We Rest in His Peace
Isaiah 53:5-7 | John 20:19-21
(5) But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (6) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (7) He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
(19) Then the same day at evening, being the first [day] of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace [be] unto you. (20) And when he had so said, he shewed unto them [his] hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. (21) Then said Jesus to them again, Peace [be] unto you: as [my] Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
I. Easter is a day of celebrations that has different meanings to different people. For the church we look at Easter differently than the world does.
A. The world looks at this day as a day of family gatherings that include spiral hams, deviled eggs, and other dishes. There will be easter baskets, easter egg hunts, and chocolate and candy.
1. Everything today for those in the world will only appeal to the flesh. It will be about taking ease, eat, drink, and be merry. There will be excess and indulgent of the flesh today. Some may even decide to put on their Easter Drip and will film themselves showing up in church today for the first time in years to soothe their conscience or make momma happy and will make sure they post the moment on Instagram or Tik Tok.
a. Their social media posts will not be about anything but themselves. They will pose and smile with a caption that might say something like my Easter Drip, or Today I am a little extra Boujee. They will put the max number of hashtags to make sure they will be noticed and will get their likes and shares. They only see today as a day for them.
2. The world doesn’t grasp the meaning of today because to them it is another holiday draped in religious décor and symbolism. The cross just like the nativity at Christmas is just part of the decorations like pastel colors and rabbits. They are blinded to the truth of what makes today so meaningful.
B. I did a little research because I wanted to know just how many are sitting at home today without having the thought of what makes today so important.
1. I came across some statistics that honestly are depressing and will probably cause you to question me about when this message will start to sound like an encouraging Easter Sermon. Just bear with me for a few moments. Our society is made up of 5 Generations: The Silent Generation (1925-1946), The Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Generations X (1965-1980), Millennials (1981-1996), and Generation Z (1997-Present). Within the Silent Generation it was reported that 50% identified as Christians, Boomers have 41%, Gen X have 32%, Millennials have 24%, and Gen Z has 22%. With the rise of each generation, we are seeing more and more consumed by secularly, worldly living and thought.
a. We are seeing the fulfilling of 2Th 2:3 except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Romans 8 tells us For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; For to be carnally minded [is] death; Because the carnal mind [is] enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
b. It is grieving to see these numbers. It is evident from what we see and hear on social media and the news that more and more are being consumed by the things of this world. We are living in the days of Noah and Sodom and Gomorrah. These generations need the people of God being about the Fathers business. Paul said in 2 Tim. 2-5 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away [their] ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. Are we making full proof of our ministries Pr 11:30 The fruit of the righteous [is] a tree of life; and he that winneth souls [is] wise.
C. The children of God today know that Easter is not about the carnality but the spiritual. It’s not about stuff but about a Savior that died for our sins. 1Co 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
1. We know that Ro 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (8) But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (17) For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
2. 1Pe 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 1Pe 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
3. Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (11) For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Ga 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:
4. For we know in part, Ac 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Php 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the earth; (11) And [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Today we celebrate Jesus, Jesus the only one that can heal, delivery, save, restore, mend, love, etc.…, Jesus the only one that can truly give us peace!
II. The world longs for peace. Man wants there to be peace. Nations will sign peace treaties to end conflicts. Man does a lot of talking about peace but experienced little of it throughout the centuries. Someone estimated that in the last 6,000 years there have been over 15,000 wars and only a total of 292 years of a form of world peace. Man’s heart longs for peace!
A. Adam and Eve were at peace with God and all He created. Their needs were supplied. They did not suffer hunger, disease, or pain of any kind. Beauty surrounded them so that they could experience and enjoy it. They weren’t lonely, for they had each other, and more importantly, they had an intimate relationship with their Creator. If any people ever experienced peace, it was Adam and Eve. The condition of peace existed in the garden only as long as they were obedient to God’s will.
1. God is a God of order, 1Co 14:33 For God is not [the author] of confusion, but of peace, apple seeds grow into apple trees, a male koala and a female koala will produce baby koalas, the moon goes through predictable phases, and planets don’t fly out of their orbits. Because God is a God of order, not chaos, we know that a2 + b2 will always equal c2 in a right triangle and that, no matter where we are in the universe, F = G × Mm/r2. Physical laws remain the same, day after day, year after year, century after century. Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Mal 3:6 For I [am] the LORD, I change not; Ps 102:27 But thou [art] the same, and thy years shall have no end.
2. Unfortunately, Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. As a result, the order inherent in God’s creation was damaged, and chaos was introduced: we had confusion instead of surety, deception instead of truth, hiding instead of openness, weeds instead of crops, and pain instead of ease. We lost the garden. Our relationship with God became chaotic, and the peace of God was lost for them and us. Ro 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
B. Man’s sin caused chaos and destruction to be our inheritance, Ge 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man [was] great in the earth, and [that] every imagination of the thoughts of his heart [was] only evil continually. The Bible says this world is in “perilous times”, where “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. Where “iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” A world full of people whose “heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: A world where Man [that is] born of a woman [is] of few days, and full of trouble, a world where sin abounded. Where men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof:
1. A world that changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: For all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
C. The World now calls evil good, and good evil; they put darkness for light, and light for darkness; they put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
1. They are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight. They see nothing wrong with late term abortion; they say you have the right to choose when they want to give life. What I don’t get is if you take a life on the streets, you are a murderer but if you take it in doctor’s office it is your right to choose.
2. Parents now want their 15 minutes of fame and celebrate their child’s choice to swap genders by having gender revel parties and photo shoots; just as those that revel the gender of their baby they are expecting. What the LGBQT community fells to tell those that transition to another sex is that among the transgender community the suicide rate is at its highest because no matter if you change your name, appearance, how you dress, what restroom you go to, forms and applications may let you choose, but your DNA will always tell on you. No amount of hormones and surgeries can change your DNA, and they struggle with that. God said, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee.
3. Scholars and elitist claim to uncover the truth about Homosexuality and that as the Bible was being retranslated in 1946 they intentional mistranslated God’s Word to create hate against homosexuals that the inclusion of it as a sin was the result of angry Christians and not from God. They claim that since the word homosexual didn’t appear in the Bible until 1946 that the rise of hate didn’t begin until then and that other scriptures into Bible about sodomites and man lying with man were taken out of context to fuel and weaponize a hate movement.
4. Boys and Girls are now swapping locker rooms and sports, children are encouraged to determine their own gender based upon their emotional state at any time, transgenders and homosexuals are holding offices in the highest places of our nation, suicide is at an all-time high in our country, deviation, and outright devil worship is glorified on national television and we are told that it is merely art, we are told that a man can menstruate, and become pregnant, violence in many of our cities has doubled and tripled, theft, rape, and murder is off the charts, fentanyl poisoning is killing a hundred or more people a day.
a. Social media has become satan’s piped piper and is leading this generation to hell by exposing them to every manner of perversion and wickedness. They are watching videos of real murders and think nothing of it, since it’s on a screen. They are being fed lies as truth. Let me go ahead and say Christians are falling in line as well. If you can’t delete the app and stay off of it for 21 days without feeling like you need update and scroll out of fear of losing followers or seeing your likes then you have an addiction that is leading you down a road of compromise.
5. Whenever an article is written about abortion, LGBTQ+, or about Christians in general I go to the comment section and there you can read repeatedly that they blame Christians for always making love and choice into something nefarious. The comment section becomes a toxic place of hate against Christians. The world sees Christians as being the problem. The church is the reason why there can be no peace. 2Co 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: (4) In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
6. Paul would say in Romans 3 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat [is] an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps [is] under their lips: Whose mouth [is] full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet [are] swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery [are] in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known:
7. No matter how hard man will try he will not be able to have any peace. No senator, no state representative, no house, no senate, no president will ever end racism, hate, social injustice, the list can go on and so I will just put it in its proper context; they can never end the chaos of sin.
III. But God! He had a plan to end the chaos, He said to satan in the garden Ge 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. At the birth of Christ, the shepherds witnessed a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
A. Peace! Peace! Peace! Everybody’s for it. Nobody is against it. But what is that very elusive quality we call peace? For it means different things to different people.
1. Peace is what those who follow Eastern religions say comes only through the obliteration of the individual personality, becoming a part of the universe with no awareness of self. But they really mean serenity. Peace is what the elderly neighbor wants when the teenager across the street is practicing on his drums. She really wants quiet.
Peace is what the shopkeeper wants when he’s worried about paying his bills. He really means that he’d like his store to be busy and bustling with customers. Peace to him means prosperity. The patient waiting anxiously in the doctor’s office to be told the results of their labs wants peace. He really means good health. At the most extreme, some, like Hitler, peace results from killing people—at least it means killing to attain their kind of peace.
2. When we don’t have what we think we should have, we say we need peace! When we hear the word, peace it is oftentimes defined as the condition of life that should be, but who has the right to determine what should or shouldn’t be? If all of us could get the kind of peace we wanted, it would be an imposed peace. It would be peace at the expense of someone else’s dream of what peace should be. Peace cannot be determined by our own biased viewpoints or selfish needs. Nor can our standard for peace be set by the norms of our turbulent society. So where can we look, if not to ourselves or society. How do we set up criteria for defining peace.
3. Webster’s definitions center around two major themes. One deals with the cessation of hostilities. The other focuses on a freedom from inner turmoil, better known as peace of mind. We don’t fully understand what peace is.
4. The Old Testament uses the Hebrew word Shalom, and the New Testament uses the Greek word Eirene. Most of our English Bibles translate the word Shalom and Eirene as peace, but this is far too weak an interpretation. The word peace in the Bible is much like God who simply told Moses when he asked who do I say sent me and God responded with “I AM” because there is no one word or true definition to properly describe who God is, so the same can be said of what peace is.
B. Jesus died on the cross and was placed in a borrowed tomb and then triumphantly stepped out of that tomb defeating death, hell, and the grave and would appear to His disciples and say Peace [be] unto you to His disciples when He greeted them. This is the only time He spoke those words in the Gospels. It was the first thing He spoke when He appeared to them after the resurrection. He could have said anything, but He chose to say, Peace [be] unto you and, He said it twice in the same encounter. There must be something about those words being said after the resurrection.
1. When Isaiah prophesied of Jesus' death, he wrote this: He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The punishment for our peace was upon Him. From that verse we see that peace could only come after Jesus was arrested, beaten, and crucified for our atonement. Jesus died on the cross and rose so that peace could be given. The peace that He died for is not just some state of mind.
2. Isaiah didn’t just say our peace, but our Shalom and Jesus didn't just say peace, He said, Shalom aleichem or Shalom be upon you. I told you earlier that Shalom is a transcending word that means more than peace. Biblical scholars tell us that Shalom signifies several things, including salvation, Completeness, Soundness, Wholeness, Welfare, Function, Fullness, Health, Safety, Security, Tranquility, to Restore, to Repay, to Reward, to Make Amends, to Make Restitution, to Make Good…in other words, it is the absence of chaos.
C. Even with this long list of what Shalom/peace is I still wasn’t satisfied, there had to be an “I AM” for peace. So, I did a little more digging and I decided to see how it was translated in the Paleo-Hebrew. If you recall, I introduced you to Paleo-Hebrew in the message “Fixed”.
1. For those that may not remember that sermon, Paleo-Hebrew is the ancient Hebrew alphabet which had more of a pictograph or hieroglyph form than what is now what we call the Aramaic Hebrew alphabet by which it is based. Many believe that when the Hebrew scholars in Babylon decided to adopt the shapes of the Aramaic alphabet, but they unintentionally changed the meaning of the words in the process. At the very least they made the meanings less clear.
2. The Paleo-Hebrew for Shalom is Sheen ??? Lamed ?? Mem ? which is interrupted as To Destroy – the Authority – of Chaos. This is where Genesis 3:15 comes full circle and we see through Christ who said in John 14:29 that satan had nothing on Him, say to his disciples I have defeated satan and his grasp on man, I have defeated sin, death, hell, the grave, sickness, disease, brokenness, etc., and you are now free from chaos. Satan has no legal right over you anymore because he is defeated. 1Jo 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
a. 1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. You now can have Shalom, a right relationship with God. It is the way God intended things to be when He created the universe. This was God’s original design for his creation. It is the reversal of sins curse; it is the removal of the barriers that separate us from God.
b. Col 1:19 For it pleased [the Father] that in him should all fulness dwell; (20) And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, [I say], whether [they be] things in earth, or things in heaven. Jesus sacrificial death on the cross was so that He could pronounce over us a blessing of salvation, deliverance, safety, with rest, with prosperity, with wholeness, with completion, with fullness, with soundness, with well-being, and with peace, the end of chaos!
c. We have access to His Shalom/peace now and the Shalom/peace to come. Rev. 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. (2) And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (3) And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, [and be] their God. (4) And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. (5) And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. (6) And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. (7) He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
3. Through our confession, through our repentance, through our faith and devotion to God through Jesus Christ we can declare Ac 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; … For we are also his offspring. All that we need is in Jesus. His life, His ministry, His death, and His resurrection were all for us. Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. 2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. We are freed from the chaos that satan placed on us.
a. We can now say though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Mic 7:19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Ps 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, [so] far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
4. The only way to live this life is in Jesus. That doesn’t mean we won’t experience the trials and tribulations of life, but it guarantees us a way out of them. Joh 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. Joh 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Col 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
5. In death we usually use the phrase Rest in peace or may they rest in peace. With Jesus on that first Easter morning there was no reason to inscribe on the stone that was in front of his tomb with, Here lies Jesus Christ born 3 BC died 30 CE, May He Rest in Peace, because He didn’t stay in the tomb, there was no reason for Him to rest in peace because He died so that we could rest in His peace, in His Shalom. His tomb was a womb to bring us back into fellowship with God. We can rest knowing that it all was defeated, every product of chaos is defeated and no longer has any authority over you. As a blood bought child of God you have Shalom! On this Easter I declare Peace [be] unto you!
