THE PEACE OF GOD

In the New Testament, the word peace can be defined as: “the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatever sort that is.” Peace is also described in the New Testament as a gift from God and is congruent with His character (Philippians 4:6-9). If God is known as the God of peace, then to know God is to know His peace. This means that the closer we draw to God, the more of His peace we can enjoy (James 4:8). Having the peace of God can be compared to the petals of a flower unfolding in the sunlight. The petals of peace in our lives unfold as we learn more about God (2 Peter 1:2). In other words, the peace that comes from God grows as we get to know Him better (1 Peter 2:1-3). The Scriptures give us clear instructions about how to draw near to God (Psalm 24:3–4). The Bible is also clear that we cannot make ourselves clean enough or pure enough to earn the presence of the Lord (Romans 3:10, 23). So how do we draw near enough to experience His peace? We come into the presence of the Lord through His Son (John 14:6). By accessing the Blood of Christ through baptism (Acts 22:16; Hebrews 10:22), we enter into the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-13) and our sins are forgiven (Ephesians 1:7; Revelation 1:5). Only then can we have peace with God (Romans 5:1).

Since the forgiveness of sin is what grants us access to the God of peace (Ephesians 2:13-18) and sin is what separates us from Him (Isaiah 59:1-2) then it makes sense that to keep God’s peace in our lives, we must do our absolute best to keep sin out (Romans 6:1-6; 1 John 1:5-7). There are also certain attitudes that can destroy the peace of God. When we equate the peace of God with the assumption that God will give us whatever we want, we set ourselves up for disappointment. The Bible is filled with examples of the opposite happening to God’s children (Mark 14:35-36; 2 Corinthians 12:7–9). Having the peace of God means we have set our hearts to trust God, no matter what may happen. When we insist on being in control, we sabotage God’s desire to let us live in peace. When we choose to worry rather than to have faith, we cannot live in peace. Jesus warned often about fear and worry (Matthew 6:25-34; Luke 12:22-32). Worry is the enemy of peace. God invites us to cast our cares upon Him and then let go of them (1 Peter 5:7). Many times we don’t experience God’s peace because we tend to focus on everything else going on and we forget who God is. We forget God’s sovereignty and authority. We forget Who we serve and Who is really in control. When this happens our peace will most certainly disappear. In Philippians 4:6, just before God’s peace sets up to guard our hearts, God gives us a responsibility. This is why prayer is so important, it connects us to the God of peace. When our situations lead us to worry, that same situation should lead us to prayer. Whatever our source of worry is, we must place that situation in God’s hands. This means that we will trust God to bring us through it and to give us a solution through His Word (2 Peter 1:3). When we get to that place, His peace will now guard our hearts. In other words, God’s peace comes when we make an exchange. It is simply saying to God, “I am giving you all my anxieties and worries.” In exchange God says, “I will give you My peace and this will guard your heart through this situation.” By removing the worry crowding our hearts and giving it to God, we make room for His peace to fill that space.

We must remember that no matter what we are going through, God is always faithful (1 Peter 4:19; 1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24), even when we are not (2 Timothy 2:13). Knowing this, we must not allow our ever-changing circumstances to determine our level of contentment (Hebrews 13:5-6), relying instead upon the character of God that never changes (James 1:17; Malachi 3:6). When we learn to cry out to Him in times of trouble and meditate on His Word daily, we will find that His peace really does pass all human understanding (Philippians 4:6-9).

Tobias Hatchett