The Gift of Peace

If there is one thing that is clear, it is that Jesus our Lord and Savior wants us to have peace. He has made this clear to us through many pointed statements in scripture. Your personal peace is high on God’s priority list, and to make sure you get it in its pure form, God has given it to you as a gift rather than have you try to earn it. Now, wouldn’t it be kind of stupid to offer someone peace in a way that would lead them to stress themselves out while trying to get it?

God is wise and knows that he has higher priorities and higher goals for you than to burn you out trying to earn something that you can only obtain through supernatural transformation. This is the essence of God’s peace. It is a gift. Since it is a gift, it is sure and it is perfect because it comes from Him. However, before you start thinking that you can now lie back and let it fall on you like shower water and, presto, you are peaceful, you must know that this gift is relational!

All gifts of God are designed to draw us into a closer interdependent, continuous relationship with Him. This relationship is the mechanism that makes it possible to have that mind of Christ in us. (Phil. 2:9) No human will be able to enjoy the blessings of eternal life with Christ until he or she has become a living metaphor of God’s righteousness on earth. This happens as a result of JUSTIFICATION (This is faithful acceptance of Christ’s righteousness in place of our morality. It is also recognition that His atonement for our sin is the only door of access to eternity), and SANCTIFICATION (literal transformation of character through the power of the holy spirit acting on the mind while the Word of God becomes a twice daily communal venue with Him. Rom. 12:1-2), When we are in a positive, fruitful, growing, secure-in-love relationship with Jesus, we have the gift of peace!

The Unopened Gift
As I mentioned, I once received a gift from someone and I didn’t know what it really was because I found a large peanut can in the gift-wrap. I thought that the person had given me nuts for a gift. Since I knew they were nuts and fattening, I just put them aside until some date when I felt thin enough to partake. Little did I know that the can didn’t have nuts in it, it had a set of gifts that proved very helpful for years.

I didn’t open the gift because I thought that I knew what was in the package. Some of us take a shallow look into God’s Word. We think we know all the beliefs, and there is no need rehashing all the doctrines since we know them already. We often use the Bible as a source of argument material that comes in handy if a religious debate comes up—we have the truth! This is far from the TRUTH that God has for us. Truth is Jesus not facts. Life eternal is knowing the father and the son not proof texts. We must go deeper in the word to commune and abide in him. As we begin to feed on his thoughts, we begin to think his thoughts and we suddenly have His gift of peace.
Let’s imagine that we have received the gift of peace as I received the peanut can. As we look in the can, we see five parts to the gift. We need all five to make the gift fully functional and complete. The parts are P, E, A, C, and E. If any part is missing or not used, you don’t have PEACE.

P.E.A.C.E

Protection
Eph 6:10-13: God provides sure armor and a sword for a battle you must fight, but cannot win on your own.
John 16:1:  The words of Jesus are designed to keep us from falling away. (see also Jude 24)

Escape from Condemnation
John 3:17: He did not come to condemn; he came to save.
John 8:10, 11: Once you have been set free, no one can accuse you before the father. The righteousness of Jesus covers your sin.
Rom. 8:1: Paul gives God’s guarantee of acceptance. We must accept it by faith.

Assurance of Acceptance
Rom. 5: 1, 2, 8: When we are justified by faith, we have God’s peace, access to his grace, and the joy of sharing in His glory. God offered all of this when we didn’t love Him. Our love for Him is a response to the gift of salvation.
Rom. 4:3, 4, 22: Abraham was accepted as righteous because he believed God. His righteous deeds did not make him acceptable. They were evidence that he believed.

Confidence in God’s Love
I’ll let these verses speak for themselves
John 3:16:
John 15:9
1John 3:1-3
1 John 5:19
Heb. 6:17-20
Heb. 4:15, 16
2 Cor. 5:20-21: This verse is God’s master plan to make us the very living exhibit of his righteousness to the universe. Angels who have never sinned do not have this honor. He can do it for us and with us! We have to believe.

Evidence of Continued Growth
Look at these verses! Here is where the power comes from to have personal peace, and to make peace in the sinner’s war with God.
Ps. 119:165
Isa. 26:3-4, 7-9
James 3:17-18
Phil 2:9
Phil 4:7
1 John 4:18-21
Ps 1
Josh. 1: 8-9

The deepening of our peace will be evident to all around. Our peace is connected to our relationship to the Word. He has promised peace to those who trust Him, and trust comes in knowing someone, well. His Word and prayer are where we meet Him at least twice a day. Enjoy His relational gift of peace--It beats a can of nuts any day!