“Again he said, ‘Peace be with you. As the
Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” (John 20:21 NKJV)
One
of the most sought after, and yet the most elusive of all human experiences is
peace. The world wants peace and spends
billions of dollars annually in search of it, without making any headway. One of the big dreams of the United Nations
is a peaceful world without wars. But since its founding in 1948, the world has
become more acrimonious than ever. Militant Islam has created several hotspots of
violence across the world and the blood of innocent people is steadily being
shed. Our world today is replete with
ethno-religiously motivated violence that has robbed us of our sense of
peace. The spat of armed robbery,
kidnapping and other forms of violent crimes constitute steady breaches to
peace and harmony in our society. This is hardly the world God set out to
create!
God envisioned and created a world where human
beings can live in peace and harmony with Him and with one another. Sin was the
spanner that undid our peace. Through
sin, man introduced disorder into God’s order and thereby rejected the peace
God had meant for us. We lost peace at
four distinct levels: We lost peace with God, we lost peace with ourselves
–internal peace, we lost peace with one another, and we lost peace with
creation. Man’s embrace of sin means his forfeiture of peace. Our Lord came to
free us from this deadly embrace of sin and make peace between God and us. Hence,
Paul explained, “God was in Christ,
making peace between the world and himself. In Christ, God did not hold the
world guilty of its sins. And he gave us this message of peace.” (2 Corinthians
5:19 NCV). Christ died on the cross to make peace between God and sinful humans.
He becomes the bridge through which we can all go back to our Father.
Before
He went to the cross, He promised His disciples, “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” (John 14:27 NKJV). I consider this a promise because the basis for
peace had not yet been formalised by His death and resurrection. God could not
make peace with humans on any other ground. The Scripture therefore testifies, “But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far
away from God are brought near through the blood of Christ’s death” (Ephesians
2:13 NCV). The Blood of Christ is
the vehicle of peace with God. When one comes to Christ by faith, that Blood
wipes away all the tokens of enmity with God and unites him or her with the
family of the Father.
When
Jesus proclaimed peace to the disciples on the resurrection morning, it was
more than mere words. It was a conferral of heavenly peace to them. This peace implied that they are “set at one
again” with God, with themselves, with one another and the creation at
large. From that moment on, anybody can
enjoy peace with God simply by coming in simple faith to Christ and accepting
Him as Saviour and Lord. Jesus is the author of our peace. True and lasting
peace flows only from His Presence.
Wherever, He presences Himself, there you will find peace. He is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).
Anywhere He reigns, there is peace. He is the Lord of peace who will always
give one peace in every way (2 Thessalonians 3:16).
How
do we enjoy the resurrection blessing of peace with God that our Lord provided
for us? The prophet Isaiah gives us a
clear answer to this question. “You will
keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in
You” (Isaiah 26:3 NKJV). To enjoy the peace of God, you must intentionally
“stay” your mind on God. To stay one’s
mind on God means to lean upon or to take hold of God, to keep Him constantly
on the screen of your mind and cherish beautiful thoughts of God’s dealings
with you. It is to think about God and
talk to him intermittently all through the days. It is to pull back from your
occupations from time to time to reflect on His love for you and humanity at
large. May the peace of God reign in your heart as you learn to lean on Him all
through your life in Jesus’ name.
This message is timely and clear. it sends in, a definitive and distinct alert of the peace the world needs even now.The resurrection power of our lord Jesus Christ has evoked an unconditional influence of peace and contentment and hope for them that believe in Him and for our eternal salvation. This is what the world needs now, perfect peace, unfeigned. But the events of misguided and escalating breach of the peace in Nigeria by the anti social and non conformist group - the so-called- Boko Haram Islamic group do not appear to share in this heritage. The events in Ukraine with Russia intently and assiduously provocating the peace of world, by its strategic inversion and forcefully trying to annex eastern Ukraine to its territory is another distrust and inability to respect United Nations rules and regulations for co- existence of states & Humanity. There is a global distortion of the perfect peace the lord Jesus procured for his disciples and even the world on the cross of Calvary 2000 years ago. The ongoing rumblings of violence in the Middle East, In Syria and Yemen etc. are clear indications that THE PEACE OF THIS WORLD IS BEEN MURDERED IN SEARCH FOR WORLDLY LUXURY AND STATUS.But Jesus WHO IS THE PRINCE OF PEACE said " This things i have spoken to you while I am still with you.But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance,all that i have said to you. "Peace I leave with you, my peace i give to you..Let not your heart be troubled, neither let them be afraid...'[John.14:25-27.] SO LET US RISE UP WITH COURAGE AND HOPE TO BESEECH THIS PEACE WITH THE LOVE OF CHRIST SPREAD ABROAD IN OUR HEARTS. AND PRAYING FOR THESE NEIGHBORS WHO HAVE NOT KNOWN HIM AND THE PEACE HE GIVES. ALL OVER THE WORLD.MAY THE PEACE OF THE LORD BE WITH US NOW AND FOREVER MORE AMEN.
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