HEAVEN IS ALREADY HERE
Psalms 119:165 NIV
[165] “Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.”
One of the greatest verses in one of the greatest chapters in the greatest book on earth, a word about God’s Word!
If you want to know what heaven is like, you’ll find it in three words…love, joy, peace.
Peace…God’s heaven is a place of peace. Jesus is king there, and His righteous government produces endless peace. Imagine that! No protests over load-shedding… lack of service delivery… poverty… joblessness… crime! No burning tyres! No throwing rocks! No toy-toying in the streets, no chanting and blocking traffic. Just peace, endless calm, quiet, and harmony everywhere!
The world, by contrast, is in a ferment of conflict and chaos for one reason…
Isaiah 57:20-21 NIV
[20] “But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. [21] “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
The world is in its mess because people insist on leaving God out. Without God, there can be no peace because He IS peace, the only source of peace, and the only giver of peace.
2 Thessalonians 3:16 NIV
[16] “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.”
God can only give His peace to those who qualify on a legal basis. Sin… wickedness, disqualifies. No peace for the wicked. This means that no one is eligible to receive God’s peace because everyone is wicked, born wicked, and condemned to death.
God Himself, in mercy, dealt with our wickedness by taking the rap for sin Himself.
2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV
[21] “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
So, God’s gift of peace stands squarely on satisfying His demand for the punishment of the wicked. Death, He demanded, and only death. His own Son, innocent of wickedness, paid the penalty for us, a perfectly legal transaction…and the outcome?
Romans 5:1 NIV
[1] “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…”
Wow! Would you look at that! It’s written in God’s own Word… peace with God! His wrath at sin has been perfectly appeased, satisfied, no more payment needed. The conflict is over. Peace!
However, God’s gift of peace extends far beyond just the punishment of sin to satisfy His legal requirement. Oh, no! God is much bigger than that! He is God, brimming over with a passion to bless.
God has removed the issue of sin. He can now lavish on those who have received His forgiveness by faith and the righteousness of Jesus, all the magnificent blessings He longs to pour out.
Since God equals love, joy, peace, everything He gives is wrapped in a parcel of who He is. This means that peace with Him opens the amazing reality of His own very presence, the God of peace, with us, always.
We can make an exchange…all the worries, concerns, and anxieties we encounter in our daily lives for a mind and heart always at peace because He is with us. How does this happen? Let Paul tell us in his own words…
Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
[6] “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [7] And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
How do we know this is true and that we can have this peace always?
Our verse in Psalm 119 tells us how.
Psalms 119:165 NIV
[165] “Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.”
Can you see how this works?
Everything God has done for us is written in His law, His Word. When we love His Word, we will read it, believe it, and act on it. His promises make us so secure that “nothing can make us stumble.”
Now, that’s the best way to live in this crazy world, by bringing heaven’s environment of peace right here where we are. By faith, this happens when we trade all our doubts and fears for God’s peace.