The world and sinners don’t have peace at all, but believers can have the peace of God which lasts forever.
The Unbridgeable Gap
[1]We were redeemd by the precious blood of the Lamb.
The world and sinners don’t have peace at all, but believers can have the peace of God which lasts forever. At one time, you and I were enemies of God because we had been separated from a holy God by our sins (Isaiah 59:2). That bridge could not be opened by mankind but only by the cross of Christ. Without Christ, it would be like us expecting to jump, in a single bound, the width of the Grand Canyon, but with God, all things are possible (Matt 19:26). The fact is, without Christ we can do nothing significant at all or as Jesus said, we can do nothing without Him (John 15:5) and “nothing” is not a little something. God knows our works can’t save us (Eph 2:8-9), so it took Christ alone and faith in Him alone to save.
Making Peace With God
Romans chapter five would be a great chapter about God making peace between Him and us. Romans 5:1 says “we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” It was “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life” (Rom 5:10). By placing the wrath of God on Christ on our behalf, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). This means since “we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God” (Rom 5:9). The wrath of God was satisfied in Christ and the amazing thing is that Christ willingly died for sinners who would repent and believe in Him (John 3:36). The wrath of God is more potent than we can even imagine. Jesus “was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace” (Isaiah 53:5). It is peace for us because of the wrath Jesus Christ endured. Incredible! That was the only way possible that God could be at peace with us and we could be reconciled to God. There is absolutely no other way at all than through trusting in Jesus (Acts 4:12).
[2]
The Suffering Servant
In Isaiah 53 we see one of the most powerful demonstrations about how God was able to, in Christ, make peace between us and Him. Christ did the heavy lifting we could not, which is seen by the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah 53:4 “he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; smitten by God, and afflicted.”
Too heavy for us to bear, only He could carry our griefs and sorrows. We could not.
Isaiah 53:6b “the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
What was laid on Him should have been laid on us and for all eternity.
Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter.”
The silent Lamb of God was led to the slaughter for our sakes.
[3]Isaiah 53:8, 10 “that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt.”
The Garden
The Garden of Gethsemane is comes from the Greek word “Gethsēmani” which means “an oil press” or “olive press,” and this crushing in the garden was necessary for “the Lord to crush Him” and” put Him to grief and made His own soul” (literally “physical life”) the offering for guilt; not His but ours. Christ’s suffering really started in the Garden…well before the crucifixion and the cross as He agonized, sweating great drops of blood (Luke 22:44).
Isaiah 53:12 “because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”
Again, we see the image of an offering…He life was poured out, His soul to death, and for the sins of many, He bore them and then made an “intercession for the transgressors” (that would be us). Today He still intercedes for us before God (John 17:20-23) so it is no surprise that “he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:25). It’s as if Jesus Himself was placed into what is called the “winepress of the wrath of God” (Rev 14:19-20), but the difference is, the wrath that was due upon us was placed upon Him.
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Jesus’ Peace
Jesus tells the disciples that He gives them peace (John 14:27). They didn’t feel peaceful about Jesus’ leaving, but it was to their advantage that He would leave because then the Helper, the Holy Spirit, would come and dwell with them (John 16:7). Even after Jesus death and resurrection, when they were still somewhat fearful, He appeared to them. In John 20:19 it says “the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” Once more “Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you” (John 20:21). Jesus mentions the word peace twice, and anytime something is repeated twice in the Bible, it is of supreme importance. Jesus didn’t want them to miss His point.
Being at Peace
[5]The word used for “peace” is not typically what the Jews used for the word peace but rather the Greek word is “eirēnē” and means “a state of national tranquility” or “peace between individuals,” so the word Jesus uses for peace is one that would have been used to describe a peace that’s been established between nations or between one party and a plurality of others. That’s important to know. It’s not an individual peace but a peace without the Body of Christ, the Church.
Conclusion
There is little peace anywhere in the world today but for the believer in Jesus Christ, they have the only real peace there is and the only peace that matters. It is the peace that Christ brought and bought with His own body. We who have repented and placed our trust in Christ are now at peace with God. The end of hostilities is over due to the sufficiency of God’s wrath being placed on the sinless Christ on behalf of sinful creatures. There is no peace like the peace of God after having made peace with God. You cannot have the peace of God until you’ve made peace with God.
I pray that you have already put your trust in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If that has not yet happened yet, you are in real danger of hell fire. Like all humans, you are one breath, one heartbeat…one accident away from eternity when it will be too late to repent. Today is the best day to believe (2 Cor 6:2) since tomorrow is no guarantee. If Jesus Christ came today, here is your fate (Matt 7:21-23). This is why I plead with you as you read this, repent today…and I mean right now. Put your trust in Jesus Christ. If you do not, you will face God’s judgment after death guaranteed (Heb 9:27) or at Jesus Christ’s appearance (Rev 20:12-15), which could happen at any moment.
Here is some related reading for you: Bible Verses About Peace: 20 Great Scripture Quotes [6]
Resource – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), Crossway Bibles. (2007). ESV: Study Bible: English standard version. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.