December 3, 2012
The Grace and Peace Option
I have been
in many meetings where trying to get people to agree on anything seems utterly
hopeless. I have seen family fights, community fights, and church fights that
leave people hurt simply because everyone has their own idea of what would make
them happy, and so they cannot stop fighting about it until they get their way.
Remembering
such fights makes this greeting all the more wonder-full. “4 Grace
to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the
seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and
from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the
ruler of kings on earth.”
(Revelation 1)
The Father,
the Holy Spirit, and the Son of God, all agree. They always agree. However, in
this case, their agreement is especially encouraging because it is specifically
directed towards their children. They agree that they will all express grace
and peace to every believer in Jesus Christ, every gathering of believers
wherever they exist, and in any time or seasons that any of their children are
going through any of the things spoken of in the book of Revelation.
If people
want the feeling of, “I Did it My Way”, any religion or philosophy will do, short as the feeling will last. However,
if they want to have the feeling of acceptance from God now, and the assurance
that they will be completely and lovingly accepted into the presence of the
only real and true God when this life is over, they need the agreement of the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, showering their lives with grace and peace.
Here is the
transformation we must experience in order to know we are God’s children, and that we
belong to him and his family: “1Therefore, since we have been
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Through him we have also obtained
access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of
the glory of God.” (Romans
5) Anyone who has experienced this, has the full assurance of God's grace and peace both now, and forevermore.
© 2012 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, Canada, V1K
1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
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