Based on Hebrews 4:1-13 (New King James Version)
“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: ‘So 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: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all His works’; and again in this place: ‘They 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, ‘Today,’ after such a long time, as it has been said: ‘Today, 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. 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. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
If we read this passage well, and of course, supported by so many other places in the Scriptures, we would understand that free will and the capacity for faith exists in every human being. These things come with every human being as part of our likeness to the Almighty, as His creation. Each person, even children, have the ability to choose and have faith. And as such, the things of God are also that simple. Because God himself said that we had to become like children in order to enter the kingdom of heaven.
You may ask: What does faith and free will have to do with the promise of rest we read at the beginning? Everything! We read that both the disciples of the Lord, and the people who preceded the disciples, before the Lord came to be born on this earth, and now we, have all been exposed to the Lord, and that there is rest in genuine faith in the Lord. From the beginning there has been that opportunity, since Adam and Eve, when the Lord covered their nakedness by making the first sacrifice for atonement of sins. Enoch walked with God, and in such a way that one day, God took him with Him physically. Noah condemned the entire world with his faith, because he believed God. What can we say about Abraham, the father of our faith? And what about David, from where God Himself was going to bring forth His Messiah, because he had to be the Son of David? And of course, we have all the apostles and the disciples who were with the Lord, and all those who followed them later, who are no longer here in this world, but are waiting for that great day when all of us who love the Lord will enter into His eternal rest. Everyone used their free will to choose to put their faith fully in the One who reigns for all eternity. And many of them chose to believe in such a way that, although they did not see the wonders of God in their lives, they considered it more worthy to die for faith in Christ than to deny such faith and preserve their own lives, as it is written: “Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.” Hebrews 10:36-40. But unfortunately, we also read that there were (and will be) those who will not attain such rest from God because, although they received the Word, there was no faith, and that did not happen because they lacked the aptitudes, per say, but because they chose not to believe. Being able to attain the rest of God has everything to do with free will and faith.
Now then, what is this rest that God offers? The Word says this: “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’ Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’” Revelation 21:1-5. The place that God has prepared for those who love Him has nothing to do with sleeping for an eternity. The dead in Christ sleep at the moment, but one day they will be awakened so that all together, those of us who are still alive and those who died before, we will all be judged, and those whom God considers worthy to enter His kingdom, those are the ones who will enter in His eternal rest. And the rest that the passage speaks of consists of rest from sin and everything that sin brings—sadness, illness, pain, loneliness, in short, even death. God is going to end all evil someday, possibly not too far from today, and we will live eternally and forever with Him, in a unique and eternal kingdom, and most important of all, where sin will no longer exist.
So, what must be done to enter that eternal rest, the kingdom of God? We must use our free will to put our complete and total faith in the Lord, and esteem the Lord more than our own lives, because He is worth it, He is worthy of that and much more. And faith consists not of words, but of works, of service, of dedication, of sacrifice, all the things that are subject to our free will. That's why the Word says: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5. God is not going to let people who do not seek to do His will enter into His kingdom, into His rest. Why? Because what awaits us is too great. The promise is something that goes far beyond our ability to understand. And if we cannot be faithful to Him here and now, in the little, how can we receive things much greater than these? As the Word says: “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?” Luke 16:10-11. The promise of eternal rest in God has much more value than anything we can have here, and it surpasses any difficulty we are experiencing at this moment (because this world is a moment compared to the infinity of eternity). So, do you choose to value more what God has in store for those who love Him in eternity than this temporary and imperfect world? Lord bless! John. God bless Israel.