"PEACE I LEAVE WITH YOU, MY PEACE I GIVE TO YOU; NOT AS THE WORLD GIVES DO
I GIVE TO YOU. LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED, NEITHER LET IT BE AFRAID."
JOHN 14:27
In just a few hours Jesus knows He will be arrested and experience the most
painful and humiliating torture and death a man can experience. Yet, He is concerned
about comforting and reassuring His friends. What a Savior!
Today we will look at His sixth and last promise in John 14 that He gave the
disciples to encourage them after He is gone: the supernatural peace that He
alone can give.
The Greek word "eirene" used here and the Hebrew word "shalom"
have similar meanings – peace, rest, prosperity, wholeness, or set at one with.
Only Jesus Christ can set us at one with God. He is the one and only mediator
that can make us right with God through His atoning sacrifice. "Therefore,
having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which
we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." (Rom 5:1)
But Jesus not only gives us peace with God He also gives us the peace
of God. "My peace I give to you." And He contrasts it to the
peace that the world gives to us. Let’s compare the two:
|
Peace the world gives
|
Peace that Jesus gives
|
|
| Depends on having resources | Depends on having right relationships with God and man Phil. 4:19 |
|
| Depends on our ability to accomplish something temporal | Depends on God’s power to accomplish things that will last forever 2 Cor. 3:4-6; Phil. 4:11-13 |
|
| Peace that comes from the absence of trials | Peace that comes from the Presence of a Person even in the midst of trials Psalm 23:4; Phil. 4:6-7 |
|
|
Walking by sight and depending on externals |
Walking by faith and depending on the internals and eternals 2 Cor. 4:16-18 |
Someone defined "sin" as a culpable disturbance of shalom (peace).
So if shalom is defined as wholeness, sin divides and separates us from the
Source of our wholeness – God.
"I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler (Satan) of this world
(the world system in opposition to God) is coming, and he has nothing in Me."
(John 14:30) Here Jesus points out two of our spiritual enemies – Satan and
the world. Jesus overcame both (John 12:31) and in Christ, so can we. Satan
uses the world system to deceive us and cause us to sin and lose our shalom
with God. His main tool is lies and one of His biggest lies is to tell us how
the world can give us great satisfaction and peace. (See Matthew 4:8-11; Mark
4:19)
"O world, so frail and so mad! Is it you in which we are made to believe?
With what boldness do you hope to impose on us the vain and fantastic form which
passes and disappears? You are only a dream and you want us to believe in you?
We even feel in possessing you that you are nothing real to fill our hearts.
Are you not ashamed to give magnificent names to the showy miseries by which
you dazzle those who are attached to you? The moment you offer yourself to us
you cause us a thousand pains. The same moment you are going to disappear and
you dare promise to make us happy?" (Francois Fenelon – Christian
Perfection)
Remember – the peace that the world promises to give us is a lie. But if we
know Jesus, Who is the Truth (salvation), and are walking in and under the control
of the Spirit, the Spirit of truth (John 14:17; Eph. 5:18) and abiding in (obeying)
God’s Word which is the truth (James 1:22-25), Satan cannot deceive us and steal
our peace.
Jesus defeated Satan in the wilderness by using God’s Word – "It is written",
and even on the cross manifested an amazing peace as He forgave His enemies,
took care of His mother and said as He gave up His life, "FATHER, INTO
YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT" as He quoted Psalm 31:5, a messianic psalm
of deliverance. He is truly the Prince of Peace.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
As they say to people on their death bed, "Have you made your peace with
God?" How? By receiving His Son Jesus as the One who died for all your
sins. If not, I pray you will do that today.
Yet, we can have peace with God (salvation) and not have the peace of
God. Which, if any, of the four ways the world offers peace continues to be
a requirement for you to have peace? How can God’s Word shown under the "Peace
that Jesus gives" column help you have the peace of God?
Which one of the three lies of the world in Mark 4:19 is most likely to steal
your peace? Why?
See the quote from Francois Fenelon above. Don’t you hate being sold a "bill
of goods"? Imagine the Super Salesman for the world system as a person
and the ultimate huckster bending your ear day in and day out about how the
things of this world will make you soooooooo happy. How can you get rid of him?
"Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in
My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32) Jesus tells us to not let our
hearts be troubled or afraid. Where are you in bondage to fear or worry and
need God’s truth to set you free?