Most of us, I’m sure, are familiar with these words. Our pastors usually, if not always, say these words right after saying the “Amen” at the end of the sermon.
But what is this peace? Sometimes we wonder. For many of us, when we leave the refuge of God’s house on a Sunday we return to a world where we see many things that could not be described as peaceful. This will happen as soon as we look at the news and see what kind of wars and murders are currently going on. And we have our own personal dramas and tragedies that we have to deal with.
But this is understandable. The bad things in the world are the result of sin. And because people will never stop sinning in this age, we can be sure that no kind of earthly peace will last.
A comforting blessing from the resurrection of Jesus is a peace that our own minds could never have come up with. He gives us the peace of knowing that it is finished. Our sins are atoned for. Jesus remains with us always. He will come again to bring us into eternal and uninterrupted peace without sin and sorrow.
This peace of the resurrection guards our hearts and minds from doubts and despair even as we live in this chaotic world. Indeed, it even guards us from joining in the sins that cause that chaos. This peace makes us rejoice even in difficult situations just as it did Paul as He wrote this words in prison. We see this peace cause people to rejoice in their Savior even as they are moments from death. This peace surpasses the mind of a sinner, but is the guardian of the saint who has come to know the blessings of Christ’s resurrection. |
