A double peace
Shortly before his death on the cross, Jesus said to his disciples: "Peace I leave you, my peace I give you, not as the world gives, I give you." (John 14:27a) Jesus speaks here of two types of peace.
Peace I leave you….
When Jesus addressed these words to his disciples, he was about to go to Golgotha to accomplish the work of redemption there on the cross. His desire was that man lost in sin be reconciled to God through the shedding of his blood. Jesus had come into the world for this purpose and now this event was imminent. With "Peace I leave you" Jesus points to his imminent suffering and death. "Peace will I leave you," meaning that the disciples would have peace with God through his death. So peace with God is the direct result of his death.
Jesus made peace possible by shedding his blood and thus created the basis for us humans to be reconciled with God. Everyone who comes to God with their sins today and accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior and Redeemer gets peace with God. If we believe in Jesus Christ we can be sure that we have peace with God. (Rom. 5:10.11) Nothing stands between us and God. God is now our Father and we can come to Him with our worries and needs. This peace with God is part of his acceptance and forgiveness received and therefore cannot be lost. It is independent of our secondary state that we are in right now. Once we have peace with God, we have it forever. Nothing and nobody is then able to rob us of this peace. Neither Satan, nor our failures, nor the circumstances in which we find ourselves. He is eternally safe with us.
…I give you my peace
The situation is different with the second kind of peace that Jesus speaks about. He says, "My peace I give you". And here the peace of the heart is meant. Peace in the circumstances we are in right now. Only those who are already at peace with God can enjoy this peace. Jesus' crucifixion was imminent, and he had already told his disciples several times that he would rise from the dead and return to heaven. For the disciples, this meant that Jesus would leave them. That is why Jesus encouraged the disciples for the time when HE would no longer be visible to them. For that time, when HE would no longer be with them physically, HE promises them "My peace I give you". This is the peace that Jesus Himself had when He was among the people. Jesus had this peace permanently because HE was permanently connected to the Father. This peace should also fill them (and therefore us) and help them through the many challenges and difficulties they would face in the world. (Joh. 16, 33) God can also give us this peace of heart today, when we approach HIM in prayer with our worries and needs. We can experience it when we give it to God the Father in prayer. So we should make our cause God's cause and submit to his will. As a result, the peace of God enters our hearts. And the closer the relationship with God the Father is, the stronger this peace of heart is in us.
That peace of heart comes when the Holy Spirit is poured out on us. But our hearts are weak, so it is important that we have a living relationship with the triune God and seek his closeness in reading the Bible, in worship and in prayer. And in this way you can enjoy this peace of heart again and again.
Do you already have this peace with God?
If you have not yet taken this step of accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior and Redeemer, you can do so at any time. Say a simple prayer and invite Jesus Christ into your heart and into your life. Then you too will have peace with God the Father and experience how peace of heart will come to you.
I want to encourage you to take this step, because without God in your life, that seeming peace that you feel now and then is a fleeting thing. And always dependent on external circumstances.
With God, however, this peace works from the inside to the outside.
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Also check out the posts on the other Spirit Fruits on thecornerstone.
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