THE GOD OF PEACE
The Chowchilla News
“May the God of peace himse=
lf
sanctify you completely, and may your whole SPIRIT and SOUL and BODY be kept
blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
This benediction is chock full of=
great
concepts about spiritual, psychological, and physical health. Let’s look at some of them
together.
God is “the God of peace=
221;
not of war although he will always fight evil to establish peace in our liv=
es. He is called “the God of pea=
ce”
five times in the New Testament as title of blessing.
FIRST, “May the God of p=
eace
be with you” (Romans 15:33)
We can have his peace with us---right here and now!
SECOND, R=
20;The
God of peace will be with you.”
(Philippians 4:9) We can count on him tomorrow too!
THIRD, “The God of p=
eace
will soon crush Satan under your feet.” (Rom. 16:20) A
aggressive peace offensive! Crushing! Peace that doesn’t put up with =
evil
but conquers it! No rolling over, no lying down, but “standing in the
evil day!” (Ephesians 6:12-13)
FOURTH and longest, “No=
w may
the God of peace who raised from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepher=
d of
the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything =
good
that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight,
through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Heb. 13:20-21) This God of peace is powerfully ac=
tive! He “raised”=
; Jesus “from=
the
dead!” He will
“equip you with everything good that you may do his will!” He is
“working in us that which is pleasing in his sight!”
FINALLY, our=
lead verse:
“May the God of
peace himself SANCTIFY you completely...” For true peace God must cha=
nge
us completely! And we must let him!
SANCTIFY is the same word as “hallowe=
d”
in the “Lord’s Prayer.”&=
nbsp;
When we pray “Our Father…hallowed be Thy name” we =
are
declaring God’s whole being to be sanctified, holy, special, unique,
revered, superior, and unlike any other god in the universe!
Accordingly, when “the God =
of
peace” sanctifies us he is essentially saying “Hallowed be you =
too,
my child!” The only difference is he already is sanctified and
there’s still work to be done in us!
He is declaring his plan, that ea=
ch of
us, his very own children, through the new life in Jesus Christ (see John
1:11-12), be “completely” hallowed, special, unique, important,=
set
apart, one-of-a-kind, unlike any other person in creation. He is not interested in our loving=
the
world or the things in the world (1 John 2:15) but in our receiving his very
own hallowed glory (Psalm 3:3) within our own being. That is why he is cleansing, chang=
ing, loving,
and growing us!
He aims to do this in every part =
of our
being:
In our SPIRIT (pneuma), by giving=
us a
reborn spirit united with his Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:1-10; 2 Corinthians
5:17)
In our SOUL (psyche) by his Holy =
Spirit
and his Word overcoming one deadly, negative thought at a time (see 2
Corinthians 10:3-5)
In our BODY(soma) His new words (Psalm 119:130) of l=
ife
and love will, in turn and time, have a healing impact on our physical well=
-being
(see Proverbs 3:7-8; 17:22).
Next week: Two words that say it =
all!
To Your Health, Pastor John!
John Parker helps to facilitate m=
uch
needed encouragement along with the