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Summary Peace
is multifaceted Alternatives
offer but can’t deliver true peace But
Christians aren’t known for peace much! Our
relationship with God in Jesus is too shallow Relationship
with God in Jesus is where we start - Col 1:15-20 That
relationship needs to be nurtured But
we still put up the barriers - Pride, self, avoidance of the
cross However
from the peace that Jesus brings comes all other peace - ·
Peace with others ·
Inner peace even through trial |
Peace is multifaceted – Peace & quiet, tranquillity, inner peace, rest,
absence of war.
Alternatives
offer but can’t deliver true peace
As life gets more chaotic and frenetic people seek it from many
sources - yoga, transcendental meditation, tai-chi etc. The Biblical principle
about alternative spirituality is ‘don’t’ - it is alternative -
when Jesus said ‘no-one comes to the Father but by me’ he meant there are no
valid alternatives. They lead us away from the God of peace.
But
Christians aren’t known for peace much!
We don’t demonstrate it either in our relationships with
each other or in our inner lives. We need to grow the fruit of peace.
We look for that peace in shallow waters - lightweight devotional
happy thoughts. Yearning after an insulated life. Paul
talks about a peace which is far more solid than mere feelings of peace.
These are found in the deep waters of relationship with God
in Jesus. He leads me beside the still
waters and there he restores my soul.
Our
relationship with God in Jesus is too shallow
It starts in the Jewish concept of peace - the ‘Shalom’ which
greeted every Jew, the Shalom which Jesus breathed his disciples - ‘Peace be with you’.
The peace of restored relationship.
If you aren’t reconciled to God (brought into a close and
happy relationship with Him) - if you’re still at war with him - or at best an
armed truce, the barriers are up, the borders are well fortified there is
tension on your borders in case God breaks through and invades your life! There’s
war outside and ‘Def Con 1’ within! If
we’re not where God made us to be we’re not at peace.
Relationship
with God is where we start
Peace isn’t a force or technique, it’s a person. Jesus is
our peace. (Eph 2:14)
Col1:15-20 –
Peace is centred on Jesus, eternal creator, head over all, in whom dwells all deity,
reconciles us to God making peace by dying.
This makes Him the ideal peace maker!
There
was no other good enough / To pay the price of sin / He
only could unlock the gate
Of
heaven and let us in. The God/man brought God and man together in his person and the cross.
No wonder the angels sang ‘Glory to God in the highest
and on earth - peace’. His coming brought
peace. We have been called to enter into the reconciliation which was in Jesus!
Most of us
find it intensely difficult to enter into! It involves our surrender and His
acceptance.
It involves our repentance and His
grace. It is a laying down of arms and giving in to
the warm
embrace of the Father God who has run to
receive all who would keep him at arm’s length.
We don’t come to a God who humiliates us! Or enslaves us! He
pours out his grace! He welcomes us with open arms, as his special guest at his
table though we don’t deserve it!
That
relationship needs to be nurtured
We then have to go on living in that reconciliation - that
relationship, but we don’t.
We are at peace with God through Jesus! Yet we act as though
this were not the case!
We act like Rhodesia did in 1965- we’re part of God’s
commonwealth but we refuse to do His bidding, we announce our UDI, cut
ourselves off from the benefits of His grace.
Why do we carry on arguing with him?
Pride - to say I was wrong - I’ve been backsliding, and I
need to come back.
Selfishness - doing it my way is attractive - I don’t want
to share the throne of my life.
Never yet learned what true
consecration and dedication means. This is the kind of relationship that God wants, and that
he can use. Laying yourself on the altar for Him.
Ready learning when He calls He means us to Do and Be
what He wants us to do and be.
Romans 12:1-2 - this sacrifice keeps slithering off the
altar.
Matt 16:24-26, 24
Maintaining the peace is costly - needs devotion and
attention – c.f. maintaining a marriage.
Are we ready for the costs of God’s peace in our lives? This
is anything but seclusion and insulation!
However
from the peace that Jesus brings comes all other
It is out of the security of the growing relationship with
Him that other aspects of peace grow.
If we’re where God made us to be there can be peace and
ceasing striving.
We need to practise the presence of God in this world that bring His peace.
Working
at peace with others is essential.
John asked
- how can you say you have God as your father and say you love him when you don’t
behave with an ounce of love towards one another! We need to deepen our
belonging.
He has made us one – Eph. 2:11-22
Working
at inner peace amid chaos and difficulty
We are held in His peace through the biggest of storms. I’ve
said that kind of thing many times throughout my 44 years of preaching (since I
was 13). At 13 I could never appreciate what it is to go through cancer with
someone, to be homeless, to be without a job, to be in a situation that went
pear-shaped, to face family stresses and strains, to be trying to provide for a
family on peanuts. But having been
through all those I still say the same. At times I’ve been more aware (at
the end) that the Lord was holding me than I was holding onto the Lord! It
means working at knowing God in the good times so you can prove him in the bad
ones.
In 2 Cor 11;16-12:10
Paul tells his story – especially asking God to take one of his trials away
(12:8). Instead God says "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power
is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly
about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for
Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in
persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.’ (2 Cor 12;9-10)
That’s peace at work.
Groups – remind yourselves of the summary, read
Colossians 1:15-20 and select from the following… 1. Read Luke 15:11-24. Why is mankind so rebellious
against God? Why do we find it so hard to come back to Him or acknowledge
backslidings? 2. Having come to Him what can we do to practise the
presence of Jesus and bring His peace? 3. Read James 4:1-17. What can destroy peace in my family / work
situation / church / community / world? How can peace begin to grow? 4. Read Eph. 2:11-22 / Gal 3:26-29. If we are meant to be ‘all one in Christ’,
to whom might we need to be reconciled? – How might we take steps to
achieve it? 5. Share examples you have known of peace makers 6. Share examples of when you have experienced peace
under trial. 7. Pray that the Holy Spirit will grow His peace in
you and make you peace makers.