Life And Peace

Proverbs 3:1 My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; 2. for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you.

Malachi 2:5 "My covenant was with him, one of life and peace, and I gave them to him that he might fear Me; so he feared Me and was reverent before My name.

Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

God’s covenant is an unbreakable covenant that was established so that His creation could once again have life and peace.

When Adam fell and became separated from God, he lost both God’s life and His peace.

Genesis 3:3 "but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, `You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ’’

Spiritual death is not a cessation of being, but separation from the life of God. Adam and Eve continued to exist, they did not physically die that day. Death was working in them, and it took nearly 1000 years for it to kill them. You either have the life of God or you don’t, there is no middle ground in this.

Romans 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

To say death reigned simply means death dominated man. He could not escape it.

God wants His creation to have His life. He went to great lengths to establish a covenant that could bring man back to the place where he could again have His life. This means that man would once again have God’s life, and because he had God’s life he would have the authority to walk in it in such a way as death could no longer have dominion over him.

In other words, he not only had God’s life infused into his very being, but he could walk in total victory over the very thing that had the power to destroy him. Death no longer dominates or has power over us.

Life and peace work together in order bring about God’s desired result. That result is for us to walk in dominion over the things that once dominated us. If you don’t have His life you can not have his peace. The fear of death will dominate you. You can not have the peace of God until you partake of the free gift of life which comes by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 2:14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,

15. and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

The power of death has been destroyed. We have been granted this life, and released from the dominion of sin, and the end result of that sin, being spiritual death.

My question is, are we as God’s children enjoying the life God has given to us.

I have come to believe that in order for us to walk in the benefits of God’s great redemption, we have to also walk in peace. They go together. If we are not walking in peace, we truly are not partakers of the benefits of the life God has given to us. What good is this great redemption and the wonderful benefits that come with it, if we are not partakers of it? God went to great lengths to reunite us. He wants us to partake of His free gift, and enjoy the benefits of being His children.

-- Living Bible

1 Timothy 6:17 Tell those who are rich not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which will soon be gone, but their pride and trust should be in the living God who always richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.

This would come as a shock to many Christians, but God wants us to enjoy His blessings.

Many Christians have the mindset that we are supposed to go through life torn and tattered, barely getting along. This does not sound like being richly blessed and enjoying life to me. Jesus said…

John 10:10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

The word abundant means - (in the sense of beyond); superabundant (in quantity) or superior (in quality); by implication, excessive; preeminence:

The Amplified says it like this… 10. The thief comes only to in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).