“For He Is Our
Peace”
Ephesians 2:10-14
10)
For we are
his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them.
11)
Wherefore
remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision
by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
12)
That at that
time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the
13)
But now in
Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of
Christ.
14)
For he is our
peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of
partition between us;
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are living in a time in which the World is looking for peace. By now, it should
be recognized that the effort is futile outside of Christ. This lack of peace
would perhaps be more understandable if it did not extend into the lives of
believers. Too many are confused and restless when there is no need.
We
have been given a plan of peace designed by God specifically for us. The plan
works for us only when we come to rest in the Lord. No matter
where one finds himself, or in whose protection, unless peace is conferred upon
him by God, he will still be tense and “on guard.”
So
what is our obligation? It is to believe God, for the stronger our faith in
Him, the more at peace we will be. It is a peculiarity of man that when he can
do nothing to bring himself peace, he will eventually turn to God, if reluctantly.
It
is no secret that every child born according to the flesh is destined to die.
All must, therefore, be born again of something other than the flesh. That new
birth is not simply meant to allow us to live better for ourselves. When we are
“re-created” in Christ, we are to produce good works. However, much of what we
are to accomplish and be, is dependent upon us
accepting what God has already done in our lives.
Many,
who profess salvation yet attempt to evade God’s direction, wonder why they
cannot simply be “left alone” as they perceive other sinners to be. Well, guess
what? God knows those with potential and He deals with those professing
salvation differently from those who make no profession. One of our biggest
problems, today, is that all want to receive the maximum benefits of salvation,
but few want to be saved to the maximum. There is no substitute for the life
dedicated to Christ and the love for Him it brings.
Though
the Lord wants us to be physically and materially blessed, there is no substitute
for the spiritual blessings of God.
Another
of our problems is not recognizing that we are different from everyone else on
the street, those in the world without salvation. We are saved, we are
redeemed. The sooner we accept our status, the better it will be for the others
to whom we need to communicate truth.
Others
are the primary reason we have been granted peace. This state of being is to be
immediately evident to them so that through our trials and tests, we can be a
witness for the Lord. They are to see that through our peace, we are “at rest”
in the Lord. We will never truly achieve the ultimate in Christ until we learn
how not to be concerned with what may or may not happen to us.
One
of the greatest enemies of the saint of God is complacency. Many “old
warriors,” which one would never expect, have fallen victim to the devil’s plan
of neutralization. Once he can get us to believe that we have done all we need
to do, he has us where he wants us!
In
that it is a certainty that whatever we sow we will also have to reap, it is
better for us to sow a seed of praise than one of complaint. The only way out
of the complaining mode is to determine to praise God no matter what. After
all, if we learn to praise the Lord when we’re sick, we can praise Him when
well. If we can praise Him in the valley, we can praise Him even more on the
mountaintop.
If
we are to make it, our determination must be to “rest” in peace. In that Jesus
is our peace and has paid such a dear price, we must absolutely refuse to be
moved from our peace in Him.
Jesus
is our peace and in this, we can be confident. No one covered with the peace
of God should be allowing the enemy to overthrow his confidence.