| “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you” (John 14:27). |
| It is a wonderful thing to have peace, yet today we live in a world that is anything but peaceful. Everywhere we look there is some kind of trouble — climate change, floods, drought, wildfires, hurricanes and tornadoes, as well as man-made problems such as world poverty, internal strife in countries, the threat of war between countries, oppression of minorities, and many other things. As I write this, all of the above problems are further complicated by the Covid-19 virus, which is now threatening us with variants of different kinds. If we look for peace from our surroundings, we will not find it. |
| However, our verse promises us peace, and in two different ways. The Lord Jesus first of all left us peace, and this is the peace we enjoy because of His work on the cross. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). That peace has been made “by the blood of His cross” (Colossians 1:20), and nothing can shake it. The question of our sins has been settled once and for all. |
| But then the Lord Jesus gives us another kind of peace, and He gives it to us as a gift, just as someone might leave us something in his will when he dies. When Jesus spoke these words, He was about to go to the cross, die, be buried, and placed in a tomb. But then He knew He would rise again, ascend up to heaven, and wait for the moment when He would come back to take us to be with Him. In the meanwhile, He gives us His peace — the peace in which He walked before God the Father during His pathway through this world. He accepted all His circumstances from His Father, and as the perfect dependent Man, took all His difficulties to His Father in prayer. This is the secret of a happy Christian pathway, and the secret to having peace. |
| We must first of all come to Christ as our Savior and have our sins forgiven. Then we receive a new life in Christ, and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. After that, we can take the legacy the Lord has left to us, for He has given us His peace. There was no peace like His — a peace that was not disturbed by any circumstances, for He accepted them all as from His Father. We cannot change our circumstances, but we can react to them in the right way. Then we enjoy “His peace.” |
