Dear Reader,
The Christmas season is often marked by an uptick of stress, exhaustion, and a burst of busyness. So much to do, with so little time. Or perhaps it is even a time of relational conflict with friends or family. Maybe some are even experiencing loss or mourning. Whatever you are going through, now, more than ever, we could use peace.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” – John 14:27
Of all the things Jesus could assure his disciples of before he left them, he reminded them of His peace. Why do you think Jesus chose to remind us of this? Friends, it is because we are troubled and fearful. Our hearts are tossed to and fro by the transient, painful things of this world. That is exactly why Jesus said …”in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).
The peace of Jesus is permanent, lasting peace that is unchanged and unwavering despite life’s circumstances, because it rests on that which the world cannot change. It rests on Jesus’s finished work on the cross. So we can have peace, even in our greatest tribulations, because we know Jesus is with us and for us. We can rest in the fact that Jesus is in control and that his victory, is our victory.
Jesus doesn’t give peace as the world does. But how does the world give peace? The peace of this world is frequently a distraction or deliberate blindness to reality – an escape, a temporary comfort. Friends, do not fall for this cheap knock-off ‘peace’ our culture feeds you. Seek the Lord and find true peace.
Jesus even goes as far to say MY peace. Jesus who is in complete oneness and unity with God the father gives us HIS peace, the perfect peace he and the father have with one another. How is it that Jesus has perfect peace with the Father? It is because there is no sin in their relationship. Our ultimate source of conflict, and thus our need for peace, is not our difficult circumstances, but standing guilty before a holy God. We can’t experience the peace of God until we first have peace with God.
Jesus died on the cross, in our place, for our sins – ALL of our sins: past, present, and future – , so that we might have peace with God. If Jesus has satisfied our most dire need for peace with God, how much more is He able to bring peace into whatever you are going through?
So, put off any cheap, knock-off peace you might be seeking and come to Jesus for true peace. God loves you more than to see you saved from your circumstances but remain dead in your sin.
Let us give thanks to God for sending Jesus to bring us peace – . Ppeace with God and a peace that keeps us anchored in this life as we look to the next.
-Pastor Nick