Life and Peace

"For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."

Romans 8:6

After church on Sunday, I spoke with a brother in Christ about the peace God gives.  Some mistakenly have their own idea of "peace" they desire which involves financial prosperity, unfailing good health, ease, a lack of conflict coupled with material blessings.  That all sounds very fine, but that is not the peace God offers those who trust in Him.  Jesus has become for us Peace and as the Prince of Peace He knows all about it.  The peace God gives is not of this world and therefore is not coupled to anything transitory in this world like wealth or health.

Those whose minds are carnal and worldly - fixed solely upon the passing pleasures of this life with no regard for God or living righteously - death will be the result.  Sin brings with it a curse which separates us from God and brings us under His wrath and judgment ending in the death of the body and the eternal death of our souls in hell.  Yet those who are born again through repentance and faith in Jesus are made spiritually minded and receive from God eternal life and peace.  This peace is not an absence of conflict, for Jesus has promised His faithful followers in this world we will have tribulation.  This peace means to join, to bring back together as one again.  It is divine reconciliation, like a estranged son being joyfully and permanently reunited with his loving father.

This peace is well described in Ephesians 2:12-15:  "...that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from 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 both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, ¹⁵ having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace..."  The life and peace described here are as inseparable as God the Father and God the Son Jesus Christ.  There can be no peace apart from eternal life, and there can be no eternal life without the peace of God that passes understanding.  It is only through Christ we can experience this life and peace God promises and is not contingent on our circumstances.

This peace with God is experienced through rest and contentment within a person even in the midst of trials.  Yet if we recognise we are conflicted in our mind or heart we are called to seek God's presence once again in humble repentance.  Matthew Henry wrote this concerning the peace of God in his book Experiencing God's Presence:

There is a lesson in all this:  those who have the assurances of God's favour toward them may enjoy, and should labour after, a holy serenity and security of mind.  We have both of these put together in that precious promise, "The work of righteousness shall be peace" (Isaiah 32:17).  There is a present satisfaction in doing good; and in the final outcome, the effect of righteousness will be quietness and assurance forever - quietness in the enjoyment of good, and assurance in a freedom from evil.  A holy serenity is one blessed fruit of God's favour:  "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep."  While we are under God's displeasure, or in doubt concerning His favour, how can we have any enjoyment of ourselves?  While this great concern is unsettled, the soul cannot be satisfied.  Does God have a controversy with you? (Henry, Matthew. Experiencing God's Presence. New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 1997. 117. Print.)

God's peace is more than prosperity or feelings of contentment but actual union with God.  Because Christ is our life - He in us and we in Him - the peace of God can be ever-present reality in our daily experiences.  How amazing and good God is that He would be our peace!  Praise the LORD His peace is not dependent on this changing world but established on His timeless character and love.  In all situations we can greatly rejoice and experience God's peace through faith in Him