Early in his life as a Pharisee, Saul thought he was doing a great work for God by fiercely persecuting the church. It was only after Jesus confronted him on the road heading to Damascus that Saul saw that in persecuting Christ and His followers he was persecuting God Himself. Saul was later converted as a follower of Jesus, baptised, filled with the Holy Spirit, and became widely known as Paul. The same fire and tenacity was there, but Paul had been tempered and honed by Jesus Christ. Never again did Paul go on a fleshly rampage or crusade against evil. Instead he was led and empowered by the Holy Spirit and his words were seasoned with love and grace.
The same ill which affected young Saul as a Pharisee ironically afflicts many professing followers of Jesus to this day. In trying to make a strong stand for Jesus they do much damage to the cause of Christ. I'm sure you've seen the websites with animated flames, the screen filled with wordy articles in all caps screaming at "non-believers," all with a sense of smug self-righteousness. The presentation spoils the message. The words well-meaning people type very well may be true in an academic sense, but if they are not written motivated by love for God and compassion for the lost they are all wrong. Some people write as if their blood is boiling with rage instead of having cheeks moistened with tears of sympathy for those who are blind, lost, and dead in transgressions and sins. James and John suggested to Jesus that they call down fire on unbelievers to teach them a lesson. Luke 9:55-56 reads, "But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56 For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them." And they went to another village."
As Christians we should contend for the truth of scripture and the veracity of the Gospel, but we are not called to be contentious. Many do not share Christ as they should, but this does not give us license to be rude, condescending, and hateful. We would do well to obey the exhortation of Christ when He faced those who were self-righteous in Matthew 15:14: "Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch." When you consider the life of Jesus, you will find that He never entertained dishonest questions. If someone was testing Him, Jesus would never answer those questions directly with doctrine. He did not debate views or doctrine that people wanted to fight over. Yet if someone was ignorant and desired God's wisdom, Jesus took the time to explain.
For those Christians who feed on debate and love to throw punches, seek God for a spirit of meekness and gentleness. In the long list of sins Paul mentions in Romans 1:29, one of them might come as a surprise: "...Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers..." Tucked between murder and deceit, we find the word "debate" in the KJV, "strife" in the NKJV. Wrangling and quarreling have no place in the body of Christ, and that is not the way Jesus won souls for the kingdom of God. Love God, love people, and share the truth of God's Word. We do not need to condemn people, for they are condemned by their sins already - just like me and everyone else! If they want to fight and debate over it, let them alone. Go to the next village. But we should not let them alone without interceding for them in prayer with moistened eyes and a heavy heart. We should have the heart of David, who fasted and prayed for days that his dying child would live. Who knows if God might be gracious and turn that soul to repentance and eternal life?
16 February 2012
14 February 2012
When Liberty Kills
Information and knowledge becomes more widespread and easily accessible with each passing moment. For those who think the ills of mankind reside in ignorance, this is an indictment against them. Though information is readily available, people still face the same problems which have plagued them from the beginning. Man knows the truth but lives in conscious opposition to it, convinced that the truth does not apply in his unique case. He lives in denial of God's existence, embraces subjective relativism to avoid guilt, and lives as if he is a god. Generation after generation impales itself upon lust, greed, power, and pleasure, always learning but never receiving the truth of the Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of that way is death.
This tragic saga is not only perpetuated by those who reject God and His righteous commands. Through the prophet Hosea God lamented, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..." (Hosea 4:6) Even though God had provided His Law and priests, Levites, and prophets to instruct His people in how to keep it, the people remained without knowledge. The people excelled at keeping ordinances and the minutiae of the oral commands made by men, but they missed the main point. The Law was intended to reveal the righteous character of God and display man's inability to be holy through external means. Paul explains in the New Testament that the Law is a schoolmaster which leads us to Christ. Galatians 3:24-25 says, "Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor." Faith in Christ brings forgiveness and freedom from sin. We are freed from keeping the letter of the Mosaic Law because we are now governed by the law of liberty through the leading of the Holy Spirit who indwells us. We are free from the penalty of breaking the Law because Jesus has met the righteous requirements through His sacrifice.
The Mosaic Law governed a man's external actions, but now the Holy Spirit holds us to God's holy standard from within. Through Him we have both the will and ability to live a life fully pleasing unto God not according to the letter, but according to the Spirit. In the book written to the Galatians, Paul marveled how the people received Christ by faith but quickly went back under the Law. They fell into the trap of thinking a man is righteous by what he does, not by who he is in relation to Jesus Christ through faith. The opposite error Paul sought to correct in his letters to the churches in Rome and Corinth. People were using the grace and forgiveness of God as an excuse to pursue sin. People rejoiced in the "liberty" they had in Christ, misunderstanding what this "liberty" actually means. Liberty is both what God has saved us from and what He has saved us for: He has liberated us from the oppressive bondage of sin and death, and has liberated us to serve and glorify Him forever.
This misunderstanding of what liberty is and what it is not remains a massive issue in the church today. How many Christians have been shipwrecked through the exercise of what they thought or claimed as liberty, but in reality was a retreat back into bondage! Liberty is not freedom to placate and satisfy the flesh, but the opportunity to honour God through godly action. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 8:9, "But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak." It is understood that Christians ought to also beware that this liberty of ours can be a stumbling block to ourselves - because we too are weak! It is only through God we are strong. God did not grant us liberty so we can justify ourselves from the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd, having graciously pulled us like helpless sheep from the teeth of Satan, sin, and Hell. How foolish and ridiculous it would seem if us sheep, having been spared a horrible end and given exceedingly great and precious promises through Christ by faith, used our remaining time on earth to flee from the Shepherd and seek shelter in a dark pit - perhaps the same dark pit we used to frequent before we were saved. What kind of liberty is this? The mind is of such a one is still enslaved in old ways of thinking. Proverbs 26:11 reads, "As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly." Foolishness in the Bible is directly related to wickedness. It is the fool who says in his heart, "There is no God." (Ps. 14:1) To atheists and Christians alike Solomon says in Proverbs 1:22: "How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge." Fools hate knowledge, and it is because of the lack of knowledge God's people perish.
Let us not be foolish, but wise concerning what liberty actually is. If my exercise of liberty is not bringing honour to God or is a justification from the Holy Spirit's conviction, I willingly return to bondage. Psalm 10:4 states, "The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts." I find this verse very convicting. The righteous must seek God, and God should be in all my thoughts. I confess to you that I am righteous only through faith in Christ, for in my flesh no good thing dwells. It is my hearts desire that God would be in all my thoughts, and I have much room to grow! Let us follow the command of Christ: seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto us. I find I am not able to do this, but God has liberated my heart, mind, and body to both will and do His good pleasure by His grace and the power of the Holy Spirit. Praise Him!
This tragic saga is not only perpetuated by those who reject God and His righteous commands. Through the prophet Hosea God lamented, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..." (Hosea 4:6) Even though God had provided His Law and priests, Levites, and prophets to instruct His people in how to keep it, the people remained without knowledge. The people excelled at keeping ordinances and the minutiae of the oral commands made by men, but they missed the main point. The Law was intended to reveal the righteous character of God and display man's inability to be holy through external means. Paul explains in the New Testament that the Law is a schoolmaster which leads us to Christ. Galatians 3:24-25 says, "Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor." Faith in Christ brings forgiveness and freedom from sin. We are freed from keeping the letter of the Mosaic Law because we are now governed by the law of liberty through the leading of the Holy Spirit who indwells us. We are free from the penalty of breaking the Law because Jesus has met the righteous requirements through His sacrifice.
The Mosaic Law governed a man's external actions, but now the Holy Spirit holds us to God's holy standard from within. Through Him we have both the will and ability to live a life fully pleasing unto God not according to the letter, but according to the Spirit. In the book written to the Galatians, Paul marveled how the people received Christ by faith but quickly went back under the Law. They fell into the trap of thinking a man is righteous by what he does, not by who he is in relation to Jesus Christ through faith. The opposite error Paul sought to correct in his letters to the churches in Rome and Corinth. People were using the grace and forgiveness of God as an excuse to pursue sin. People rejoiced in the "liberty" they had in Christ, misunderstanding what this "liberty" actually means. Liberty is both what God has saved us from and what He has saved us for: He has liberated us from the oppressive bondage of sin and death, and has liberated us to serve and glorify Him forever.
This misunderstanding of what liberty is and what it is not remains a massive issue in the church today. How many Christians have been shipwrecked through the exercise of what they thought or claimed as liberty, but in reality was a retreat back into bondage! Liberty is not freedom to placate and satisfy the flesh, but the opportunity to honour God through godly action. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 8:9, "But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak." It is understood that Christians ought to also beware that this liberty of ours can be a stumbling block to ourselves - because we too are weak! It is only through God we are strong. God did not grant us liberty so we can justify ourselves from the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd, having graciously pulled us like helpless sheep from the teeth of Satan, sin, and Hell. How foolish and ridiculous it would seem if us sheep, having been spared a horrible end and given exceedingly great and precious promises through Christ by faith, used our remaining time on earth to flee from the Shepherd and seek shelter in a dark pit - perhaps the same dark pit we used to frequent before we were saved. What kind of liberty is this? The mind is of such a one is still enslaved in old ways of thinking. Proverbs 26:11 reads, "As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly." Foolishness in the Bible is directly related to wickedness. It is the fool who says in his heart, "There is no God." (Ps. 14:1) To atheists and Christians alike Solomon says in Proverbs 1:22: "How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge." Fools hate knowledge, and it is because of the lack of knowledge God's people perish.
Let us not be foolish, but wise concerning what liberty actually is. If my exercise of liberty is not bringing honour to God or is a justification from the Holy Spirit's conviction, I willingly return to bondage. Psalm 10:4 states, "The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts." I find this verse very convicting. The righteous must seek God, and God should be in all my thoughts. I confess to you that I am righteous only through faith in Christ, for in my flesh no good thing dwells. It is my hearts desire that God would be in all my thoughts, and I have much room to grow! Let us follow the command of Christ: seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto us. I find I am not able to do this, but God has liberated my heart, mind, and body to both will and do His good pleasure by His grace and the power of the Holy Spirit. Praise Him!
13 February 2012
Unbelieving Believers
In the church today we find an undeniable, brutal irony: believers filled with unbelief. Christians are often termed "believers," so this claim might at first seem surprising. But we don't have to look beyond ourselves to know with certainty that we too can beset with this sin. Do you see unbelief in God and His Word as a sin? It is among one of the worst faith-killing, power-sapping, glory of God-robbing sins a man can cultivate. To add to the danger, there is no sin more easily justified by our flesh than unbelief. We can be full of unbelief but perceive ourselves as strong, unwavering believers.
Familiarity with God's Word ironically provides an impetus to unbelief. We assume that because we can repeat verses verbatim we have in belief appropriated all God has granted us by grace. Through much hearing we become dull and senseless, finding more interest in reading the commentary in our study Bibles than by listening carefully for the still small voice of the Holy Spirit as we read the naked Word of God. Did you realize this is a primary purpose of the Holy Spirit being sent? 1 Corinthians 2:12 reads, "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God." As we read the inspired Word of God, the Holy Spirit enables us to believe and appropriate what God has freely given us. We are trained to look to the scriptures for assurance concerning forgiveness of sin and eternal salvation, but we can look for feelings as confirmation when speaking about baptism with the Holy Spirit and physical healing. This ought not to be!
As I considered the unbelief in the disciples after Christ's resurrection, it struck me that it was not only Thomas who had to see to believe: every single one of them was full of unbelief of Christ's resurrection until Jesus revealed Himself to them. They all had to see before they believed. John needed to see the empty tomb, Thomas had to place his fingers in the prints of the nails, Mary Magdalene needed Jesus to say "Mary!," and the disciples on the road to Emmaus needed their eyes to be opened as Christ took bread and broke it while giving thanks. The fact is, we all need God to personally reveal Himself to us before we can see our unbelief, confess it as sin, and believe Him.
My familiarity caused me to miss the message of this insightful verse for many years. 1 John 5:13 in the KJV at first may seem redundant, but it points out the believer's need to believe: "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." John was writing to people who already believed on the name of the Son of God. The purpose for him writing was so people would know they have eternal life, and that they would believe on the name of the Son of God. John saw there was unbelief among believers! People were building on the foundation of Christ, but they were also filled with doubts. It is possible to build a rickety building on a sure foundation. If we harbour unbelief, we give place to the devil. James 1:6-8 reads, "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
When you look at your Christian walk, is it marked by stability or instability? Is your life better personified as a lighthouse firmly established upon a rock illuminating the way of salvation through Christ, or as a darkened ship being tossed about on waves, subject to the mercy of the tide? You do well to build your life on the foundation of Jesus Christ - hearing His Words, believing, and doing them - but if you build in unbelief spiritual and emotional instability will be the result. When you read the Word of God, do you believe it is absolutely true without fail, even if your experience seems to say otherwise? Some people take the wide, broad path of standing in judgment to explain away why your desired ends have not been met: "You obviously don't have the faith." It is not a question of faith, but more the issue of unbelief. 1 John 5:14-15 boldly proclaims, "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."
We can be confident that if we ask anything according to God's revealed will, He hears us. If He hears us, we know we have the petition we have asked. It may be that you have faithfully prayed 30 years for God's will in a situation and still you have not seen the end you desire. Does that mean that God's Word is wrong? No! Trust Him and continue to pray according to His will, thanking Him in advance for answering your prayer. Leave the timing and way to God. God in a way is like a taxi driver. He has revealed His plan to bring us and others to a particular end for His glory with sanctification, yet we are filled with doubts because He is taking a route unfamiliar to us. We complain about His driving, thinking He is taking us the longer way at our great expense. We want Him to take us by supersonic jet and He is content to let us walk through a desert. Confess your unbelief and follow Christ in faith. He will be true to His Word, and we are assured of His love, grace, and faithfulness.
[This Sunday at Calvary Chapel Sydney I preached on the subject of "Unbelieving Believers" from the second half of Mark 16. If you are interested to read them, the sermon notes can be found here. Please comment on what God is teaching you so we can all learn and grow!]
Familiarity with God's Word ironically provides an impetus to unbelief. We assume that because we can repeat verses verbatim we have in belief appropriated all God has granted us by grace. Through much hearing we become dull and senseless, finding more interest in reading the commentary in our study Bibles than by listening carefully for the still small voice of the Holy Spirit as we read the naked Word of God. Did you realize this is a primary purpose of the Holy Spirit being sent? 1 Corinthians 2:12 reads, "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God." As we read the inspired Word of God, the Holy Spirit enables us to believe and appropriate what God has freely given us. We are trained to look to the scriptures for assurance concerning forgiveness of sin and eternal salvation, but we can look for feelings as confirmation when speaking about baptism with the Holy Spirit and physical healing. This ought not to be!
As I considered the unbelief in the disciples after Christ's resurrection, it struck me that it was not only Thomas who had to see to believe: every single one of them was full of unbelief of Christ's resurrection until Jesus revealed Himself to them. They all had to see before they believed. John needed to see the empty tomb, Thomas had to place his fingers in the prints of the nails, Mary Magdalene needed Jesus to say "Mary!," and the disciples on the road to Emmaus needed their eyes to be opened as Christ took bread and broke it while giving thanks. The fact is, we all need God to personally reveal Himself to us before we can see our unbelief, confess it as sin, and believe Him.
My familiarity caused me to miss the message of this insightful verse for many years. 1 John 5:13 in the KJV at first may seem redundant, but it points out the believer's need to believe: "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." John was writing to people who already believed on the name of the Son of God. The purpose for him writing was so people would know they have eternal life, and that they would believe on the name of the Son of God. John saw there was unbelief among believers! People were building on the foundation of Christ, but they were also filled with doubts. It is possible to build a rickety building on a sure foundation. If we harbour unbelief, we give place to the devil. James 1:6-8 reads, "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
When you look at your Christian walk, is it marked by stability or instability? Is your life better personified as a lighthouse firmly established upon a rock illuminating the way of salvation through Christ, or as a darkened ship being tossed about on waves, subject to the mercy of the tide? You do well to build your life on the foundation of Jesus Christ - hearing His Words, believing, and doing them - but if you build in unbelief spiritual and emotional instability will be the result. When you read the Word of God, do you believe it is absolutely true without fail, even if your experience seems to say otherwise? Some people take the wide, broad path of standing in judgment to explain away why your desired ends have not been met: "You obviously don't have the faith." It is not a question of faith, but more the issue of unbelief. 1 John 5:14-15 boldly proclaims, "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."
We can be confident that if we ask anything according to God's revealed will, He hears us. If He hears us, we know we have the petition we have asked. It may be that you have faithfully prayed 30 years for God's will in a situation and still you have not seen the end you desire. Does that mean that God's Word is wrong? No! Trust Him and continue to pray according to His will, thanking Him in advance for answering your prayer. Leave the timing and way to God. God in a way is like a taxi driver. He has revealed His plan to bring us and others to a particular end for His glory with sanctification, yet we are filled with doubts because He is taking a route unfamiliar to us. We complain about His driving, thinking He is taking us the longer way at our great expense. We want Him to take us by supersonic jet and He is content to let us walk through a desert. Confess your unbelief and follow Christ in faith. He will be true to His Word, and we are assured of His love, grace, and faithfulness.
[This Sunday at Calvary Chapel Sydney I preached on the subject of "Unbelieving Believers" from the second half of Mark 16. If you are interested to read them, the sermon notes can be found here. Please comment on what God is teaching you so we can all learn and grow!]
09 February 2012
World Peace?
An oxymoron is a "combination of contradictory or incongruous words." Some common examples are "jumbo shrimp," "seriously funny," "modern history," and "long shorts." I visited a website which claimed to have an exhaustive list of oxymoronic statements, but from a biblical perspective they are missing at least one: world peace.
At the end of the halftime show during the Super Bowl, the words "world peace" were emblazoned across the field. Those are completely incongruous terms. The world's idea of peace is a world without war or conflict, unity of heart and spirit, a place free of suffering, racism, bigotry, nepotism, or hate. This is certainly a sublime desire. But this idyllic life cannot be realized in a world full of sin ruled by Satan, the prince of darkness. In scripture, the world's ways and humanistic philosophies are always at war with God's ways and perfect wisdom. There is not a square inch of shared ground between the world and God. There is no room for compromise because God's Laws are absolute and righteous, and the world is absolutely depraved, deceived, and doomed.
The wars, crimes, and death which ravages the globe finds its root in sin. Government, education, and tax dollars cannot bring this peace. Even if every mouth was fed, if everyone on the planet had clean water, proper education, and medical insurance, we would still not have peace. In the current state, "world peace" will always be a ghostly apparition because of the unchecked sin in the hearts of people who walk this earth. Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" Even people who truly have all the world can often fight a war in their hearts every day: fear of death, fear of man, hate, addictions, insomnia, fear of rejection, pride, violence, and lies. How many celebrities and millionaires have killed themselves through drugs, alcohol, or with violent intent because of disillusionment, loneliness, or sorrow? "Let me have their millions - that wouldn't happen to me." Oh yeah? Money can't buy you peace: it will rob you of the benefits you believe it provides. Murder, greed, violence among families, and hatred among people is only a symptom of the wickedness in the hearts of people when it rises to the surface.
Contrast the world with Jesus, who in scripture is called "The Prince of Peace." Ephesians 2:12-18 explains how Jesus has brought peace to this world of sin. "...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, [16] and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. [17] And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. [18] For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father." For mankind, Jesus is our Peace, our only Peace. It is only through Him we can have peace with God through His shed blood, and only through Him we can have peace with one another. When Jesus came to the world, what did the world do? He was falsely accused, tortured, and crucified on the cross by those He preached peace to. The world could not accept the love, way, truth, or the life God offered through His Son.
The beauty of the story is that Jesus rose from the dead, proving His victory over sin and death. This is the victory He gives to all who repent and trust in Him. Not only that, but we can be at peace with God even though our bodies still dwell upon this sin-soaked world. The world can be in shambles all around us, but we can experience continually a peace that passes understanding. The peace of a Christian is not dictated by outer forces at work beyond his control which he must manipulate to be happy, but a peace that comes from within through faith in Christ. In a world where the news seems to only grow more evil and insidious, what grace that God should freely grant eternal life and peace to those who are redeemed through the blood of Jesus.
There can be no peace until there is first justice: not justice according to man's subjective standards, but according to God's righteous standard. The Bible says that Jesus will someday return to the earth as a conquering King, and the nations will be subdued before Him. He will bind Satan and cast him into the bottomless pit and set up His rule over all. Then, for the first time since Eden, there will be world peace. Music, dancing, athletics, competition, and the best efforts of men or combined government bodies cannot usher in this peace. Peace can only be obtained through the Prince of Peace: Jesus Christ.
At the end of the halftime show during the Super Bowl, the words "world peace" were emblazoned across the field. Those are completely incongruous terms. The world's idea of peace is a world without war or conflict, unity of heart and spirit, a place free of suffering, racism, bigotry, nepotism, or hate. This is certainly a sublime desire. But this idyllic life cannot be realized in a world full of sin ruled by Satan, the prince of darkness. In scripture, the world's ways and humanistic philosophies are always at war with God's ways and perfect wisdom. There is not a square inch of shared ground between the world and God. There is no room for compromise because God's Laws are absolute and righteous, and the world is absolutely depraved, deceived, and doomed.
The wars, crimes, and death which ravages the globe finds its root in sin. Government, education, and tax dollars cannot bring this peace. Even if every mouth was fed, if everyone on the planet had clean water, proper education, and medical insurance, we would still not have peace. In the current state, "world peace" will always be a ghostly apparition because of the unchecked sin in the hearts of people who walk this earth. Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" Even people who truly have all the world can often fight a war in their hearts every day: fear of death, fear of man, hate, addictions, insomnia, fear of rejection, pride, violence, and lies. How many celebrities and millionaires have killed themselves through drugs, alcohol, or with violent intent because of disillusionment, loneliness, or sorrow? "Let me have their millions - that wouldn't happen to me." Oh yeah? Money can't buy you peace: it will rob you of the benefits you believe it provides. Murder, greed, violence among families, and hatred among people is only a symptom of the wickedness in the hearts of people when it rises to the surface.
Contrast the world with Jesus, who in scripture is called "The Prince of Peace." Ephesians 2:12-18 explains how Jesus has brought peace to this world of sin. "...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, [16] and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. [17] And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. [18] For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father." For mankind, Jesus is our Peace, our only Peace. It is only through Him we can have peace with God through His shed blood, and only through Him we can have peace with one another. When Jesus came to the world, what did the world do? He was falsely accused, tortured, and crucified on the cross by those He preached peace to. The world could not accept the love, way, truth, or the life God offered through His Son.
The beauty of the story is that Jesus rose from the dead, proving His victory over sin and death. This is the victory He gives to all who repent and trust in Him. Not only that, but we can be at peace with God even though our bodies still dwell upon this sin-soaked world. The world can be in shambles all around us, but we can experience continually a peace that passes understanding. The peace of a Christian is not dictated by outer forces at work beyond his control which he must manipulate to be happy, but a peace that comes from within through faith in Christ. In a world where the news seems to only grow more evil and insidious, what grace that God should freely grant eternal life and peace to those who are redeemed through the blood of Jesus.
There can be no peace until there is first justice: not justice according to man's subjective standards, but according to God's righteous standard. The Bible says that Jesus will someday return to the earth as a conquering King, and the nations will be subdued before Him. He will bind Satan and cast him into the bottomless pit and set up His rule over all. Then, for the first time since Eden, there will be world peace. Music, dancing, athletics, competition, and the best efforts of men or combined government bodies cannot usher in this peace. Peace can only be obtained through the Prince of Peace: Jesus Christ.
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