Peace. Everyone has heard people speak about peace, call for peace, yearn for peace. But what do they mean?
Well, we can certainly understand that in a time of war, people long for peace, that the killing and that the destruction would end. But those who are not experiencing war may be very busy, because of their business, because of their work, or because of other demands that are placed upon them. They long for peace, by which they mean that they want a break, that they want to be able to have a rest or have a holiday. But there are other people who may not be very busy, but they are loaded with all sorts of cares and concerns for their family, for people that they know and love, or for fears concerning what the future might hold. They long for peace, when they could put off the burdens that they feel, and be less concerned about the troubles around them. All of these are certainly desirable measures of peace.
But even if we had all of that, if we had no concerns about our family, if we were not so busy that we had no time to rest, if we were not living at a time of war, if we had all of that, would we then have true peace? I think not.
Perhaps for a moment we would feel things are very good and very profitable, but then there might come a doubt. That doubt may be as simple and as profound as the questions, "What is my life? What is the purpose of my life? Where have I come from? Where am I going? What happens to a person when they die? Is there judgment? Do I have to give an account to God? Who is God? Do I know Him? What does He think of me?"
All of these questions are very real, and very legitimate. It may be that people don't speak about these things much, but being human, being conscious of our own life, being able to think and having a sense that there must be more to life than simply living and eating and sleeping, we easily become unsettled. We feel the lack of peace, the lack of assurance, the lack of certainty about what this life is, and what is required of us. To have true peace, we need answers to these questions. We want peace that will endure, even in the face of death itself. Such peace would be wonderful indeed.
Well, this is the peace that is spoken of in the Scripture. Let me read you one saying of the Lord Jesus. He said, "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." That is found in John's Gospel chapter 14 verse 27. He says, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you." Now let us pause for a moment and ask ourselves, "If the Lord Jesus had peace, what was the nature of the peace that He had?"
Yes, Jesus knew true peace. He had peace because He had a strong and real relationship with His Father. He knew where He'd come from - He had come from God, He had come from the glory of God, and He had shared that glory. He'd come into the world to serve His Father, and for a very real and specific purpose. He knew where He was going. He knew that He was going to return to His Father, and enter again into that glory which He had with His Father. He knew that everything that He did pleased His Father, that His Father never left him, but was always with him.
The Lord Jesus truly had peace. Did He have an easy life? No, He didn't. Was He busy? Yes, He was. Did He suffer hardship? Yes, He did. And as He spoke these words, He knew that He was going to be crucified - of all things, crucified! A terrible, terrible death! And yet, He had peace.
This is the peace that He offers to share with us. When we think of God's peace, we ask ourselves, "Could that peace be disturbed? Could something happen that frightened God? Could something happen that God is unaware of and is unable to understand or to manage?" No, of course not. Nothing of that character can afflict God. His peace is absolute, and it is perfect.
It is in this peace that the man Christ Jesus walked, and it is into this peace that He invites us.
I said that the Lord Jesus was going to be crucified. For us to know His peace, He had to die. Why? Because in His death, He was bearing our sin. If He did not bear our sin, then we would have to face the judgment of God, indeed the wrath of God, alone. God is holy, He must judge sin. He might delay that judgment, but that judgment must come.
In the death of the Lord Jesus Christ we see, as it were, a lamb offered upon the altar, the innocent one dying in the place of the guilty one, so that the guilty one can go free. This is what the death of the Lord Jesus means.
But when He died, He also rose again. He said, "No man takes My life from Me. I lay it down of Myself, and I have power to take it again." Yes, the Lord Jesus was raised from the dead. Death could not hold Him. And as He entered into that new life, risen from the dead, having born the sin of the world, but now rising triumphant - triumphant over sin, and triumphant over death, He calls us to be united with Him in His death and in His resurrection.
How can we be united with Him? Through simple faith. The promise that He has made is that if we put our trust in Him, we shall be, by the operation of God, in a manner that we can't know or understand, united with Him, as dying in Him, but also as rising again in Him.
In that new life, His risen life shared with us, we can know true peace. In the Scripture, this peace is called "the peace of God, which passes all understanding".
Indeed, it does pass all understanding. In the world we may have difficulty. The Lord said, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me, you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." It is because He has overcome the world that, no matter what happens to us, when we have put our trust in Him, we know that He has overcome the world, that He reigns with His Father, that nothing can touch us that does not first pass His review. We are safe. We are kept. We are His forever.
This is the wonderful grace of God. This is the rich mercy of God. This is the peace into which He calls us. Do you want this peace? I was 17 years old when I first believed in the Lord Jesus. I didn't understand very much, very little in fact. I didn't know the Bible. I didn't even understand how the Lord Jesus had died for me. But I reached out to Him and I called upon Him to save me to make me His. From that time, many years ago, to this day, I can say that my peace has only increased. On that night I found peace, I found assurance, I knew that I was His. And that peace, through many different experiences, has only increased.
The promises of the Lord are true. The gifts of the Lord are real. Through repentance, through turning from our selfish, proud, independent spirit to Him who died for us because of our sin, turning to Him with empty hands, trusting Him for what He has accomplished on our behalf, in this manner we can know and begin to share His peace.
We can walk through this life with that peace. We can face difficulties with that peace. We can learn to bear burdens with that peace. And when our last day comes, and we are on our own deathbed, when we are on the verge of slipping into eternity, we can leave this life with peace, knowing that He has overcome the world.
The Lord Jesus has paid the price for our sin. He has risen from the dead. He is waiting to receive us. What a wonderful gospel! What good news! What a necessary and needful message to this troubled world!
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved. That's His promise. Turn to Him with all of your heart. Put your trust in Him, reach out to Him, call upon Him, and He will certainly save your soul and give you peace.
God bless you.