“Now may the God of peace…”[1]
As soon as I read this I knew that Father wanted me to know
him like this. His summary of what he has written in this letter about his new
covenant is that we are to think of him as the God of peace.
I immediately connected this to knowing Jesus as the “Prince of peace”,[2]
and then to the ministry of the Holy Spirit that is “life and peace”.[3]
The wonder-filled thought is that the whole Triunity of God
is peace, a wonderful peace of identity and relationship that is too
mind-boggling to package up into a neat little box. It can only be understood
in the picture of a wonderfully overflowing river of peace that God has done
everything required to pour into our lives so that our cup overflows.[4]
Which, of course, begs the question of why any believer in Jesus
Christ would not have peace. However, instead of wasting time bemoaning the
problem, I believe the invitation of God is to the solution, that our
experience of peace with God is in the God of peace, and the more we know him
by the Holy Spirit, the more we will know his peace.
After pasting a whole list of Scriptures into my
prayer-journaling for this week, all focused on the Triunity of God in peace,
and what that means for us as his children, one that stood out is this familiar
passage:
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your
reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious
about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses
all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is
just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there
is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these
things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice
these things, and the God of peace will be with you.[5]
In the first paragraph, as we pour our hearts out to God, “the peace of God” guards our hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus. In the second passage, as we both think and act
according to what the God of peace has revealed in his Book, “the God of peace will be with you.” The
God of peace blesses us with the peace of God. Wonderful!
I love that fellowship between the God of peace and the
peace of God. God acts the way he does because of who he is. We can count on
his peace because it is who he is, and it is expressed in all three persons of
the Godhead. They seek our peace, and provide for our peace, because it is who
they are by very nature.
What do we do with this (and there are MANY more verses that
express the Triunity of God in his peace, and their ministry to their children
to bring us to peace with him)?
6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the
Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 8)
If nothing else, the more we practice setting our minds on
the Spirit, the more we will enjoy the ramifications of the life and peace that
is ours in Jesus Christ, God’s gift from the Father.
I have often been comforted that, even though churches
regularly ignore the “two or three
witnesses” rule of Scripture in both the old and new testaments, it is
still the way God operates. So, we not only have the witness of two or three
Scriptures that tell us that God is the God of peace, and Jesus brings us to
peace with God, and the Spirit administers this peace in our lives by drawing
us into fellowship with him, but we have the three witnesses of the Triune God
testifying to their pleasure in leading us to have peace with them. They are
unanimous in their peace, and their desire for us to fellowship with them in
peace. Jesus has secured our peace through his redemptive work on the cross, so
we are invited to enjoy and experience that peace with minds set on the person
and work of the Holy Spirit.
We just have to keep in mind that this is through the
wonders of grace in the new covenant, not the laborious burden of trying to
keep the old covenant. This is why, in the same sentence in Hebrews I am
praying through, the writer reminds us that our experience of peace is “by the blood of the
eternal covenant,” not by the duties of the
temporary covenant given to Moses. By Jesus’ blood we have peace with God. Our
calling is to relate to him in peace no matter how much growing up in Jesus is
still required for us to be like him.
© 2017 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)
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