Peace of God and Peace With God

Peace: an absence of hostilities, harmonious relations, inner contentment, serenity

 This present world is filled with hostilities and harmonious relations seem to only exist in an idealistic imagination of someone who’s never watched the news. There is a huge misunderstanding about peace and God’s kingdom of peace. God’s present “kingdom of peace” is inside of us as individuals. Anyone who’s ever heard of Christmas knows the verse Luke 2:14 that says, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” So if that was over 2,000 years ago, where is the peace? Unfortunately this verse has been misstated. Modern translations render this verse as  “peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” All those who have accepted the gift of faith are qualified to be included in those with whom God is pleased.

Luke 2:14 in The Message:

Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.

 Luke 2:14 in the New International Version:

 Glory to God in the highest heaven,
 and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

 

Right now, God’s peace is inside of us as individuals. There will, however, be a time when this kingdom of peace will be an actual kingdom spoken of in Isaiah 9:6: “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His Shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  This kingdom of peace, when “the government will be upon His shoulder,” doesn’t occur until after the Second Coming of the Messiah, however in this time, right now we can have the peace of God in our individual lives.
That being said, however, doesn’t mean that the individual who has accepted the peace of God through faith in the finished work at the cross is not concerned with the state of other human beings. In gratitude to God, as a response to His great love for as individuals, we are inspired to lift up others. The peace of God in our lives fills us with compassion to help those in need. It also fills us with the desire to help remediate the damage we’ve done to our planet. Unfortunately, it seems that what the world sees “Christians” doing is just going to church. We do see individuals risking their own safety and comfort and going out into the world feeding the hungry, digging wells, providing medical services and promoting justice. True peace for the individual causes him to want peace for others. Those of us who haven’t yet found our own inspiration as to how we will spread the peace of God, are trusting that He Himself will open our eyes to our own gift for spreading His peace.

Peace Began with God

1 Corinthians 14:33 ^“For God is not the author of confusion but of peace…”

Philippians 4:9 “…the God of peace will be with you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:23 ^“ Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely…”

All throughout the bible we read, “the God of Peace, the Prince of Peace, the author of peace, which lets us know peace is an attribute of God Himself. In fact, every time Jesus greeted His disciples (especially after His resurrection,) He greeted them with the word “peace.” The Hebrew word “Shalom” which is usually translated as peace, actually means “wholeness.” It includes good health, provision, and total well-being.  The implication here is that when Jesus greeted His disciples with the word “peace” He greeted them with more than just, “have an absence of hostilities” or “have inner contentment.” Instead, His greeting included, “Don’t be afraid,” “Be well,” Be prosperous,” and “have inner contentment.” Peace is not the absence of trouble. Peace is our dependency of God to work it all out and protect us in spite of trouble.

 

God Provided a Way for us to Have peace with Him

1 John 4:18-19  ^“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.  We love Him because He first loved us.”

Romans 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Romans 5:10 “ For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

God gave us the opportunity to have peace with Him, to not be afraid of his wrath or punishment. Because He loves us with a perfect love, we have no need to fear. God punished our sins in the body of His own son. God demonstrated His great love for us by redeeming us from the penalty of sin and by declaring us righteous in His sight. If this sounds really simplistic, we must remember that a steep price was paid for this peace. Because we so often we hear the phrase, “Jesus died for our sins,” we’re almost tempted to treat this as a small thing. Jesus suffered public mocking and inhumane suffering even before He actually went to the cross. The prophet Isaiah told us what would happen to Him 700 years before the actual event. Isaiah 53:5-6  says “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement for our peace was upon Him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; And the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

 

The book of Matthew describes the actual events leading up to the crucifixion itself. Matthew 26:37 says that even before His arrest, in the garden of Gethsemane, “He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.” Luke 22:44 says “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”  Note how Jesus was first taken to the high priest, where he was abused by the temple guards there and then taken to the Roman governor, where he was mocked and beaten by the Roman guards in their private garrison, in addition to the public scourging:

Matthew 27:26-31 “Then they spat in His face and beat Him and other struck Him with the palms of their hands. (This describes His treatment at the hands of the temple guards, the servants of the religious leaders. Later, after Jesus had been turned over to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate who repeatedly said he found no fault with Jesus, still had Jesus scourged. The Roman scourge was a short whip of three straps with scraps of metal knotted in. This instrument would tear off the person’s flesh with each lash and there would be excessive bleeding.)  27. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium… 28. And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. 29. When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand, And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30. Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. 31. And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.   

 

 

Having His Inner Peace

Psalm 119:165 “Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble.”

Philippians 4:7 “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Inner Peace Gives us courage In addition to no longer having to fear of punishment for sin, inner peace includes freedom from fear of people or circumstances. Peace also includes contentment, and freedom from anxiety. This world is so full of people and circumstances that will cause us to live in constant fear. There’s the risk of getting killed by terrorists, the risk of contacting a fatal disease, the risk of losing our income, and the risk of losing those we love. In order to have relief from these fears, we have to accept the Holy Spirit’s gift of peace. We have to constantly remind ourselves that we belong to God. He’s the Creator of this entire universe and He loves us unconditionally. We also have to remember the promises in His word:

Psalm 91:5-7 “⁵ You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.”

Psalm 118:6 “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” This is reiterated in the New Testament in Hebrews 13:6 “So we can boldly say: The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

Psalm 121:7-8 ^7 “The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
⁸ The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.”

Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn.

Inner Peace Gives us Contentment

One of the things that rob us of peace is the idea that we have to have more things. God did promise us in Matthew 6:33 to “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things would be added unto us.” We know that “things” in this particular context, is referring to clothing, shelter, and food, since the previous verses in that chapter deal with how God feeds the birds of the air and how He clothes the grass with beautiful flowers.

^{Matthew 6:25} “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

²⁸ “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹ and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

³¹ “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

I have to admit that I have trouble with this idea of wanting. All day long, my thoughts play an ongoing recording of “I want new clothes, I want a new phone, I want a tablet, I want to update the bathroom. I want a Coach bag. And of course, I want a new car.” Every time that recording starts to play, I have to remind myself that “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.” The recording stops for that moment and then later it comes back. We live in a society that tells us that we have to have more. The commercials on television make us think that everyone has these particular things but us. If we’re walking in the fruit of the Spirit, we’re not supposed to give in to the idea that we need more and more things in order to be fulfilled. The Bible speaks to us about having contentment:

Philippians 4:11 “…for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.”

^{Hebrews 13:5 “}Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.””

^{1 Timothy6:6 “}Now godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. ⁸ And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. ⁹ But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

1 Timothy 6:10 “for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” is a verse that has been misconstrued and misquoted over many years. We need money to buy goods and services and we need money in order to give to the poor. In fact, in Ecclesiastes 10:19, Solomon said that “money answers everything.” What Paul wrote to Timothy about money has to do with greed. He points out that people’s “love of money” has caused them to basically ruin their own lives. Thinking about money all the time is truly a “peace destroyer.” The word “covetousness” is defined as inordinately or wrongly desirous of wealth or possessions; greedy. Jesus, in Mark 7: 22 listed covetousness as one of the things that defile people alongside things like thefts, deceit, lewdness, and blasphemy.  The Bible tells us that we are supposed to be fed, sheltered, clothed, and have money to donate to charities and to churches. However, we are not to love money and we’re certainly not to trade our peace for money. The Bible says that God’s grace (His unmerited favor towards us) will cause us to receive all we need and to have enough left over to help others.

2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”



The Bible also tells us that if we have a need, we’re to ask God through prayer, being sure to give thanks, and that we will receive peace, His peace which passes all

understanding. Is the answer to our request “peacefulness while we wait” or is the answer God’s peace itself?

Philippians 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”