2nd Sunday in Lent (Series B)
March 12, 2006
The True Nature of Peace
Romans 5:1-11
God's divine providence is a wonderful thing! Two weeks ago Kathy and I hosted the home Bible study group we're a part of. We were studying a verse from Isaiah 26, in which the prophet speaks about God's peace. As I reflected on the nature of that peace, one of our group members spoke up: Pastor Cary, you have to preach this in a sermon!
I indicated to her and the rest of the group that, when the appropriate time came I would. A couple days later at work, I was preparing the material for today's bulletin. I looked at the appointed Scripture Readings for the day. Romans 5:1! Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
I didn't know that, the appropriate time would come so soon! I had to preach on this text today! God's divine providence truly is wonderful! And so is knowing:
WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
That's the focus of our meditation today. But, what's the true nature of our peace with God? By peace, the apostle Paul means spiritual peace ... peace with God. This peace is often misunderstood by many. They confuse the feeling of peace (subjective) with the fact of peace (objective).
To think correctly about our peace with God, we must understand and accept what the apostle says at the end of this reading: by nature you and I are enemies of God ... at war with Him, [Romans 5:10]. In fact, by nature we have no interest at all in being at peace with God. We'd rather do away with Him ... be our own gods, worship ourselves, follow our sinful desires without fear of punishment.
As God's enemies we deserve the full extent of His wrath and justice. We deserve to be taken prisoner by Him ... punished to the full extent of His almighty power and His righteous anger. In God's eyes, because of sin: There's no one righteous, not even one; there's no one who understands, no one who seeks God. [Romans 3:10?11]
No one's inherently at peace with God. We're all God's enemies. If there's to be any peace at all with God ... it must be a peace that He Himself brings. We're powerless to do it. We have no natural desire to do it! BUT GOD, IN HIS GRACE AND MERCY, DID IT FOR US. While we were still sinners, - godless sinners - Christ died for us. [Romans 5:8] Not only did God deliver Christ over to death for us ... to take upon Himself the punishment we deserve for our sin ... He did it while we were His enemies!
Mercifully in Christ, God established spiritual peace with sinful mankind. True peace. So what does this mean? as Luther used to ask. It means ...
... that God's wrath and the guilt of our sin have been set aside.
... that by faith we have full access to justification by God's grace alone.
... that you and I are no longer God's enemies, but rather, His friends.
... that the Prince of Peace, Jesus, represents us before the throne of God.
What many have a hard time understanding is that, the peace we have with God through our Lord Jesus Christ isn't dependent on whether or not we feel at peace. In fact, our earthly feelings are a highly unreliable indicator of our peace with God. As are our earthly circumstances. The paradox of being at peace with God is that, our lives will consist of sufferings and tribulations! Of those things that our sinful flesh would deceive us into thinking we're not at peace with God at all!
WARNING!! Don't be deceived. Don't be misled. Don't build the fortress of your faith on the shifting sand of your feelings. Steer clear of the advice Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi often gave his student-in-training, Luke in the classic sci-fi movie Star Wars: Luke, trust your feelings. Feelings easily blind us from the truth and certainty of God's promises. They make our sinful flesh the judge of God's truth.
The importance of sufferings in the life of a believer is noted by Luther:
Suffering takes from a person everything in which they trust and leaves them naked and destitute. It prevents them from seeking help, salvation (and peace) in their own good works. It causes them, apart from themself and everything else, to seek help from God alone. [Commentary on Romans, Kregel, 1976, 92]
Only because we're at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, can we find the faith and peace, not only simply to endure, but to even rejoice in our suffering and tribulations, trusting that God keeps His promise ... and works His ultimate good for us in and through them. [Romans 8:28]
While bearing our earthly crosses isn't easy ... nor does it often leave us with an inner feeling of peace ... it does drive us in humble faith to seek help from our gracious and merciful God ... with whom our souls are at peace, through our Lord Jesus Christ. As we cry out to God in our earthly tribulations, we remember ancient Jacob and his dream. Our stairway to heaven, into the presence of God, is the Lord Jesus Christ. The One who made our peace with God on a very un-peaceful cross.
Today is the 399th birthday of German pastor and hymn-writer, Paul Gerhardt. Throughout his life Gerhardt suffered a great deal of political and family tribulation. He was dismissed as pastor from his Lutheran church for refusing to unite in doctrine and practice with the Reformed church. Four of his five children died in childhood. His wife preceded him in death. Sounds like a very un-peaceful life, doesn't it?
Yet, in 1666, shortly after three of his five children died and he was deposed from his pastoral office by the local authorities, Gerhardt wrote these hymn verses:
A pilgrim and a stranger,
I journey here below;
Far distant is my country,
The home to which I go.
Here I must toil and travail,
Oft weary and opprest;
But there my God shall lead me
To everlasting rest.
There still my thoughts are dwelling,
>Tis there I long to be;
Come, Lord, and call Thy servant
To blessedness with Thee.
Come, bid my toils be ended,
Let all my wand'rings cease;
Call from the wayside lodging
To Thy sweet home of peace. [TLH #586]
Amid all the trials, tribulations and chaos of his earthly life ... Gerhardt believed that, his true peace was with God through his Lord Jesus Christ. That heaven was his true home. And, that God was his only true strength, help and hope, no matter what Gerhardt's earthly trials and tribulations were.
Today God reassures you that, since you've been justified through faith, you really do have peace with Him through our Lord Jesus Christ. That His peace is a different peace than the world can offer, [John 14:27]. That, when all around you seems in utter chaos, your soul is still, as a matter of God's promise, at peace with Him. And, that the trials and tribulations of your life are occasions to fix your eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of your faith, [Hebrews 12:2] ... the Savior of your soul, [Romans 5:10] ... and the Mediator of your peace with God, [Romans 5:1-2].
Contrary to Ralph Waldo Emerson's notion that: Nothing can bring you peace but yourself ... we rejoice today in the grace and mercy of our loving Heavenly Father, who gives us perfect peace through our Lord Jesus Christ. A certain and lasting peace unshaken and undisturbed by the chaos that surrounds us in this life. Peace that passes all understanding. Peace that we're privileged to share with others ... so that they too might share with us in the joy of forgiveness, new life, and eternal salvation.
In the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Amen.