As near as He

“How do you get through the storms?” says Jordan. “You believe what the Master of the winds and waves said. You realize the storm isn’t the reality. The reality is what God said and when you trust what God says, you know what it brings? Peace in the midst of the turmoil. A peace that passes all understanding. Paul calls it ‘the peace of God.’

“In John 14, Jesus told the apostles, “My peace I give unto you. Not as the world gives; I’m giving you MY peace.’

“If you look for a definition of ‘the peace of God’ it would be John 14:27 when Jesus talked about His peace. He’s God. And His peace was, ‘I’m going to the Cross. Why? Because I’m doing the will of my Father.  I’m trusting my Father and I’m being obedient to my Father.’

“His peace--His complete, relaxed, tranquility was in doing the will of His Father. He said it when He began His ministry. ‘My meat is to do the will of Him who sent me. The thing that sustains me, marshals me, carries me forth and energizes me is the will of my Father,’ and in the shadow of the Cross He said, ‘That’s all I live for is to please my Father; to glorify Him.’

In Luke 3 there’s a wonderful counterpart to what we read in Matthew 3. Luke 3:21 says, ‘Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
[22] And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.’

“Now in Matthew the voice said, ‘This is beloved son.’ It was a pronouncement to the world; to Israel. ‘This is my boy; I’m pleased in Him!’

“But in Luke, Luke adds that personal touch, looking at the personal side of things. And Luke doesn’t just say, ‘The Father says, ‘This is Him!’ That’s Matthew; the royal proclamation. Luke says, ‘There was something more said because the Father looked at His Son and He said, ‘Thou,’ first person, personal address. Thou are my beloved son and in thee I am well-pleased. I want you to understand, son, that I know who you are and that all of my delight is in you!’

“He leaves there in chapter 4 and goes out into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. The first temptation of the devil. Verse 3. The slanderer said, ‘If thou be the son of God, command these stone . . . IF you really believe who the Father said you are . . .’

“But you notice what the devil did? He didn’t say, ‘If thou be the beloved son of god in whom the Father’s well-pleased . . .’ That’s what the Father really said.

“Because the Adversary understood that if Jesus Christ understood, and was going to stand in an appreciation of who the Father really said He was, temptation was going to be of no success.

“The Adversary is trying to move Christ away from the identity the Father had just conferred upon Him. Christ knew who He was but He also knew who the Father said He was and Satan says, ‘If I’m going to tempt Him, I’ve got to move Him away from that.’

“Temptation loses its grip, friend, when you stand in a conscious commitment and faith in the identity God gives you in Jesus Christ. Living, standing, in the reality of who God has already made us in Christ Jesus, stand—refuse to be moved from that. That’s the key!

“If you’re going to proclaim the gospel, and you’re going to defend the faith, it’s going to start with you, preaching the gospel to yourself and defending the gospel to yourself. Standing in who God’s made you in His Son, not the world, the flesh or the devil, and refusing to be moved away from it.

“That’s how victory comes into the experience of a Believer. That’s why you want to put this armor on, so you can stand and withstand the attempts of the Adversary to move you away from that marvelous identity.

So near, so very near to God
  Nearer I could not be;
For in the person of His Son,
  I am as near as He.
So dear, so very dear to God,
  I could not dearer be;
The love wherewith He loves His Son,
  Such is His love to me.