"Peace"

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you." John 14:27 (ESV)

So I've been contemplating the subject of PEACE recently and thought I would share my thoughts with you, as this mini study was a real encouragement and blessing to me.

Many of you may well think that this is a fitting subject for a meditation as peace is a Christian theme, ideal and concept, and you would be absolutely right. Peace is a theme that runs throughout the Word of God, it is woven throughout its pages and forms part of the very character of our God! Peace is just one of the many things that God wants for and gives to his people.

I find the following an excellent definition of God's peace:

"The harmonized relationships between God and man, accomplished through the gospel, and the sense of rest and contentment thereon."

By contrast, the world in which we live today knows very little of true peace, many individuals have spent their entire lives pursuing peace and have never truly seen peace, whether it be for individuals, communities, countries and nations. Romans 3:17 says "the way of peace they have not known..." The reason is that sin is rife in the world and "the whole world lies in the power of the evil one" (1 John 5:19). 

In contrast, God is a God of peace, he is not the author of confusion but of peace (1 Cor 14:33), he is a God who loves to pardon, and reconcile to himself those who repent and believe on his Son!

Of course, peace is also closely associated with our Lord Jesus Christ, for remember that in prophecy he is referred to as "the Prince of Peace" (Isa 9:6) and peace was also proclaimed at his birth (Luke 2:14). I also believe that Christ was marked by peace throughout his earthly ministry, and it was part of his character for he possessed all those wonderful divine attributes, evenly and fully in his lovely character! I think he exuded peace from his person and I believe that this peace was a big draw for the people around him, surely they had never met anyone like this before, who had a peace within like nothing they had ever seen before! He could also bring peace to any event or circumstance ("peace be still" to the storm on the lake) and also to individuals ("go in peace") and as he prepared to leave his disciples it was peace that featured largely in his final teaching to them; "my peace I give unto you".

When he went to the cross, we know this was to do the work that would enable us to be reconciled and brought near to God, it was to bring about peace! "he made peace through the blood of his cross" (Col 1:20) We also know that "we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom 5:1). And so it comes as no surprise that peace characterizes the gospel message that we preach!It is known as the gospel of peace (Rom 10:15) and when we preach this good news we know that we are "preaching peace by Jesus Christ" (Acts 10:36).

Finally, for us believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, we know that the peace of God is something that we should know day-to-day in a practical way, to appreciate our relationship with God and all that he has done for us and through us! We know from Galatians 5 that peace is a fruit of the Spirit, so we should be producing this in our lives, for others to see and to benefit from. We also know that we should "let the peace of God rule (control and umpire) in your hearts" (Col 3:15). So it seems to me that we have a challenge here, to go after and cultivate conditions in our lives so that we appreciate more and more the peace of God. We cannot expect to have this blessing large in our lives if we are not spending time with God, reading his word, or living worldly or sinful lives that are not pleasing to him. May we challenge our hearts about this!

I found the following verse in Philippians 4 very helpful especially when Amplified:

"And God's peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

What a wonderful peace is ours! Over this Christmas holiday let us all seek to know more of this peace on a daily basis as we spend more time in God's presence and with his word.

Yours in Christ, Mark

Some "great's" - a short appreciation of Christ (part 1)

As we pass through this world we can easily get discouraged as we hear the name of the Lord Jesus blasphemed and the things of God mocked and ridiculed by men and women. We do well to remind our hearts that the one they pour scorn on is actually the Great One that the Word of God speaks about! Let us recall a few scriptures together and encourage ourselves and think on the greatness of our Saviour...

"for he shall be great" Luke 1:15

This verse takes us right back to his birth and his coming into the world, and right from the outset it was foretold that the little baby born to Mary would be 'great'. Usually it would be very hard to say that with any degree of confidence about a little baby, but we remember that he was a great person (God manifest in flesh), he had come from a great place (the glory and eternal bliss of heaven) with a great purpose (to save his people from their sins). Little wonder the angel would say "for he shall be great..."

"great multitudes" Matt 4:25

Matthews gospel is the gospel of the great multitude, the phrase is used seven times in Matthew and only on two other occasions elsewhere, both in Luke's gospel. It would tell us that during the Lord's earthly ministry there was a period of great popularity when "the common people heard him gladly" and the multitudes would press upon him. This was a feature of the Lord's earthly ministry, there were multitudes of people that had a need and they saw in the Lord Jesus one who could meet that need. We remember that multitudes of sick folk would press upon him, whether he was in a house, in the streets or by the seaside - they came to him from "every quarter" and he would bless their lives in ways which had not been possible before. What a gracious and compassionate man he was, he never turned anyone away! As a practical side note, compassion and grace are surely characteristics that should mark every believer in Christ for it so marked out our Saviour.

"a great storm... a great calm" Mark 4:37, 39

What a magnificent account we have here in this portion, where the Lord Jesus demonstrated his great power as the creator God in silencing the great storm in an instant! What a comfort for us to know that the one in whom we have put faith and trust in is the one who can transform a great storm into a great calm, with just the word of his mouth. Knowing that as the storms of life come hard against our lives we have a Saviour who could stand on the deck of that ship being ravaged by the wind, with the crashing waves and the violence of the sea and surveying all this could utter "Peace, be still" and instantly the storm is silenced and a great calm replaces the chaos and violence of the storm. The Saviour offers peace with God in salvation but we can also enjoy peace as believers on a daily basis I believe, through a close walk with him and an appreciation of our position in him.

I trust that as we have reviewed these first three of six "greats" in relation to the Lord Jesus that we have been encouraged this far. Tomorrow we will look at the final three I have in mind, and I trust that this will serve as an interesting and profitable mini study.

Yours in Christ, Mark.