A Declaration of Peace
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INTRODUCTION.
A Declaration of Peace = The Birth of Jesus Christ.
Peace = A state of tranquility or wholeness; shalom.
MESSAGE.
I. Jesus removes the Dysfunction.
I. Jesus removes the Dysfunction.
Injustice is more than a political dysfunction. It is a spiritual evil, a denial of God. And by now the mess we’ve made is so far advanced, so systemic, so overwhelming, it’s beyond our powers of correction.
Raymond C. Ortlund Jr.; R. Kent Hughes.
In John 16:29-33, records a conversation between Jesus and his disciple, Not long before Jesus went to the cross.
Jesus has just finished promising the Holy Spirit, foretold of His death and resurrection, and promised answered prayer.
Now Jesus was telling about believing in Him and having peace.
John 16:29-33.
29 His disciples said, “Lo, now You are speaking plainly and are not using a figure of speech.
30 “Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; by this we believe that You came from God.”
31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe?
32 “Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.
33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
The disciples were going to be scattered.
The disciples were going to desert Jesus.
We can have tribulation and yet still have peace in Jesus.
What is the church? It’s a chosen gathering of unfinished people, still grappling with the selfishness of sin and the seduction of temptation, living in a fallen world, where there is deception and dysfunction all around.
Paul Tripp
II. Jesus removes the Disunity.
II. Jesus removes the Disunity.
In Ephesians 2:11-22.
Paul was writing to the Ephesians on how to be truly alive.
To be alive one must be alive in Christ.
Disunity may perhaps be the ultimate worldliness, since it means accepting that we are defined, in the last analysis, by something other than the love of God in Jesus Christ.
N. T. Wright
Seperation.
11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands—
12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
Restoration.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,
15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,
16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.
17 And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near;
18 for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
One Family.
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,
21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,
22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
III. Jesus removes the Disruption.
III. Jesus removes the Disruption.
So sin is the disruption of a personal relationship, and it brings further disruption.
John Frame.
In Colossians 1:15-20.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,
20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
Disruption in relationship with God.
Disruption in communication with God.
While a true believer cannot lose his union with the Spirit, he can interrupt his communion with the Spirit.5 And sin is the great disruption to communion with God. Like unplugging the cord to your computer, sin cuts us off from the source of power.
Todd Wilson.
Disruption in the Disruption.
20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
CONCLUSION.
It is time that we Christians awake to the fact that the world cannot help us in anything that matters. Not the educators nor the legislators nor the scientists can bring us tranquillity of heart, and without tranquillity whatever else they give us is useless at last.3
A. W. Tozer.
Jesus is our Peace.
Jesus removes the:
Dysfunction.
Disunity.
Disruption.
The only way to true peace is through Jesus our gift from God.
true peace =
Tranquility with God
Wholeness with God.