[Christ's Mandate For Missions] Jesus The Man Of Peace by Robin McMillan
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| Subscribe Unsubscribe Change E-mail View Archive Jesus The Man Of Peace by Robin McMillan Robin McMillan Dec 12, 2006 |
May this season find you resting in the peace of God.
Though shoppers fly by and days surpass
From beyond the veil of time He calls
Come up here, He beckons
Stop just now and take a breath
the Breath of life He gives
each one precious and deep
His love pervades the earth
See the children fondly
gazing and dreaming
their happiness secure
not in a purchased box
< br /> Theirs, in a hug, a smile
captured by first light
oh, the children delight
in Your embrace.
May this Christmas
be oh so bright
as you pour out
His love unto the Child
by
Jorge Parrott
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They covet your prayers. They long to pray for you and yours. If you are led to give to a CMM missionary, go to Paypal.com and enter our email:
Officecmm@gmail.com or mail in your check to CMM PO 7705 Charlotte, NC 28241.
Jesus The Man of Peace
by Robin McMillan
No one walked across the stage of human history with such unflappable mastery over His own heart and consciousness as did Christ Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Jesus never yielded His peace to any situation. Men could not deter Him. Satan could not frighten Him. Frustration and criticism could not stop Him. The highest dignity, s elf control, and assurance, characterized Him in every circumstance.
His relationship with His Father was the foundation of His peace. When we understand how Jesus walked with Him, we gain valuable insight into how we can walk in that same peace. Knowing the God of Peace and walking in peace is important if we are to be victorious in this life, for it is the God of peace who crushes Satan under our feet.
The God of peace who shall crush Satan under (our) your feet shortly (Romans 16:20 NKJV).
Peace Is Our Portion
Peace is a primary benefit of walking with the Lord. In Isaiah 54:10, God describes His New Covenant as being a covenant of peace, which He promises not to remove. Isaiah 55:12 tells us that when we serve God in our appointed tasks we will “be led out with peace.” God also promises peace in great abundance, saying in Isaiah 66:12, “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river.” God’s peace permeates all He doe s, and is an essential ingredient in the life of one who walks in victory.
Jesus Knew Where He Stood
Jesus’ peace came from knowing where He stood with His Father. He was loved! Not only did He know He was loved of the Father, but those around Him knew it as well. John the apostle described Jesus as “the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father” (John 1:18), meaning that Jesus was always in the Father’s heart.
Jesus understood the basis of His Father’s love. He knew that it was not earned, but was bestowed upon Him. Before any miracle or mighty work, even before fasting forty days and overcoming the Devil’s temptation in the wilderness, He heard the affirming audible voice of His Father:
And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).
Several years later, with Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration, the Fa ther again spoke audibly:
“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him” (Matthew 17:5).
Not once, but twice the Father publicly affirmed His love for His Son, allowing others to hear the supernatural audible voice of God. Jesus knew His Father’s heart. From this strong foundation Jesus walked through every trial with a peace that could not be shaken.
We Are Loved As Well
The Father loves us as well, and yet few live in the light of this wonderful reality. Early one morning the Lord whispered to me, “Each of my children is my favorite.” Life flooded my soul as I thought, “Could it be that in some mysterious way I too am the Lord’s favorite person?” Then the Lord spoke a second time, “But most of my children do not believe it.” We may have trouble believing this truth, but we must understand that God has both the capacity and the desire to love each of us as His favorite. Jesus’ own words tell u s so. He prayed,
“. . . That the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17:23, italics mine).
To be the Lord’s favorite person, and not know it, is a modern human tragedy. Yet it is a common plight. The Father loves each of us just as much as He loves Jesus. How many, having lost their peace in the midst of a trial of faith, have strayed from the path of righteousness because they did know the depth of the Lord’s love for them?
He Delighted in His Father
Jesus knew His Father delighted in Him and rejoiced in His Father’s love. The book of Proverbs gives us a prophetic picture of their relationship:
“Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; And I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him” (Proverbs 8:30).
Since Jesus delighted in the Father He showed Jesus everything that He was doing:
“For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel” (John 5:20-21).
As Jesus delighted in His Father, their relationship became unified in an extraordinary way. Jesus said:
“I and My Father are one” (John 10:30).
This proclamation of their unity infuriated His enemies, and yet Jesus demonstrated the reality of it by doing His Father’s works and walking in amazing peace. Jesus walked in the conscious presence of His Father and always did the things that pleased Him:
“And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him" (John 8:28-29).
Jesus found consistent peace and deliverance because He set His love upon His Father. Psalm 91 describes the results of one who does so:
"Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, becau se he has known My name.
He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation” (Psalm 91:14-16, italics mine).
God delivers them, honors them, satisfies them, and reveals to them the abundance of His salvation.
Peace is the result of a life lived delighting in God. He promises that those who set their minds on Him will know perfect peace in every circumstance:
“You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.
Trust in the LORD forever, For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength” (Isaiah 26:3-4).
He Was Obedient
Jesus also walked in perfect obedience to His Father. Psalm 40 is a prophetic picture of the Lord Jesus’ fundamental attitude toward Him;
“Then I said, ‘Behold, I come; In the scroll of t he book it is written of me.
I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart’” (Psalm 40:7-8, italics mine).
A life lived in obedience produces practical righteousness and bears the fruit of peace.
“The work of righteousness will be peace, And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever” (Isaiah 32:17).
Obedience Protects
Obedience does not only fulfill God’s immediate purpose, but it also protects us from the evil one. We give the devil an open door to our lives when we walk in the darkness of disobedience. The life of obedience that Jesus lived eradicated any hooks or open doors whereby Satan could steal His peace. Jesus once said of His enemy,
“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.
But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, s o I do. Arise, let us go from here” (John 14:30-31, italics mine).
Because Jesus loved and obeyed His Father, Satan had no foothold of darkness in Jesus that gave him access. Jesus devil-proofed Himself through living a life of obedience.
He Was Kept
Jesus lived in the peace of God because He knew the keeping power of the Father. This remarkable prophecy from Isaiah 42 describes how Jesus walked with His Father to become the New Covenant.
“I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles” (Isaiah 42:6),
Jesus walked through dangerous circumstances to fulfill the law and become the embodiment of the new covenant. How could He do so? Because His Father held His hand. No longer would our covenant with God be one that was written on tablets of stone but it would be written on hearts of flesh because the New Coven ant Himself would be living inside us. Jesus could be uniquely given for us because He trusted His Father who always kept Him through every danger.
The Psalmist promises us that the Lord will keep us as well:
“The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night.
The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.
The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore” (Psalm 121:5-8).
He Was Committed
Jesus placed absolute trust in His Father. He crossed the point of no return when He agreed to become a man and again when he obeyed the call to the cross. It is at the point of ultimate commitment that the most substantial peace of God is available. That place of ultimate devotion is the place of overcoming. On the Isle of Patmos, an angel described the characte ristics of one who overcame the evil one:
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death” (Revelation 12:10-11, italics mine).
The third part of overcoming the evil one consisted of not loving their lives even unto death. They had committed themselves to God no matter what.
The clearest picture of Jesus’ commitment to His father is revealed in the Garden of Gethsemane just prior to His crucifixion. Facing indescribable suffering and separation from His Father, Jesus prayed His way into absolute obedience:
He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done” (Matthew 26:3 9, 42).
There in the garden, Jesus committed Himself to His Father by laying down His life, knowing that He would fall into the hands of evil men who would do their worst to Him. After fulfilling all righteousness, but while still on the cross, Jesus would once again commit Himself to His Father:
And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’” Having said this, He breathed His last (Luke 23:46).
Jesus finished the work His Father gave Him. He committed His spirit back to God and His deliverance was secure.
He Is Our Peace
Jesus provided peace for us when He obeyed His Father and died on our behalf.
“For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,
and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or
things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross” (Colossians 1:19-20, italics mine).
By faith in the good news, we experience an initial level of peace. Jesus’ practical lifestyle of communion with His Father shows us how to maintain His peace, but there is even more of that peace available to us. We have access to the Man of peace Himself:
“For He Himself is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14).
We can invite Him to live inside of us and enjoy a peace that passes our understanding. Let us press on to know Him that way.
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Thessalonians 5:23).
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