MAKE PEACE WITH GOD, AND RECEIVE THE PEACE OF GOD.
Numbers 6:22-27 NIV
[22] The Lord said to Moses, [23] “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: [24] “ ‘ “The Lord bless you and keep you; [25] the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; [26] the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. ” ‘ [27] “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
God blesses his people. We receive great benefits from our association with him. These benefits are designed to enrich our lives, and this enrichment becomes evident to those who live within the sphere of our influence. So, God blesses people in order that they might be a blessing!
It was customary for the Israelites to be “blessed” by the high priest. The Israelites had been called by God to be his unique people, and this blessing would designate them as such. As the surrounding people groups observed the conditions under which God’s people lived and the special ways in which they conducted their lives, it would become apparent that they were no ordinary people and their God was no ordinary god. The people would exhibit the divine favor by demonstrating that God had given them “his peace.” The word peace means literally “wholeness” or “well-being,” and it was no ordinary sense of well-being that they would enjoy. It was the well-being that comes only from God himself—his peace!
Paul talked about “God’s peace which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand” (Phil. 4:7). God’s peace, which is the “peace of God,” should not be confused with “peace with God.” The “peace of God” is the inner state of well-being that is the birthright of those who have responded to God’s offer of forgiveness and have been brought into a position called “peace with God.” The peace of God is a result of having peace with God. The former is a result of the late.
PEACE WITH GOD COMES ONLY THROUGH REPENTANCE OF SINS.
Galatians 5:19-21 NIV
[19] The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; [20] idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions [21] and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Peter 3:18-22 NIV
[18] For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. [19] After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— [20] to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, [21] and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, [22] who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities, and powers in submission to him.
FOLLOWING THE PATH OF JESUS IS THE ONLY ETERNAL PEACE TO BE FOUND
Luke 1:78-79 NIV
[78] because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven [79] to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
This inner sense of wholeness is something that cannot be explained in purely human terms. Anyone can seem to be at peace when he has eradicated all stress and negotiated the end of all hostility. But the peace of God is that which we enjoy while the stress continues unabated and the hostility persists. How can this be? It works when we realize that when we have committed ourselves to the Captain of our salvation in ongoing, trusting obedience, he will make our well-being his personal responsibility. So, we can rest assured in his benevolence and competence in the midst of the storms of life. We can live with an equanimity that defies description and surpasses belief.
OBEDIENCE KEEPS US IN GOD’S LOVING GRACE
John 14:22-24 NIV
[22] Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” [23] Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. [24] Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
AND HIS CHURCH SAID, AMEN
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