The Only Peace that Last

The Only Peace that Last Romans 5:1–5 (NIV84) 1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Ephesians 2:13–20 (NIV84) 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 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 access to the Father by one Spirit. 19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. Ephesians 3:12–21 (NIV84) 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. 14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Today is Trinity Sunday, the first Sunday after Pentecost, and Paul gives assurance to the church of Rome that God’s promises are fulfilled through Jesus’ ministry, death, and resurrection, as well as the Holy Spirit. How does Paul get his message across? He explains that real peace they or we can have with God is a result of our faith in God. Faith leads to peace. No faith – no peace! Paul reminds the Christians in Rome of what Jesus Christ has done for us. Jesus died for us, and on Trinity Sunday, we remember that God came humbly into the world as a vulnerable little baby in the person of Jesus Christ. Because God in Jesus Christ died for us, we are guaranteed life beyond the present one we are experiencing. This knowledge that eternal life begins now is another part of having real peace with God. God promises eternal life through Jesus Christ. Moreover, Paul tells the believers in Rome that because they believe that Jesus is the Son of God, God brings them to a place of highest privilege, and they stand there presently. So, whatever their place or station in life, in whatever circumstance they find themselves, they can rest assured that God gives them special honour and freedom now. In our Romans reading, Paul is explaining to us that in a Christian’s life the promises of God are coming true. The centre of these promises is the establishment of a loving, welcoming personal relationship between individual humans and the creator God himself. Paul’s opening line, “since we have been justified through faith [declared righteous],” reveals that everything that might separate believers from God has been taken away for those who follow Jesus. Faith in Jesus, in who He is and what He has done, is the key to everything. This is why Paul explained to the believers in Ephesus: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace…” Ephesians 2:13-14a (NIV84) and also “In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” Ephesians 3:12 (NIV84) This was the consequence of God’s act of grace when He sent Jesus to earth that John reminds us of: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16–17 (NIV84) Paul wants us to understand that when we accept Jesus as God’s act of grace, God gave us peace with Himself. Listen to Paul’s argument in Colossians 1:19–20 (NIV84) “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.” Yes, through Jesus, from His Incarnation to His Ascension, God is creating an opportunity for people who believe to have peace with Him. Before Jesus came, people live at war with God. But, for those who place their faith in the incarnated, crucified, resurrected and ascended Jesus, the war with heaven is over. “He Himself is our peace!” And when we accept Jesus as God mode of reconciliation, we move from darkness to light, from enemies to beloved children, from death to life. Yes, because of God’s grace we become what we are not by nature. This is what Paul wants us to understand: God not only showers His peace on those who trust Him, He changes their status – from enemy to family. Before Jesus came it was absolutely impossible to experience true inner peace because God was not at war with us. But Jesus makes peace possible. Peace with God becomes real because the Prince of Peace reigns in our hearts. That is why at the birth of Christ the angels chorused, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favour rests” Luke 2:14 (NIV84). For Paul, grace and peace always go together. Even Paul’s greeting in the opening verses of Romans shows this: “Grace and peace to you …” (Romans 1:7). To stand in grace is to stand also in peace. When we think of God’s grace, we need to think of being or experiencing the unmerited goodwill and support of God. There is nothing we can do to earn God’s grace. Grace is God’s resources lavished onto us undeservedly. Grace is the uncalled-for, unjustifiable, and unconditional love of God poured out on contemptable, pitiful, and unfit people. It is grace, because God is pursuing us relentlessly, until He has found us. It is grace, because He perseveres with us forever afterwards. Salvation is God’s gift to those who really know Jesus and accept Him for who He is and what He has done. This salvation is given in love to all who believe. But, friends, I need to make this crystal clear so that there’s no room for misunderstanding: God’s grace doesn’t stop at the point when we receive Jesus as our Saviour. No, His grace flows over into every moment of our lives. And it brings with it that mind-boggling hope a tremendous sense of peace and security that only God can procure and sustain. When we know who Jesus is and what He has done, we know that God’s grace is founded in love, a love that is not limited or passing — for we know that the very love Jesus displayed on the Cross is the display of God’s grace toward us. Paul wants us to have a firm mental picture of God’s grace in our lives. This is a perpetual thing. To do this, he uses the phrase “this grace in which we now stand” (Romans 5:2). It is not only something of the past or something for the future. God’s grace is active and functional in the here and now of everyday life. Friends, for this very reason living in God’s grace is all-consuming activity as well. The effect of grace and peace together should generate a jubilant attitude to life in us. For when you understand God’s grace as expressed in Jesus, you can’t walk away from it. When you understand God’s grace as acted out by Jesus, an unexplainable peace becomes part of your life. It becomes part of your life because you understand that God always thinks, responds, and views us through the eyes of the grace He brokered for us by Jesus. Because of Jesus, we live in the domain of God’s grace. Faith in Jesus nurtures the understanding that we are surrounded by God’s goodness forever. And this knowledge fosters peace, even when disappointments come. For believers, all disappointments, trials, hardship, suffering and pain always arrive wrapped in God’s grace. Therefore we, through grace, learn to continue to walk in God’s favour. We know that through this gift of grace, we have eternal access to God the Father. So, when you think of how you live before God, think of the way He wraps you in His loving care. Yes, I’m convinced that at times you might become distracted – focussing more on yourself than on Him. Yes, sin can still capture your attention, and a sense of loneliness can still overwhelm you even to the point where it directs or redirects your thoughts to become more inward-looking that Godward. But, as believers, we know that we don’t find these variables within God. It reminds me of this truth regarding Jesus: He remains, as Scripture says, the same, yesterday, today, tomorrow and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Times change and people change, but Jesus Christ does not. He is the same all the time. Look at this objectively: He served faithfully when He came as Immanuel to die on the cross to make us acceptable for God (yesterday). He serves faithfully today interceding for us at the right hand of God (today). And He remains faithful forever, because of what He has done in the past and what He does in the present, He is supplying sufficiently for any need any believer will ever have. So, because of Jesus, we know that God’s love for us remains constant forever. This is why believers can accept that everything given, good or bad, are acts of His grace. Think about it; Paul argues that God even makes our negative experiences [hardship, suffering, pain, rejection, illness, uncertainty, loneliness], serve our eternal good. Yes, every answer to prayer, even when we experience His response as negative, is God’s own answer to our outreach to Him. The thing is, however, that He knows best what we need at any given moment in time. And what He gives always responds to what we really need and not what we merely desire. When we understand God’s grace that became real in Jesus, we learn to cope with the aching agony of disappointment and loss. Yes, trials and tribulations might affect our lives, but once we know Jesus for who He really is and once we have accepted the acts of grace that He committed, no thing or experience can invalidate or overturn the existence of God’s grace in our lives. Once we accept Jesus for who He really is the hope that that faith engenders will never put us to shame. Why can Paul say this, and why is this true? This is true because of what the Triune God does. God’s indwelling Holy Spirit makes God’s love, God’s grace, God’s infinite care real. On this Trinity Sunday you and I can rejoice because we know that it is the undisputed truth when Paul says in Romans 5:8 (NIV84) that “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Friends, for this very reason, you and I can accept that God’s grace does never ever depend on the events or situations that make our lives uniquely ours. Because we know who Jesus is and what He has done we know that God’s grace does not function more or less in certain situations we experience in our lives based on what we did or didn’t do. Grace is a gift and always will be a gift. Only when we fully grasp will we experience that mind-boggling peace that Paul talks about in his letters. So, we can rejoice because we know our future – maybe not the minute detail, but most definitely the broad-brush strokes. When uncertainty prevails anxiety reigns, but where future hope is rooted in the Risen Christ, joy rules supreme. Friends, the faith people who know Jesus for who He really is and who accept God’s act of grace through Him, is never stagnant. It continually grows. By connecting a series of claims, Paul creates a flowchart for growth as a believer. Who doesn’t want proven character and hope? Paul outlines a counterintuitive key to growth, showing us that difficulties and patient endurance are the starting points for the attributes we aspire to have. He encourages believers that hope will not disappoint us because it stems from the love God has poured out on us. Don’t judge hardship by its outward appearance. Friends, Paul calls us up to rejoice in suffering not because we like pain or deny its tragedy, but because we know God is using life’s difficulties and Satan’s attacks to build our character. That is one of God’s loving purposes. Our problems will develop perseverance which, in turn, will strengthen our character, deepen our trust in God, and give us greater confidence about the future. Our patience will likely be tested in some way every day. Rejoicing begins by thanking God for these opportunities to grow and then facing them, relying on his strength. Trials, difficulties, and adversities are God’s way of maturing us into people who look more like His Son. No one likes trials, but by faith, we can begin to understand how God may want to use them for our good. If we can maintain our love for Christ and see his work through all our difficulties, the result is increased faith, hope, and love. The challenges of life are not random, meaningless, or wasted when we are trusting God. Our hope needs to grow and develop with the rest of our spiritual being. Rejoicing during suffering will increase our endurance and strengthen our overall character, leading to a more mature hope. We rejoice in suffering not because pain in itself is virtuous, but because it is the hammer and anvil with which God creates beauty in our lives. Jesus did not die only for “nice” or “good” people. He gave His God-honoring life for our God-dishonouring lives. He did this because of God’s amazing love. Paul states clearly in 1 Corinthians 13:13, faith, hope, and love are at the heart of the Christian life. Our relationship with God begins with faith, helping us realise that we are delivered from our past by Christ’s death. Hope grows as we learn all that God has in mind for us; it gives us the promise of the future. And God’s love fills our lives and provides us with the ability to reach out to others. Since faith, hope, and love are essential characteristics of the Christian life, their opposites (doubt, despair, and hatred) can devastate any relationship with God. We must guard against them and help those who struggle with those overwhelming feelings. We must not avoid or fear those experiences that will cultivate in us a godly character. Friends, our hope in God’s promises will never disappoint us by being unfulfilled. When our hope is in God, we are absolutely assured that He will fulfil all that He has promised—we will be resurrected to eternal life and will be with Him in glory. The more we accept the reality of God in our lives, and allow Him to mould us into vessels He can use in ministry, especially during times of trouble, the stronger our hope and faith become. Then an amazing and marvellous thing happens: we obtain the knack to hold our head high, no matter what comes our way. This reminds me of Horatio Spafford: Scarlet fever killed his four-year-old son in 1871. Two years later, in 1873, he decided his family should take a holiday in England. He was delayed because of business, so he sent his family ahead: his wife and their four children, daughters eleven-year-old Anna "Annie", nine-year-old Margaret Lee "Maggie", five-year-old Elizabeth "Bessie", and two-year-old Tanetta. On November 22, 1873, while crossing the Atlantic on the steamship Ville du Havre, their ship was struck by another boat, and 226 people lost their lives, including all four of Spafford's daughters. Only his wife, Anna Spafford, survived the tragedy. Upon arriving in England, she sent a telegram to Spafford beginning "Saved alone." Spafford then sailed to England, going over the location of his daughters' deaths. According to Bertha Spafford Vester, a daughter born after the tragedy, Spafford wrote: "It Is Well with My Soul" on this journey. Because of God’s grace, because we know who Jesus is and what He has done, we too know, even in the most severe life storm, yes, we know that all is well with our souls. We know it because we are convinced of the love of God displayed in Jesus. We sense God’s warm love throughout our bodies, because God so powerfully and gracefully gave us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with love. Friends, this same God enables us to walk confidently through the joys and sorrows of life with Jesus. It is this Triune God who helps us carry our crosses every day and night while we sing: “It is well with my soul!” We owe so much to those who have taught us and have modelled Jesus for us. Through their real live modelling, we know what we need to know about the gospel and Christian living. In turn, we are called to become a model worth imitating as we imitate Jesus so that no one can use our conduct as an excuse for not believing in God’s grace. May our conduct start a chain-reaction that leads people to God. May our focus on who Jesus is and what He has done, cause others to grasp God’s grace clearly. May God’s peace that rests upon us flow through us to them. May this stir in them that hope that never dies because it dwells in God’s presence forever. Go home in God’s peace, modelling God’s peace to those you meet. Amen.