Inner Peace - The Peace of Christ

The purpose of this essay is to discover the Peace of Christ and to:



1. Know what it is

2. Know its' origin

3. Know what it does



First, we will look at a few verses. There are many which touch on Christs' peace, but we will focus on the following.



Colossians 3:15-17 "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly."



Job 22:21 "Submit to God and be at peace"



Philippians 4:6-7 "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus"



Jesus says in John 14:1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust in me" and in V.14:12 "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."



In the above verse, Jesus is not talking about the world's peace, but the inner peace. Jesus' peace is different from the world's peace. The world can give you temporary peace, but inner peace can only come from God. We will never experience outer peace until we have inner peace. True peace starts on the inside. It is so personal that it gives rise to the greatest confidence that God is always in control and that He is always working out all things for our good.

Peace is born out of reconciliation. Paul wrote in Romans 5:1, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God." We have peace because Christ’s sacrifice for sin fully satisfies the justice of God; the wrath of God is detoured away from the believer by the Cross of God’s Son, and we stand before God in Jesus fully pardoned and fully acquitted of any and all wrong doing. It is as if we had never sinned; the rebellion of Adam has been reversed; we are no longer banished from the Tree of Life, and the original relationship of perfection, peace and fellowship has been restored according to and through the righteousness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Few of us ever want to give the impression that anything’s wrong. The standard greeting today is “How are you?” We respond by saying “Good” even though we might be miserable. It’s like we’re programmed to say everything’s fine. That’s why if we asked how many of you live in peace, no doubt we’d all say – I do. But the truth – few people enjoy peace. Adam and Eve did for a time. But peace was shattered after they sinned. They hid from God. Adam blamed Eve. One of their sons due to hatred and jealousy killed his brother. Peace is something we crave, but few people enjoy. But it can be enjoyed. It’s one of the fruits of the Spirit.

Today we learn three truths about peace:

1. what it is

2. where it comes from

3. to what it leads

Paul’s prayer for God’s people is that we would all enjoy peace, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” Wouldn’t it be great if we could all live in and with peace? You understand what peace is right? In general it’s the feeling that all is well and will be well. It’s being content. Specifically, peace is enjoying unimpaired relationships. We get along with everyone. Peace is being fulfilled in what you do. At the end of the day we leave our job knowing we did our best, we go home and forget about it.

In the 80’s there was that catchy tune that became rather obnoxious – Don’t worry, be happy. The meaning of that song – relax, everything is going to be fine. Who could forget the Lion King – akunamatata. What did that word mean – no worries. The basic meaning in all those songs was the same – peace. We sing about peace. We crave peace. But few enjoy peace.

You know why? Because people don’t know what the source of peace is. Songwriters write about peace. But songwriters never tell us how we can have peace. This world has their ideas as to how to ultimately attain peace. Think happy thoughts. Peter Pan was told to find his happy place. Meditate. Medicate. Drugs. Booze. Avoid negative people. But you know what? You can’t stay in your happy place forever. You can’t think happy thoughts all the time. Drugs, legal and illegal, and booze wear off and you’re back to reality. If we’re going to avoid negative people we have to avoid ourselves at times. We need to realize a very humbling truth: we can’t achieve peace on our own. The Lord tells us, “There is no peace says my God for the wicked.” Because of sin we just can’t have perfect and lasting peace. Sin ruins our relationship with God. Our guilt leads us to do what Adam and Eve did – run and hide, avoid God. Guilt leads us to be afraid of God’s just anger and the ultimate punishment we deserve – death and hell. Because of our sins we have absolutely no assurance or confidence that God will take care of us.

Our earthly relationships don’t fare any better due to sin. We say something really dumb that offends someone and then we can’t face them. Someone says something that hurts us and we hold a grudge. We don’t get along with someone because we’re jealous of their talents or get fed up with their overblown ego. Sin makes it impossible for us to live in perfect, lasting peace with other people. And our peace is shattered due to imperfections in what we do – a double bogey, a botched recital, an error, a fumble, a tumble down the slope, mistakes at work. Sin shatters our chance at peace. So how can we enjoy peace? Only if we know the ultimate source of peace. Paul is reminding us that peace comes from Jesus. He made a similar statement at the beginning of almost all his letters. He began many of his epistles this way, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father.” Peace, true and lasting, comes from God. It begins with the greatest peace. Paul wrote to the Romans, “Since we have been justified by faith we have peace with God.”

To justify means to declare those who are guilty of sin to be not guilty. That declaration of not guilty became a reality thanks to Jesus. Jesus became sin for us – allowing God the Father to dump our sins on Him, in other words blame Him and hold Him responsible for our sins. As a result Jesus was forced to, but so very willing to suffer the curse of God’s anger for our sins, to use His blood drawn from His veins by fist, nail, whip, thorns and spear, to wash us perfectly and permanently clean of every sin. Now God pronounces us spiritually healthy, sin-free, not guilty of any crimes against the Ten Commandments. That loving act on the part of our God changes our whole relationship with God. We’re not afraid of God, we love God. We don’t hide from God, we come to God. We have peace with God thanks to Jesus Christ. We have peace in our lives, thanks to Jesus Christ. You remember this passage don’t you, “If God did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also along with Him, graciously give us all things.” In the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, to eliminate our sins, God has proven how much He loves us. We see how committed God is to us. And you know what we realize – God will spare nothing when it comes to us, His children. We know that He will meet all our needs. We know that He will send His angels to guard us in all our ways. We’re confident that He will fight for us. We trust that God will make good on His promise to work everything out for our good.

And then we breathe a sigh of relief. We know all will be well. We’re content. We’re happy. We’re worry free. We live in peace. You know the saying: no Jesus – no peace. Know Jesus – Know peace. But how do we come to know Jesus? Jesus, speaking about the Bible said, “These are the Scriptures that testify about me.” The Bible tells us about Jesus. The Holy Spirit working through the Bible reveals Jesus to us. The more we’re in the Word, the more the Spirit shows us what Jesus has done for us and all that He’s promised us. And then the sweetest peace of all enters our heart, the peace of Jesus. Peace is a gift of the Spirit that’s given to those who know Jesus and trust in Jesus as their Savior. The peace of Jesus has a huge impact on our life. Paul wrote, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.” God wants us to live in peace with everyone, but especially fellow believers. Jesus’ peace in our hearts makes it happen. Paul said "let Jesus’ peace rule." The word rule means to function like a referee. A referee calls fouls. But the referee calls fouls after they happen. The peace of Jesus calls out foul to us before it happens to prevent it from happening.

So many times peace is shattered by the hurtful, unkind words that we say. The peace of Christ calls foul before those peace shattering words are said. It helps us phrase questions we ask and different opinions we have in ways that aren’t destructive, but constructive. It reminds us to speak the truth, not in bitter anger, but in brotherly love. It will direct our conversation so that we don’t tear people down but speak kindly of them. The peace of Christ ruling in our heart preserves the peace that is to dominate our life. The peace of Christ does the same with our actions – calls foul before we do that which causes a rift. It helps us to realize that in order to maintain peace in our family we want to follow through on the commitment we made to our spouse, obey our parents, strive to stop the habit we’ve developed that bugs the rest of our family. The peace of Christ rules our heart so that we live in a way that maintains peace in our family. The peace of Christ ruling in our hearts cries foul before we complain about how unfairly or unkindly God is treating us. Whether we have little or lots, whether we live in good health or with tremendous hurt, whether our life is tranquil or filled with tension, we live in peace. The peace o Christ living in our hearts says don’t worry. It reminds us that God will take care of us. God will protect us. God will fulfill His promise and work everything out for our good. The peace of Christ fills us with peace in life.

And should that peace ever be smashed to smitherings or on the verge of shattering and the guilt wells up because we aren’t living in peace, then turn to God’s Word. There you will be reminded of the greatest peace we have – Jesus died on the Cross. Your sin has been eliminated permanently. That means guilt is gone; God’s anger is gone; the threat of hell is gone. That means you’re God’s child. Your ultimate home will be with Jesus in heaven forever.

Run, to God’s Word. There you’ll be reminded of the greatest peace of all, peace that will ultimately guide your life and give you true and lasting peace throughout your life.