His Name Is...prince Of Peace

All of us have found ourselves in this state before God…”all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

BUT…Jesus comes as the POP! Listen to this…

Romans 5:1-2 (MSG)

1 By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us— set us right with him, make us fit for him— we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. 2 And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand— out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.

Romans 5:1-2 (NIV)

1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Our faith in Jesus has JUSTIFIED us. Jesus made the peace and had given us a whole new standing before God, not depending upon me, but depending upon what Jesus did! I now have a whole new relationship with God! He is no longer an enemy to me, no longer is it a standoff between us, BUT I AM ADOPTED INTO HIS FAMILY! I HAVE BEEN SHOWERED WITH HIS LOVE, HE IS MY FATHER!

- I have moved into His mansion

- I am under his protection

- I am under his power

- I am under his promises

My/our broken relationship with Him I completely restored, just like I had never sinned! That is how he treats me!

And we have access to His grace, all of his provision, anything that is needed. Rom. 8 says that he will hold nothing back from us.

Have you made “peace with God?” I don’t mean a death bed confession, but have you moved into a new relationship whereby God’s grace is yours, where you are no longing running from Him and you are completely restored?

…where you can say, “The Lord is my shepherd!”

The POP has come to not simply forgive your past and give you a new start but watch out if you mess up!

He has come to undo the total work that sin has done in your life, all of its damage and all of its darkness.

- God now calls you His son or daughter – Accept it!

- He lavished his love on you…” “

- He is showing you off in his wallet….”””””

- He staunchly defends you and claims you as His own…”””””

- And he’ll take you to heaven when it’s all over….”””””

He is the POP – no half way salvation, no half way religion…he gives you the whole works, the whole thing. Full salivation, I am completely forgiven and I am completely accepted.

2. JESUS, THE POP, BRINGS PEACE TO ME.

We live a culture that teaches us to hate ourselves. We look in the mirror and don’t like what we see. We look at our age and wish we were something else. We look at our stuff and think other stuff should make us happy.

We have a real bad habit of measuring ourselves against something that we can never achieve.

On top of that we have a personal enemy called Satan who just accuses us 24/7.

It makes for a pretty unhappy existence.

The POP comes and says, “You have it all wrong.”