2 Peter 1.2
“May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”
As we finish this week’s series on peace, please keep in mind that the Lord seeks to “multiply” his grace and peace to us. He wants us to experience more and more of his grace and peace. The scripture above tells us that we will experience increasing levels of grace and peace in our lives through increasing knowledge of God in our lives. Please note: not knowledge about God, but knowledge of God
If you want increasing levels of peace in your life (and who doesn’t), then you must know and understand who God is and what he is doing in the world, who Jesus is and why God sent him into the world, and you must understand who you are and why God sent Jesus into the world to save you. This can be a challenge, because I think many Christians have a lack of understanding of why God sent Jesus into the world. As a result, they do not experience the level of peace that the Lord offers to them.
Here is what I mean. Those who believe that God sent Jesus into the world for the purpose of saving us and then giving us an abundant, happy life that is free from troubles and difficulties … those people are not going to experience the depth of God’s peace. They are going to be disappointed. Very disappointed.
I continually remind us through these devotionals that Jesus first calls us to himself to redeem and transform us, and then sends us into the world as agents of redemption and transformation. He explicitly tells us: “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Here, again, are the basics:
In order to have the peace of God, we must first have peace with God. The great news is that if we trust in Christ, we are reconciled to God and peace is established. “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2)
This means that peace is first positional, then it is practical. It is imperative that we understand and fully embrace the positional peace that God gives us through Christ. “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” (Ephesians 2:14-18)
Peace is a fruit of the Spirit. Having repented of sin and trusted in Christ, we are now in a position of peace. The Holy Spirit resides within us, and he makes his peace available to us. The peace of God — the peace the Holy Spirit provides — is profoundly different and far more powerful than the peace the world offers. “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)
Jesus made it clear that the peace he gives should not be equated with the absence of conflict or the elimination of difficulties or exemption from adversity. Rather, the peace that God gives is calm and confidence in the midst of whatever circumstances we face. “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
Do you want God’s peace? Be reconciled to him through Christ. Know him, trust him, and walk with him. Understand that he saved you for the purpose of being his ambassador in the midst of a broken world. He wants the world to see and experience his peace in you in whatever circumstances you face.
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you.” (Isaiah 26.3)
