The Product of Peace

May 20, 2022

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27).

The peace that the world gives is shallow, unstable, and unsatisfying because it is a false peace. We talk much about peace, but we have known very little of peace. We have all sorts of ‘peace-keeping’ societies, groups, and organizations, but all of the civilizations of the world are experiencing conflict within themselves or with others. Besides that, all the nations of the world are armed to the teeth! Well did the Apostle Paul write (1 Thessalonians 5:3), For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman.

The world’s peace is a chimera - a delusion, a fabrication, a ‘pipe-dream’. It crumbles at the hint of disagreement or dissent. What the world gives, it gives to what it deems ‘worthy’ not ‘necessary’; it insures the fallacy of Darwinism and humanism that the fittest will survive, all others are left to themselves. That does not translate into peace, but conflict, dissatisfaction, disruption among the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’, the privileged and the under-privileged.

The peace that Jesus gives soothes the troubled heart and calms the fearful spirit. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid is the result of the peace that Jesus gives. And He is qualified to give peace because He experienced this peace in His own life when He walked among us. He was never exasperated, anxious, or ruffled by circumstances or people, and He never resisted the Holy Spirit or the will of God the Father. He was in a constant state of perfect unity with God the Father and God the Spirit. Even in the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus wrestled with going to the cross, that spiritual struggle ended when He said, Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done (Luke 22:42), and peace flooded His spirit, mind, and heart.

This truth was not just ‘a Jesus thing’. You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You (Isaiah 26:3). The saints prior to the time of Jesus knew this same peace in their own lives because it came from the Father to them through their faith and trust in Him. The same holds true for us today. It is only when we take our mind off of Him and begin to trust or put confidence and hope in others that God’s peace dissipates, and fear, anxiety, and worry begin to grow and develop. 

We have many things in our lives and in our world that create discord and conflict. We are a troubled people that live in a troubled world. But we must come to grips with 2 realities: (1) we cannot fix in our world what we cannot fix in ourselves, and (2) through one’s faith and trust in Jesus Christ peace with God, with self, and with others becomes real. Amen.

Pastor

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