76. Peace

Love and Peace

1Pe 5:12-14  By Silvanus, our faithful brother as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand.  (13)  She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son.  (14)  Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

This will be our last sermon from the book of 1 Peter. We have been here for 3 years and approximately 80 sermons. We end where we began; with peace from God to all those who are in Christ Jesus.

There are two points this morning. 1) Greeting in Love and 2) Our Peace in Christ Jesus

There are 4 Other times that we are told in the epistles to greet one another with a kiss. Paul uses the phrase ‘holy kiss’. To hear we are to greet one another in such a fashion is a little strange. To our culture and customs this sort of contact is foreign. We show sthat kind of affection within our immediate families but to friends not so much. Remember in the gospels that Judas identified Jesus to those who were going to arrest him with a kiss. Jesus didn’t respond negatively to the kiss itself but to the betrayal. In the ancient middle and near east a kiss on the check was a standard greeting and there was nothing sexual implied in it. Men would kiss the check of men friends as well as women kissing the check of women. It was a greeting reserved for good friends and family not necessarily acquaintances. They held hands together as they walked. Here in America two men holding hands would mean something entirely different. Western culture has stigmatized it. It is not a big deal for small children but as adults it means something else all together. But in modern times this still common practice in the middle east. When I first moved to Dubai it would freak me out to see two men holding hands walking downn the street. Later as a young man in college I understood that it was just the culture and it didn’t bother me. At least not until someone tried to hold my hand. I worked overseas one summer when I was in college for company called Gulf Marine Maintenance and Offshore Services. Whatever the job was I did it and the crew I worked on was a mix of Pakistani, Egyptian, and Filipino. I was the only American. My boss was a Pakistani and he loved the fact that whatever dirty job they did I was right in the middle of it. If he wanted something done well he would put me in charge of the crew. He would always want to hold my hand as we walked across to whatever job it was. I had to explain that it wasn’t the thing American men do but I appreciated the fact he counted me as a close friend. The best I could do was an extended handshake. This is very much a cultural thing but since God saw fit to include it in His Word there are principles that is important to grasp.

I. Greeting in Love

In this point there are 2 subpoints. 1. We Are to greet one another 2. The manner that we are to great one another is love.

1. We are to greet one another – The Greek word translated as Greek literally means to enfold in the arms. We would say hug. When we hug that communicates a lot to the other person. The primary thing is love and acceptance. In the world, or more accurately, our world, our country, we have been divided into opposing groups. White/Black, Male/Female, Republican/Democrat, Conservative/Progressive, heterosexual/Lgbtq+. There is so much animosity sown by our government and media that if two people are from separate groups they shouldn’t associate with one another. The root of that being that if you don’t agree with my position then you hate me and we can’t have a conversation. On the ancient world there were still divisions which is just a reminder that there is nothing new under the sun. The major division was Jew/Gentile. We know from Scripture that Jews couldn’t associate with Gentiles which was why it was such a big deal for Peter to go to the house of Cornelius the Roman Centurion (Gentile) and preache the gospel. Cornelius and his family believed, received the Holy Spirit and it was then that the Jews who were with Peter understood that the Gentiles had been included in to the family of God.

Act 10:34-48  Then Peter opened his mouth and said: "In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.  (35)  But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.  (36)  The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—  (37)  that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached:  (38)  how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.  (39)  And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree.  (40)  Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly,  (41)  not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.  (42)  And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead.  (43)  To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins."  (44)  While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.  (45)  And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.  (46)  For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered,  (47)  "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?"  (48)  And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.

We have the apostle Paul writing the same thing in Eph 2:13-16  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  (14)  For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,  (15)  having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,  (16)  and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

2. The manner we are to greet one another.

Now these churches that had been planted through Asia Minor were made up of Jewish Christians and Gentile Christian. They also included slaves and masters. There might have been a temptation within the congregation not to associate or greet someone from another group. Peter commended them earlier in his letter for their brotherly love in the first chapter but commanded that they love (agape) one another from the heart. Agape love is unique in that of all the different loves that are expressed in the Greek only this one is used of God’s love for us and the essential element of how we are to love one another. Agape love is God’s covenant love expressed to us daily in and through Christ work of salvation. It is expressed in the giving if His Spirit as a sign and seal of our in heritance and the working of the Spirit in our sanctification. Agape love is always shown by what it does. God’s agape love is unmerited, gracious, and constantly seeking the benefit of the ones He loves. The Bible says we are the undeserving recipients of His lavish agape love God’s demonstration of agape love led to the sacrifice of the Son of God for those He loves. Agape love as modeled by Christ is not based on a feeling; rather, it is a determined act of the will, a joyful resolve to put the welfare of others above our own.

What this means is that this love is uniquely Christian. The unbeliever cannot love in this way. It is possible for us to multiple expressions of love just as Peter indicated.

1Pe 1:22  Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love (Phileo) of the brethren, love (agape) one another fervently with a pure heart,

In this, you are to be commended because each Sunday I get to watch you greet one another and fellowship. It is obvious the great love you have for one another and the joy of being in one another’s company. It is why I am never in a hurry to stop because it warms my heart to see it. Whether it is a warm handshake or hug or a combination of the two, it is the manner in which it is done that makes all the difference and that it is done in love for one another. That Christian love that comes from God, is displayed to us by God, that loves without expectation of benefit in return. It is a love that springs from the saving work of God in a believer’s life. It is also this love of God that is bound up in God’s covenant. This is His steadfast love. Greeting one another in this covenant love and when I say this I mean not only God’s covenant toward us but our covenant toward one another that we agreed to when we joined this church as members. This unites and binds us to one another in a way that being a member of any other human institution does not.

II. Our Peace in Jesus Christ. Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus

What I want us to see in this is the unique identity of those for whom this letter is written. All who are in Christ Jesus. What this means is that when Peter penned this letter to the elect exiles in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Bithynia, and Asia Minor it was to those who are in Christ. But not just them but to all those who are in Christ Jesus throughout the ages whom God has called to faith in Jesus Christ. It is meant for all comfort and benefit every bit as much as it was for those who first received the letter so long ago.

But first let us look at what Peter means when he refers to peace. Peace can have several different meanings. It can mean the absence of hostility. It can also refer to a state of mind or heart in the midst of adversity, trials, and suffering. Calm is also inferred. Peter begins the letter with peace and he ends his letter with peace. Of Christian peace, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is.

With this kind of peace also comes assurance. As we look at the themes present in Peter’s letter we see that we have peace with God through His salvation in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the once and for all time sacrifice that has redeemed us. We are a purchased people. 1Pe 1:18-19  knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,  (19)  but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

Included in that salvation is our adoption as children of God and our call to His service: 1Pe 2:9  But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

We have peace and assurance that the trials and tribulations that we as His children go through in this life are not pointless or purposeless. In the midst of the spiritual warfare that we find ourselves in daily we have the assurance and peace that it is accordance with the will of God and His good purpose concerning us. The devil is not free to do whatever he pleases with us because he is a dog on a lease with a boundary set by the Lord that he cannot cross though he is frothing at the mouth to do so.

In Jesus’s last day before His arrest, after telling the disciples of His imminent death you can imagine their sadness and their fear. What would they do without Jesus. But He said tho them

Joh 14:27  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.

He finishes His speaking them with these words. Joh 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."

This does not mean that we will never know sorrow, or difficulty, or anguish of heart. Like Jesus said. In this world you will have tribulation. Jesus tells us wherein we find peace. In Him and in Him alone.

This leaves those who are not in Christ with none of the peace that we in Christ have. They do not have peace with God which means that they are still at war with Him. Where we have peace with God through the blood of His cross they will have judgement and condemnation. Every difficulty in this life they face is not for their good or their being conformed to the image of Christ. It is but the tiniest foretaste of their final suffering away from the presence of the Lord in the Lake of fire reserved for the devil and his angels.

Do you the peace that is not of this world but His peace that transcends it. Do you have the peace that people marvel at in the midst of your struggles when you maintain your good confession of Christ? Again I am not saying some unrealistic picture of happiness where we have a plastic smile plastered on our fac in the midst of difficulty. But are you clinging to Christ in our weakness, Are we leaning on His strength? They way is in Jesus. In Him we have the peace that surpasses all comprehension.