Someone once said: “Peace is the brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading.” Isn’t that true whether we’re talking about world peace or inner peace? It seems like it never lasts, and when we have it, we tend to expect that it will only be a matter of time before its disrupted.
Well, today we continue our exploration of the Fruit of the Spirit as we talk about the third fruit mentioned by Paul here in Galatians 5 – peace (Talk about cherries). Let’s read together again, its on the front of your bulletin if you don’t have it memorized yet. Today we need are going to look at what the word peace means here. Is it inner peace, peace between people, peace with God, all of these, or something else?
Let’s begin with the
I. Peace of God
This Greek word for peace is Eirene and so if your name is Irene it means peace. This word is really a translation of the well known Hebrew word Shalom which literally means “safe” with other off shoots being “well” and “prosperous”. In other words this peace refers to doing well and being safe and provided for. One might think of how a well cared for baby might feel, completely worry free. That’s what we’re getting at here.
Now let’s think about that for a minute. Do you think the omnipotent, all knowing God worries about anything? Look at what Jesus says in John 14:27 – “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you, not as the world gives do I give to you (in other words it’s not a false sense of security). Let your hearts not be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” Is he not saying “don’t worry because I have given you my Shalom?”
So this peace is:
A. A characteristic of God and his Kingdom
Romans 14:17 – “For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
Notice the mention of two fruit of the Spirit there, peace and joy. We say in the Lord’s prayer “your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven”, well we’re asking for righteousness, peace and joy that are already in heaven and we are to cultivate here on earth.
B. This peace is the opposite of Confusion
Often our worry or stress comes from confusion, not being sure why something is happening, what to do or think. Well again this is something that God never experiences, and through the Holy Spirit this peace is available to eliminate our confusion as well.
1 Corinthians 14:33 – “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.”
James 3:13-17 – “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
17But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
God’s wisdom and peace result in perfect harmony inside our hearts and amoung us people.
C. His Peace will Prevail at the Final Conflict
Because peace is God’s nature, He cannot co-exist with the opposite of peace. Frankly neither can we, at least not effectively. In Romans 16:20 we hear, “The God of Peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” Interesting how he says under your feet, meaning the undivided church, not his feet, remembering that the church is now Jesus body in the world.
It does sound like a bit of a contradiction from the last point here though doesn’t it? But remember we are not here talking about him giving peace in the physical way. This is the well-being type of peace that requires the destruction of evil.
This is confirmed by Jesus own words in Matthew 10:34 where he says, “Do not think that I have come to bring to peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” How can he say he has not come to bring peace, yet earlier he says my peace I give to you? We must look at the context to understand this.
When he says I give you my peace he is speaking to his disciples as he is telling them about his leaving to fulfill his mission on the cross. This is inner peace. Here in Matthew he is saying he does not bring peace to the world, no he has come to bring the sword of judgment upon the world if they do not trust in him and his return. Those who believe and trust in him will receive peace, while others will receive judgment and destruction.
Anything but peace cannot coexist with God, so he has to eradicate it if He is to be with us. This is the gospel of Jesus in its un-watered down version. “Believe in me, trust in me, obey me, and I will give you safety and well-being for eternity. Refuse me, and you will be subject to war, destruction and judgment when I return.” It’s that simple.
Our world needs desperately to return to a belief in heaven and hell. Even the church has eased up on these clear doctrines of a literal hell and heaven. If these are true, as the word of God says, there are enormous ramifications and I for one do not want to take the chance that my stubbornness lands me in hell for eternity. Eternal peace or eternal suffering, that’s the choice Jesus gives us with a very small but crucial requirement, believe in Him. Seems like a no brainer to me.
Not only is there the peace of God, but also:
II. Peace with God
Jesus brought us his peace to hold in our hearts, and he also brought us literal peace with God and with other people.
This peace is received by:
A. Faith in the Sacrifice of Christ on our Behalf
Let me read this beautiful passage from Ephesians 2:11-22:
”Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth (meaning non-Jews) … that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
14For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Colossians 1:19-20 – “For in Christ all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross.”
Do you see that peace with God is only available through Jesus Christ? Because we are sinful by nature we could never dwell with God, but through Jesus sacrifice for us we have peace with God by believing in Christ. There is nothing we can do, go to church, be good people, nothing besides putting our faith in Jesus that can bring us into a peaceful relationship with the Father. Jesus is our peace, and there is no peace without him.
B. Peace also removes the Fear of God’s Judgment Upon Sin
Please hear what Paul says about believers in Romans 5:1 – “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
If we have faith, which means believing in and obeying, trusting Jesus Christ, we do not have to fall under the sword of judgment that is coming to the world. Again faith removes worry from our hearts and gives us peace. We are now safe from God’s righteous and holy wrath because we have the opportunity to have faith in Jesus.
All our disobedience and wrong choices have been forgiven without merit, without doing anything but believing, through the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
Now, we know the peace of God, that we can have peace with God, and finally there is the:
III. Peace from God
A. That is to be Apparent in our Relationships with Others
Let me read Colossians 3:12-15 – “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”
There should be peace in the church and with unbelievers. Christians should not be problem people anywhere. Yes we should stand up for the truth, but we should always do so clothed in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and love - more fruit of the Spirit. Let the peace of Christ rule in all of our actions and relationships.
B. Peace is available to us in all Life Circumstances
Back to John 14:27, “peace I leave with you.” Jesus left his peace to be with us always. When we are not experiencing it, it’s not because it isn’t there, it’s because we are not claiming it. Remember these are the chapters in John of abiding in Jesus. The fruit is available only if we abide in the vine.
We have all been through many difficult circumstances in life. I can remember times when I felt the peace of God in those circumstances, and when I did not. And I know that it was me that determined whether I had it or not. If I focused on Christ in the situation, I had it, if I didn’t, the peace was elusive. I’m confident if you look at your experiences you would come to a similar conclusion.
Because it is a fruit of the Spirit, we need to be “in the Spirit” to manifest it. It is a gift, and gifts need to be unwrapped and:
C. Peace is Achieved as We Submit Every Situation to the Lord
You may remember from Philippians 4 – “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Obedience to the commands of Jesus is a key to receiving this peace as we reed a couple verses later – Paul says, “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Then Isaiah sang in the Old Testament – “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”
Keep your mind on him, obey him. I hear myself and other people say, “But how can I constantly keep him in the front of my mind in all situations all the time.” Well, my experience is that we choose to focus on the difficulty, the worry, trying to find our own solutions. What if we used that mental energy focusing on Jesus and seeing our situation from His perspective in the moment?
We can also wake up every morning and pray that He would be at the center of every situation we are in for that day. That we would be constantly aware of his presence. Ask him to be the first thing we see when situations arise, that we would have his mind throughout the day. Our problem is that we want to be in control, to do things our way, to feel good about ourselves, we want to figure everything out, so we hesitate out of habit to submit everything to Him. That is one of the key differences between us and Jesus. Jesus constantly chose to surrender his pride and have the mind of his Father rather than his own. We are to have the mind of Jesus rather than our own.
My friends, I don’t know anyone who does not want inner peace, peace of mind, and most of us also want peace between people, and churches, and nations. I think the Bible is telling us very clearly here that nothing we can do as humans is going to bring that about in our world. We have proof that this is true, just look at our horrendous history. Only God can bring it through complete submission to him and allowing His Spirit to have his way with us, manifesting this fruit through us.
We can seek peace in the world, we can have all the peace talks we want, but until every knee bows in heaven and on earth, and every tongue confesses that Jesus is Lord, will this world have peace. What do you say we start right now?
Benediction: Romans 15:13
“May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
