Peace that belongs to the God of peace

Paul writes in Philippians 4: 9, “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”

In verse 7, he says, "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

In John 14, when Jesus Christ met with the apostles in the Upper Room the night before He died, introducing to them the new covenant and how the Holy Spirit would operate in them, He told them, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

"If the peace of God is going to keep your heart and Jesus Christ said ‘my peace,’ could you figure out what the peace of God is if you looked at the peace Jesus had?" says Richard Jordan. "He was God and He had peace. The next day He’s going to die.

“Philippians 2:8 says, ‘And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’

"Where did He get his peace from? He got it from being obedient to the will of His Father. He rested in a complete total confidence in the will of His Father.

“He goes from this Upper Room event out into the Garden. Matthew 26:39 says, ‘And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.’

“In going to the Cross He knows He’s going to accomplish the will of His Father. When He came out of that Garden that issue had been settled in His mind.

“The Cross wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t something where He was dragged kicking and screaming, going, ‘No, no, no, I don’t want to go!’

“He went there in obedience to the Father’s will and He says to the apostles, ‘My peace I leave you. The same kind of relaxed mental attitude of confidence in the will of the Father that I have is what I want to give to you.’

“What I want you to see in that is what the peace of God is. It's the peace that God Himself possesses. You see that in the person of Jesus Christ, who is God manifest in the flesh, and w'hat’s the peace that Christ had?

"His peace is, ‘I’m completely content to trust the will and the Word of my Father. I’m relaxed in that. I’m sitting in the easy chair. The will of my Father is absolutely the place of safety for me,’ and He’s relaxed in that.

“Philippians 4 says that peace of God that passes all understanding shall keep your heart. That word ‘keep’ there is like ‘guard it; protect it.’ That relaxed mental attitude of confidence in the will of your Father keeps your heart and mind. That’s the God of peace being with you.

*****

“John 20 says, ‘Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
[22] And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
[23] Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.’

“That expression ‘breathed on them’ occurs three times in the Bible. The idea of breathing on something in Scripture has to do with creation. Psalm 33:6 says, ‘By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.’ The breath of His mouth has to do with the creative power of His Words. It’s the idea of creating the universe.

“Three times in the Bible God breathes on someone and it has to do with an act of communicating life. In Genesis 2:7 it says, ‘And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.’

“He formed man out of the dust of the earth—there’s his body. He breathed into man the breath of life—there’s the spirit. And man became a living soul—there’s your soul. Spirit, soul and body.

"Those are the three parts of what makes up the essence of a human and that communication of life in the original creation by an act of God, breathing into his nostrils the breath of life. Breathing on him had to do with communicating life.

“You have the vision of the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel. Those dudes were dead and their bones were dried out. They’re breathed on, though, and then they come back to life.

“When He breathed on them He put His Spirit in them. Now if you think about what’s going on in John 20, you can see the parallel. He’s creating, He’s resurrecting, He’s reclaiming."

(new article tomorrow)