Tag Archives: God of peace

A Beautiful Benediction

Bible Study, , ,

A BEAUTIFUL BENEDICTION

Now may the God of peace who, through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen (Heb.13: 20-21).

What a great prayer to end a magnificent letter! This is not just wishful thinking. Our writer penned a prayer that matched what God has already done and what He has promised to do. Let’s take it apart and encourage our own hearts with the magnitude of God’s grace.

He is the God of peace. Our God delights in peace because that is who He is. What is the nature of this peace? This is not about the absence of anything that disturbs – like the calm on the surface of the water when the air is still. This is about the presence of perfection – wholeness where everything is in place and everything functions perfectly and in harmony.

When God had completed His work of shaping the earth and filling every part of it with creatures and provisions for them, including the first human pair, He declared, “It is very good.” “Good” here means “functional”. Everything fitted together and worked together in perfect harmony. Nothing in the universe at that point was dysfunctional – everything in God’s creation was at peace. Every creature and every system worked together in peace.

God is good. God is functional. Where He is in charge and everything submits to Him, wholeness – peace – prevails. When humans leave their foolish rebellion, return to Him and are forgiven and reconciled to Him through Jesus, they return to functionality within themselves and among themselves.

How did this come about? God made a covenant with mankind, sealed it with the blood of His Son, and then raised Him from the dead to prove that His covenant was both valid and eternal. Unlike the covenant He made with His people at Sinai which they failed to keep, this covenant is unbreakable because it is between Him and His Son, sealed with the blood of His Son, and we are the beneficiaries if we are “in Christ”.

Jesus is not only the atoning sacrifice for our sin; He is also the Shepherd God promised in the days of Ezekiel because the human shepherds who were supposed to care for God’s flock, abused and exploited them for their own ends.

The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel: prophesy and say to them: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves. Should not shepherds take care of the flock?” . . . I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Lord. . . . I will shepherd the flock with justice.’ (Ezek. 34: 1-2; 15; 16b).

This is the God who also declared that He has already given us everything we need for godly living.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness (2 Peter 1: 3).

Every resource we need to live godly lives in a sinful world has already been provided; all our physical and material needs met as we meet the needs of others (Matt 6: 33); sufficient grace in our weakness (2 Cor. 12: 9); strength to overcome temptation (1 Cor. 10:13); hope, joy and peace in the midst of the darkness (Rom. 15: 13) and the power of the Holy Spirit to be Jesus’ witnesses (Acts 1: 8).

And, best of all, He works in us to do what is pleasing to Him. As we yield to Him and obey His voice, He makes us holy, giving us a hatred for sin and a love for Him that motives everything we do in obedience to Him. Unlike His people who failed to obey, we live to honour and please Him.

What a recipe for success! He sets His requirements before us and then provides everything we need to carry them out. Just as He set the penalty for sin as death and then died for us, so He gives us His standards for holy living and then lives His life through us. What an amazing God we serve! All the glory belongs to Him.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com or www.kalahari.com in paperback, e-book or kindle format, or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my blogsite at www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

The God Of Peace

Bible Study, ,

THE GOD OF PEACE

“Everyone has heard about your obedience. So I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

“Timothy, my co-worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my fellow Jews.

“I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.

“Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings. Erastus, who is the city’s director of public works, and our brother Quartus, send you their greetings. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.”  Romans 16:19-24.

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” That doesn’t sound very peaceful, does it? It sounds rather ruthless but let’s look at the statement from God’s perspective.

Satan was first of all a traitor. He took what God gave him, beauty, perfection, power and the highest office in heaven and turned it against Him. Then he stole the allegiance of one third of God’s angelic creation. Then, not satisfied with that, he deceived Eve and turned Adam, and through him, the whole human race, against Him because he deceived them into believing that he was Lord. Because of him, the whole of creation was corrupted, became chaotic and the very image of God was distorted in man and the universe.

As if that were not enough, he turned God’s own people against Him. They rejected Him and nailed Him to a cross, causing Him the most horrendous suffering any human being could ever endure. They mocked, insulted, humiliated and killed Him and then turned on His followers in the name of God! At the very time that Paul wrote this letter, the followers of Jesus were being persecuted by Jews and at the hands of the madman, Nero. Soon enough, Paul himself would be one of his victims.

And yet Paul could confidently write, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.”

What made him so confident? The resurrection! Satan had dished up the worst he could offer; Jesus took it on the chin and walked away, the victor. The enemy, vanquished by the Son of God, was counted out. Finished! Defeated! Overthrown! All that was left to do was the mopping up – collect the spoils of war – the sons and daughters of God who were waiting to be released from prison.

Satan is still around, though, waiting for his final judgment and going around with his lies, deceiving those who still believe he is in charge, masquerading as Lord when God has declared Jesus to be Lord and given Him the name above every other name.

But for those who believe it, the truth is out. The devil has been unmasked, defeated and stripped of his weapons – the lies he has been propagating all over the world. Contrary to what he wants people to believe, he is not in charge. God is – and Jesus made that very clear to him in the wilderness. “It is written…”

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!'” Isaiah 52:7.

There will only ever be true peace when Satan has been crushed and dispatched forever but, in the meantime, it’s our job to live out and proclaim God’s rule because it is our confidence that God reigns, in spite of our circumstances, that “crushes” Satan under our feet. As long as we have niggling doubts about who is in charge, the devil will continue to have a field day with us and the world will not be convinced that Jesus is Lord.

“Our God reigns!”

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.