"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...." (Romans 5:1, 2a)
---"Through Whom," we have everything God has for us. Nothing of eternal value is had apart from Jesus Christ, "through Whom," we are, "accepted in the beloved," and, "through Whom we have now received the reconciliation," and, "through whom are all things, and through whom we live," and, "through Whom He also made the worlds."
Our text also speaks of, "peace with God," which is only in Jesus Christ. And one could correctly say that without, "peace with God, " there is no peace with anyone, anywhere. Someone once described peace as the opposite of chaos. It is certainly the opposite of war, but chaos and war are not just outward realities. They are inward realities of the soul without Jesus Christ. I read an article on Tolstoy's War and Peace which asserted, "The reader discovers early on that many of the principle characters in the novel are as much at war with themselves as they are with Napoleon."
Colossians 1:20 says of Jesus that He, "made peace through the blood of His cross." Ephesians 2:14 says that Jesus, "Himself is our peace",.. and that one of the effects of the Cross of Jesus Christ is, "that He might reconcile them both (Jew and Gentile) to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity." Maybe if we concentrated more on the finished work of Jesus at the Cross, we might see more peace in the hearts and minds of men, more peace between people, and the rule of peace among nations. It is for certain, when the, "Prince of Peace," returns in His Glorious Resurrection Body, and after His war against His enemies, there will be, "peace on earth." A "Thought for the Day:" When the angels announced to the shepherds, "peace on earth," it was not the absence of war between nations or individuals. It was a road map to the manger.
Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to keep seeing every day just how much life itself affirms Your Words. Amen.
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When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
