Word Treasure 4/16/23
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." (Jn. 14:27) (ESV)
Last week we saw that the Helper (Holy Spirit) teaches or reveals the truth of God to us and reminds us of what He has said to us exactly when we need reminding. Today we examine another jewel in this passage--The PEACE of God! It is a mighty blessing and sadly, in our day, it seems to be in short supply. This is not the fault of the Lord; but rather, the fault lies with how distracted Christians can be--particularly western Christians. What does peace with God or the peace of God mean? Some theologians make a powerful distinction between peace with or of God. I think I understand that, though they are both essentially the same. Peace with God means we are no longer at war with the Lord. Before becoming Christians, people are at war=in total opposition against God and He with them. Once saved, the war is over and God has adopted us--bringing us into His family. Our legal status before God Almighty has changed! We now belong to Him. The hostilities are ended. That's peace with God!
Then there is the peace of God. This is a radical and internal condition Christians are to enjoy! Jesus refers to this peace as His peace, the stuff Jesus had with His Father (Jn. 14:27). This indwelling peace is what God gives to every believer as Jesus comes to live within. Peace with God and peace of God. And one can't have the one without the other. But, this peace of God is far more than a lack of hostility or a cessation of conflict. It is a sense of cheerful well-being; a rest because the fight is over + we are in right relation with God Almighty; all is well; contentment, wholeness! This peace is a security that is unassailable. Who can challenge or endanger the Lord or His plans? No one! God reigns in unmatched power and is at perfect rest in all He is and does! It is hard to imagine, that I know; but it is true and the marvelous thing is that Jesus has given His disciples the same peace--THE SAME! "MY PEACE I give to you!"
We believers can share/experience that kind of peace when we trust the Lord. God places us with Christ in that same unassailable place of safety--beyond the reach of any successful opposition. I say "successful" because, though all Christians experience opposition to their faith, when we continue trusting (faith in) God, nothing can remove us from His hand. God sees to it that, come what may, He works all of it for our good--only to bring us more into eternal life with Him! Jesus gives us His peace, but NOT as the world gives its favors.
He makes a fascinating distinction between how and what He gives as compared to what (and how) the world offers. In His day, even though conditions were really bad, Jesus had peace with His Father. Note: The Romans ruthlessly occupied His country as conquerors, draining its resources and denying its citizens any appreciable freedom. Slavery and the extortion of men abounded everywhere. Women were little more than property and were regularly abused in His culture. Poverty ran through the land like a swollen river. Tragic diseases were everywhere, i.e., leprosy, dropsy, blindness, hemophilia, etc. The devil was destroying people by demon possession, lies, false faith, etc. No one knew God, and no one wanted to. He did miracles as fast as a man could breathe and spoke like no other man had ever spoken and still they didn't believe. The Jewish people He loved had rejected God and were clueless about right and wrong. Corrupt religious leaders had made His Father's House a den of thieves instead of a place of prayer. His own siblings didn't trust Him and thought Him to be a lunatic. Even His well-trained disciples made the same bad mistakes over and over again. His godly cousin (John the Baptist) was killed for simply telling the truth. Though innocent, He willingly lived to die in the prime of life under horrific circumstances. All this and He still had peace with God! That peace is what Jesus gives to believers!
The world's peace is a false escape, an avoidance of reality, a lie which sedates rather than solves our fears, a cheap imitation based on a false premise that only proves to be empty when tested. The world lies and gives only to take back. The philosophies of the world are false, anti-God, and are an epic failure! My friends, Jesus longs to give believers His peace! The Holy Spirit brings it! Receive it by faith!
Pastor Mike
