As believers, we are participators in divine peace because we know that Jesus has overcome the world.
We live knowing that “It is finished,” for the Lamb of God has conquered death and made a way for us to come close to God.
Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we have confident access to God at any time of day. We are in right standing with God, covered by the blood of the Lamb when we repent of our sins, because God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Praise God for the sacrifice of Jesus and the gift of peace!
It is beautiful to know Jesus, the Prince of Peace, intimately. He has extended to us and imbued us with His very own peace. He does not give to us as the world gives, for the peace He gives us can never be taken from us (John 14:27).
The Holy Spirit
Jesus has also given us the Holy Spirit who bears in us this fruit of peace. We need to rely on the Spirit and walk in step with Him, because God has called us to a life of peace with Himself and others.
To live at peace with God, which comes before any other profitable thing, we must acknowledge our need for His grace, repent of our sin, and place our faith in Jesus.
Confessing Our Sins
While becoming saved and sealed with the Spirit is a one-time thing, repentance is an ongoing process. On this earth, we will sin. As we walk with God and become aware of our sin, we ask Him to forgive us, wash us, and make us new.
We know that when we confess our sins to God, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). We get to receive His grace and proclaim it over ourselves each day.
This process of confession and repentance brings us to peace with God and it brings Him honor. The sacrifice most pleasing to God is a genuine and repentant heart (Psalm 51:17).
Peace with Others
We are also called to live at peace with others, especially those in the body of Christ. Specifically, we are called to:
- take on a humble attitude and put others before ourselves (Philippians 2:3)
- include all people and not exclude or show favorites (James 2:1)
- be people of mercy and grace, forgiving others as God has so mightily forgiven us (Colossians 3:13)
- not judge others but to let God be the Judge of all (Matthew 7:1)
- speak words of life over others; it can be easy to talk bad about our brothers and sisters behind their backs, so let us pray to guard against this sin (Ephesians 4:29)
- love as God first loved us, because love is the fulfillment of the law and the ultimate mark of the believer (1 John 4:19)
Fitting our feet with the Gospel of Peace means walking into any arena with confidence in our new identity as God’s children and with genuine love for others.
In John 13, before Jesus displayed the great service act of washing His disciples’ feet before His death, we are told that Jesus knew He had come from God and was returning to God (v. 3). This knowledge and confidence allowed Him to serve His disciples, even the one who was about to betray Him. Here, Jesus models what it looks like to have one’s feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of Peace.
Being in right standing with God and receiving God’s peace makes us ready to serve and ready to love, for we have come to know and believe that we have come from God and are going back to Him.
Friend, my prayer for us is that we would be people of peace.
May we be vessels through which the Good News of God’s grace can mightily proliferate. Let us seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness and walk in step with the Spirit. And may we let the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, rule on the throne of our hearts and remind us of who we truly are: on this earth, we are God’s, and we are going back to Him.
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