Gentile mindedness" in some detail. Then in verse 20 he inserts a profound statement, "but you have not so LEARNED CHRIST." He is saying that the source of the "mind/heart change" is their having LEARNED CHRIST! He goes on to describe this learning--"if indeed you have HEARD HIM, and have been TAUGHT BY HIM, as the truth is IN JESUS, that you put off your former conduct.....and be renewed in the SPIRIT OF YOUR MIND, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God (in His Image), in righteousness and true holiness." The putting on the new man IS ACCOMPLISHED BY LEARNING CHRIST, THE ORIGINAL NEW MAN, THE FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY BRETHREN. This is not learning stuff about Christ. This is an intimate "knowing", a feasting, meditating on all scripture says about his Unique Person and Work. This is not informational assimilation! This is communing and worshiping Him in Who He Is, and all He has done! And this is the work of the Holy Spirit Who is the Spirit of Christ dwelling in our innermost being as we saw earlier in II Corinthians 4:6. Paul speaks in Ephesians 3:14-21 of this process of the Holy Spirit, as "strengthening us in the inner man in order that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith" that we might be rooted and grounded in God's love and be filled with the fullness of God.
The child of God enters a whole new curriculum! Jesus Christ is his Subject! Learning Him is transformational. According to Philippians 2:5, we are to "let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus", and then the mind is described as that meek and lowly spirit and behavior Jesus spoke of in Matthew 11. Later on (Philippians 3:8-10), Paul counts everything else as rubbish in comparison to this knowing Christ Jesus--it is the very gaining Christ! He wants to know Him, the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. And remember, as we learn Christ, as we grow in Him, we see the Father! And the Holy Spirit is the Divine Means to bring us into this transformational relationship. "When He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth;........He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things are Mine, therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.".
So you want to grow closer to the True God? Then seek to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ! So you want to put off the deeds of the flesh, you want to do what Jesus did? Then grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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