Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, - Romans 5.1
Peace. What a wonderful prospect. Poets put peace to verse. Songwriters
write of peace and singers sing of it. Politicians promise it is and oraters
orate on it. Writers write of peace filled Utopias. Everyone dreams of it.
The problem is that it just doesn't come. ‘Peace, peace, but
there is no peace’ comes to mind.
Peace in this world is one thing. It is a worthy and noble
goal. Peace is something we should all be working for.
But I think we can see by now that we are not going to pull
it off.
There is still hope. Remember what the angels said when they
appear at Jesus’ birth? ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good
will toward men.’
We may never find peace on earth because here we have to
deal with other people, and they have to cooperate. Here we pretty much have to
make due.
But man has another conflict - a big one. Not only do we
have to deal with conflict here in this world, but we are born in conflict with
God. Our sin put us at ‘enmity’ with God. Our sin separates us from Him. It
creates an unbreachable barrier. Well, at least it is from our side.
But, like the angels said, when Jesus was born peace with
God became possible. In Christ all the barriers to peace are broken down. Being
justified by faith we have peace with God. What an amazing truth. We have
nothing to go to the treaty table with. We have no bargaining chips. We treat
from a position of weakness.
That peace comes one way only. It comes ‘through peace with
our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Peace with God – what a wonderful gift!
1 comment:
One feature of the guys who come to us at Tiglin is the overwhelming paranoia that guys fight when they come to us. They have nearly overwhelming fear. One guy said that he had nightmares every night until he prayed that God would take care of him. I've been churning "Peace vs. Paranoia" in my mind. You might help me flesh out that thought. Love your heart and mind, my friend.
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