Devotion 13 - Strengthen Through Peace of God
Rom.5:1 – “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”.
In the beginning, man had peace with God in the Garden of Eden. Unfortunately, through sin, we lost that peace and became separated from Him. But God did not abandon us. Because of His great love, He sent His only Son Jesus to restore that peace and reconcile us to Himself. Jesus is known as the "Prince of Peace" (Isa.9:6). He came to earth to bridge the gap between sinful man and a Holy God. For that reason, the message of salvation is also called the “gospel of peace” (Eph.6:15).
Peace with God and the Peace of God
There is a difference between being at peace with God and having the peace of God in us. We are at peace with God when we know that our sin is completely forgiven, and knowing that we are now His sons and daughters. In contrast, the peace of God in us is a powerful force and strength that can help us to defeat the evil ones.
Rom.16:20 – “And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly…”
It says here that God of peace will crush Satan under our feet. Satan can be crushed by God of Peace!
Some suggest that this verse was the fulfilment of Gen.3:15, the promise that the seed of the woman bruising Satan’s head. Yet, others believe that it refers to the second coming of Christ whereby Jesus will defeat Satan completely. However, the former view was already fulfilled at Calvary as Paul put it aptly in Col.2:15 “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it…”. And the latter view might not be right because this verse is talking about Satan being crushed under OUR feet rather than Jesus’ feet.
Hence, I personally believe that this verse is referring to us growing in the faith till we reach the maturity to defeat Satan with the God of Peace in us. It is important to take note that this verse points to the future “shortly”. Simply put, it means that the bruising of Satan is something God will do in the Christian’s life if we will diligently study, believe, and obediently apply the Word in our life.
Phil.4:7,9 – “ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus…The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Here, we can see Paul turns from contemplation to practical living. In verse 7, Paul told us that if we let our concerns be known to God, “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” But in verse 9, he is saying that the God of peace Himself—the very God who gives peace—will be with us. It’s more than just experiencing the ‘peace’ from God; but now the Prince of Peace, who gives us the peace, stays with us to make sure we keep on experiencing that unending supply of peace as an ongoing reality in our lives. And the key to it is Obedience & diligence “things which you learned and received and heard and saw, THESE DO, and the God of peace will be with you.”
May God help us to be good students, good practitioners so that the God of Peace may continue to increase in our lives and our occasional ‘experience’ of Him becomes a constant living force and strength in us to destroy any form of accusation or work of the enemy against us.
Jesus calms the storm with Peace
Mk.4:37-39 – “And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling…then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.”
Jesus calm the storm with the ‘force of Peace’. We can never calm the storm that rage against us until and unless we have that calm in our own life. Unless the God of peace is in our own spirit, we cannot release it as a force through our spoken word. Can someone who is frustrated and tense calm another person? Can someone who is fearful help others who are fearful? Likewise, unless we are at peace, we cannot bring others to peace. We cannot give what we don’t have. The degree the Prince of Peace is in us, is the degree the force of peace is effective in us and can be released through us. The peace must be in us before it can be a force from us.
Jn.16:33 – “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
Jesus spoke these words on the most difficult night He faced on this earth, the night before His crucifixion. Seven times in the New Testament our God is called either the God or Lord of Peace. Nothing in the world can overcome us if the Prince of Peace truly lives in us. There is strength in God’s Peace!