OceanSide church of Christ

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THE PEACE OF GOD

Victor M. Eskew

 

            We live in a turbulent world.  We seem to be in war or on the brink of war at all times.  Terror rocks the streets of major cities throughout the world.  Cities are filled with violence.  Hundreds of murders are committed every day in the United States of America.  Racial divide continues to fragment our society.  There is very little trust between different cultures.  What is not said publically, is said privately.  Our homes have also been afflicted with turmoil.  Husbands and wives fight and argue and divorce.  Parents and children are often at odds with each other.  In addition, we can find conflicts within the church where we attend.  Power struggles, harsh words, dishonesty, evil speaking, gossip, and division are common place. 

            In the midst of the chaos and difficulty and conflict, the one thing individuals desire is peace.  Peace is defined as “tranquility.”  It involves a quietness of mind.  It involves freedom from agitation and war.  Peace is captured when watching the sun rise over the mountains to shine its first rays upon a hazy valley.  Peace is pictured as the sun sets below the far away horizon of the ocean after a long summer’s day.  Peace involves a calm.  Where there is peace, all is at rest.  Where can such peace be found?  Fortunately for us, God is the God of peace (I Thess. 5:23).

            God wants man to have peace.  Thus, He sent the “Prince of peace” (Isa. 9:6) into the world.  On the day that the baby Jesus was born, the angels announced peace upon the earth.  “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:13-14).  Jesus left peace with His disciples before He left the earth.  In the upper room, He said:  “Peace I leave with you, my peace give I unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).  One of the purposes of Jesus’ death was to bring peace between God and man.  “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:  by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:1-2).  And again:  “”And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven” (Col. 1:20).  His death also enabled peace to exist between all those who have been estranged in the world.  “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:  and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh” (Eph. 2:14-17).  The gospel is the good news of peace (Rom. 10:15).  Those who walk by “this rule” will enjoy peace (Gal 6:16).  The kingdom to which the Lord adds us upon our baptism into Christ (Acts 2:47; I Cor. 12:13; Col. 1:13) is “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Rom. 14:17).  Too, our prayer life provides us a peace that passes understanding (Phil. 4:6-7). 

            This peace does not exempt us from the trails and storms of life.  However, in the middle of them, we can continue to live in peace.  When the psalmist had enemies rising up against him, the said:  “I cried unto the Lord with my voice…” (Ps. 3:4).  The Lord heard his prayer and God’s peace encircled him.  “I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me.  I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about” (Ps. 3:5-6).  Jesus had God’s peace with him.  In the midst of a violent storm, “…he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow” (Mark 4:38).  We, too, can exhibit this same type of peace when the storms rage in our lives.  Here’s how it is obtained.  “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7). 

            This peace that God blesses us with can never be taken from us.  The forces of nature cannot take it because we know that God is in control.  The threats of man cannot because God is greater and more powerful than any man.  The difficulties and hardships of life cannot because we know that our God is always with us to deliver us.  Our weaknesses and frailties will not remove God’s peace from us, because the one who is in us is greater than our doubts and fears and can do more than we ask or think.

            The peace of God is a wonderful blessing.  We need to constantly desire this peace for our lives and for the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ.  In many of Paul’s letters to the churches and to younger ministers, he desires God’s peace upon them.  In Ephesians 6:23, he exclaims:  “Peace be to the brethren…” To the saints in Philippi, he wrote:  “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:2).  To Timothy, he penned these words:  “Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith:  Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father, and Jesus Christ our Lord” (I Tim. 1:2).  Peace, that inner calm, is worth more than all the riches of the world. 

            We will conclude with two verses from Paul’s letter to the Romans.  “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy
Ghost” (Rom. 15:13).  The second is found in the same chapter.  It is a wish.  It is a wish that we have for all of our readers.  “Now the God of peace be with you all.  Amen” (Rom. 15:33).