The Peace of God and the God of Peace
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Do you have peace in your life?
So many people in our culture today live with a complete lack of peace in their lives. They have to manufacture a pretense of peace, through busyness, through drugs, through alcohol, through medication, etc. but they do not have true peace. This can be true of believers as well as unbelievers. True peace is a spiritual blessing that is given to us through Jesus.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
One of those spiritual blessings that is ours in Christ is the biblical idea of peace.
What is biblical peace?
OT Concept of Peace
OT Concept of Peace
The noun εἰρήνη occurs c. 280× in the LXX; it is esp. common in Isaiah (29×), Psalms (24×), Jeremiah (24×), and 2 Kings (19×). Where it renders a Heb. term, this is almost always שָׁלוֹם
1. The term שָׁלוֹם can certainly indicate the opp. of war (e.g., 1 Sam 7:14)
14 The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.
2. the dominant sense of שָׁלוֹם is clearly “prosperity, welfare” (e.g., Isa 48:18; NIV, “well-being”)
18 Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;
This general sense of well being occurs in a wide variety of contexts:
As a greeting formula
20 And the old man said, “Peace be to you; I will care for all your wants. Only, do not spend the night in the square.”
For prosperity- even for the ungodly
3 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
For bodily health
3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.
For inner contentment when going to sleep
8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
For peace at the time of death
15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.
3. In the light of such usage, it is easy to understand why שָׁלוֹם (and thus εἰρήνη) became a prominent theological term. As you study the Scriptures it becomes clear that the true source and giver of well-being (of peace) is Yahweh alone.
24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
It follows that “peace,” coming as it does from God, is closely related to the idea of salvation
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
NT Concept of Peace
NT Concept of Peace
The noun εἰρήνη occurs over 90× in the NT, and in every book except 1 John; it is common in Luke (14×), Romans (10×), and esp. Ephesians (8× in only 6 chapters).
1. The concept of peace in the NT centers on, is surrounded by, and issues forth from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Peace is throughly connected to Jesus as our Messiah and His work of salvation
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
Peace can summarize the content and goal of all Christian preaching
15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
36 As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all),
17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.
Soteriologically, peace is grounded in God’s work of redemption; eschatologically, it is a sign of God’s new creation, which has already begun; teleologically, it will be fully realized when the work of new creation is complete.
The starting place of possessing peace is through a relationship with God Himself, through Jesus Christ as our Savior
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
13 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 us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
The primary sense of peace is a the idea of being in a right relationship to the God of peace through the Son of God- Jesus Christ who is our peace. You must start here! Do you know Christ? Have you been reconciled to the Father? Is there peace between you and God? Peace is only possible once your sins have been removed and forgiven, and your sin debt has been paid! Christ has already done this for you, but have you received this gift? Are you reconciled to God the Father through faith in Jesus Christ? This is the primary sense of peace in the Scriptures!
Only in a secondary sense does peace refer to a psychological state consequent upon sharing in the all-embracing peace of God
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
What is the this secondary sense of peace? It is the idea of well-being, it is the opposite of affliction or tribulation, it is the idea of a person’s well-fare.
8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
It is the divine, spiritual gift of God- given through Christ- that enables us to lie down and sleep at night. It is that feeling of safety, of rest, or reassurance, or calm.
5 I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
“The great problem in life is, in a sense, how to lay oneself down to rest and sleep … Anybody can lie down, but the question is, can you sleep?”
I recognize that there are physical miladies that can hinder this kind of peace (if you drink three pots of coffee a day you probably are not going to be able to sleep very well).
But there is this spiritual sense of being free from brooding anxiety, of having a settling well-being in your soul- so that even if you are surrounded by enemies and by difficulties and trials, because of your trust and relationship to the Lord, you can be at peace and even go to sleep at night and wake safe and sound in the morning.
Do you have this kind of peace?
Citizens of heaven have lives distinguished by peace
Citizens of heaven have lives distinguished by peace
Citizens of heaven have a personal relationship with the God of peace. Their salvation forms the basis of their peace with God.
But, more than that- citizens of heaven can experience the spiritual gift of peace or well-being or rest.
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 hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
So how do we receive Jesus’ gift of peace? How do we, as citizens of heaven, have lives distinguished by peace?
3 ways:
1. We receive the spiritual gift of peace through prayer
1. We receive the spiritual gift of peace through prayer
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
6μηδὲν μεριμνᾶτε,
You must not be anxious / worry about anything
Anxious- Do not be over-anxious, do not brood and ponder, do not meditate overmuch upon, do not have this nervous attitude of worry about the thing.
Paul does not mean that we should never think ahead. He is not talking about wise forethought, but the kind of thinking that produces anxiety. Do not allow yourself to be overcome by this harassing, wearying, wearing care or worry about the circumstances in your life.
Paul also tells us how we tend to get into this state of nervous, morbid, brooding anxiety. Jump down to v. 7- “the peace of God … will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” It is the heart and the mind that tend to produce this state of anxiety and unceasing worry.
Illustration: laying down to sleep at night, you are exhausted and tired, and the moment your head hits the pillow your mind starts racing at 100 mph. You mind would not let your sleep, your heart would not let you sleep. There are times when they seem beyond our control.
What did the Philippians have to worry about?
7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,
So how do you overcome worry? How do you deal with anxiety.
The Christian has a wonderful way of dealing with anxiety that is completely different from the world’s method.
What Paul is advocating for in these verses is not a bit of psychology.
The Apostle does not say, “Stop worrying!” He does not say, “Pull yourself together!” He does not say, “Don’t waste your energy. The fact that you are worrying is not going to affect the position in any way.”
Instead, what does Paul say?
Don’t be anxious about anything… but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
The main command here is at the end of the verse- let your requests be made known to God. But, how we go about doing that is very important.
Some of you might be thinking- I have heard this before. I have tried praying before and it didn’t work. Let me encourage you to think about the rest of this verse. How you go about praying is very important!
ἀλλʼ ἐν παντὶ
BUT in everything
τῇ προσευχῇ
through prayer
General term- it means to simply speak to God- the idea is addressing words to deity.
prayer is something very personal and specific, a genuine conversation with God. Moreover, since NT believers know God as their Father—with much greater clarity than anything their OT counterparts could have enjoyed—their praying proceeds from a childlike trust, as expressed in the typical NT form of address, “Father,” which Jesus taught his disciples to use
If you are struggling with anxiety, if you are plagued by worry and you think to yourself, “I need to pray,” do not rush to making your petitions of God. That is not the way Paul tells us to pray.
“Before you make your requests known unto God, pray, worship, adore. Come into the presence of God and for the time being forget your problems. Do not start with them. Just realize that you are face to face with God.”
“You come into the presence of God and you realize the presence and you recollect that presence—that is the first step always. Even before you make your requests known unto God you realize that you are face to face with God, that you are in his presence and you pour out your heart in adoration. That is the beginning.”
καὶ τῇ δεήσει
and through supplication / most earnest petitions (c.f. Heb 5.7)
The idea here is that of urgency based on your desperate need.
7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
μετὰ εὐχαριστίας
with thanksgiving
τὰ αἰτήματα ὑμῶν γνωριζέσθω πρὸς τὸν θεόν.
This may be the most powerful grace that is available to us to help us overcome worry- simply the act of being thankful.
Anxiety will cause us to focus on all the things we don’t have- it will lead only to be discontent. Gratitude or thanksgiving will cause us to focus on all that we do have. There is a logic to this- when you stop and thank God for what you do have, if forces you to focus on what you have already been given. How much have we been given in Christ? This leads to being overcome with thanks!
Their is another important reason we are to come to God with thanksgiving in our hearts. Sometime we can be deceived into thinking that God is against us! Have you ever felt that way. When life throws one thing after another after another on top of you, aren’t you tempted to think, “OK, enough God!”
“If while we pray to God, we have a grudge against him in our hearts, we have no right to expect that the peace of God will keep our heart and mind. If we go on our knees feeling that God is against us, we may as well get up and go out.”
But if we approach God with thanksgiving, by reminding ourselves everything that God has already done for us, we will have the right spirit in our prayer, and we will be able to lovingly depend on God for our needs.
Finally, after all of that we get to the requests!
Let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
The Letter to the Philippians B. Rejoice in the Lord (4:4–9)
God’s peace is not the result of the power of our prayers or the effectiveness of our prayers. Prayer is not auto-suggestion, a form of self-hypnosis that produces God’s peace. Prayer is our openness about our needs before God, our emptiness in his presence, our absolute dependence upon him with an attitude of constant thanksgiving and complete trust. When we pray with that attitude, the focus is not at all upon what we are doing or will do, but on what God will do. God will do something supernatural beyond our best abilities and thoughts:
“What the Apostle says is this: ‘You pray and make your requests known unto God, and God will do something.’ It is not your prayer that is going to do it, it is not you who are going to do it, but God.”
So how do we receive Jesus’ gift of peace? How do we, as citizens of heaven, have lives distinguished by peace?
Though prayer
2. We receive the spiritual gift of peace through spiritual mindedness
2. We receive the spiritual gift of peace through spiritual mindedness
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
8Τὸ λοιπόν, ἀδελφοί,
Finally brothers,
ὅσα ἐστὶν ἀληθῆ,
whatever is true,
ὅσα σεμνά,
whatever is honorable, noble, worthy of respect
ὅσα δίκαια,
whatever is morally right, just
ὅσα ἁγνά,
whatever is pure, holy
ὅσα προσφιλῆ,
whatever is lovely, pleasing
ὅσα εὔφημα,
whatever is commendable, of good repute, admirable
εἴ τις ἀρετὴ καὶ εἴ τις ἔπαινος,
if something is morally excellent, virtuous, if something is praiseworthy
ταῦτα λογίζεσθε·
think about, dwell on, meditate on these things.
6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
It is no wonder then that Paul connects the idea of peace with what we set our minds on.
Whenever the affections do cleave intensely unto any object they receive an impression from it, — as the wax doth from the seal when applied unto it, — which changeth them into its own likeness.
In brief, he whose affections are set upon heavenly things in a due manner will be heavenly minded, and in the due exercise of them will that heavenly mindedness be increased.
And, on the other side, if all visible professors would endeavor continually to grow and thrive in spirituality of mind and heavenliness of affections, with fruits suited thereunto, it would bring a conviction on the world that there is a secret invisible power accompanying the religion they profess, transforming them daily into the image and likeness of God.
Pastor I really struggle with having peace in my life what should I do? What did you fill your thoughts with yesterday? I listened to the news for most of day.
I am not saying you can follow the news, but what are you dwelling on? What are you thinking about the majority of the time, what are you meditating over?
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
So how do we receive Jesus’ gift of peace? How do we, as citizens of heaven, have lives distinguished by peace?
Though prayer
Through spiritual mindedness
C. We receive the spiritual gift of peace through close fellowship
C. We receive the spiritual gift of peace through close fellowship
9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Leaned and received and heard and SEEN in me (descriptive words showing us how Paul reproduced himself in the lives of others). It was not just one method!
Thinking on all the the things that are true and honorable and just and pure and lovely and admirable and praiseworthy is not enough. It is not enough to simply dwell on these wonderful truths. Paul gives us the next logical step- practice these things!
What is significant about the word practice?
The Letter to the Philippians B. Rejoice in the Lord (4:4–9)
The time has come to get out of the chair of theoretical reflection about Christ and the Christian life and press on toward the goal (3:14).
13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.
14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
Illustration: how much practice does an athlete, who wants to be good at his sport, need to put in?
What is the result of putting into constant practice the Scriptures?
9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
The God of peace will be with you!
The Letter to the Philippians B. Rejoice in the Lord (4:4–9)
The promise of the presence of the God of peace (4:9) explains the promise of the peace of God (4:7): when the God of peace will be with you, then the peace of God … will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Only God’s presence brings his peace. When the God of peace is present, the peace of God rules in the hearts and minds of his people.
Are you walking in close fellowship with the God of peace? Are you drawing near to God, do you have a yearning to know Him more and more? The closer you are to the God of peace, the more the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
As citizens of heaven, as people blessed beyond measure because we are in Christ, how should that effect our daily living?
How should our higher allegiance to our heavenly kingdom dictate our earthly conduct?
Citizens of heaven have lives distinguished by peace
So how do we receive Jesus’ gift of peace? How do we, as citizens of heaven, have lives distinguished by peace?
Though prayer
Through spiritual mindedness
Through close fellowship