John 20:19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
When I read this section of scripture the first thing that stands out to me is how cool that Jesus just all of a sudden stood among them in a locked room! Our God is powerful! The last part of this verse is so powerful though! In a world that doesn’t even know the true meaning of peace Jesus tells His disciples Peace be with you!
We live in a world that doesn’t know peace. Somewhere in the world there is always a war being waged some battle going on between different countries or even one country in a civil war of some kind. Right now there are four “conflicts” that are going on in the world that have resulted in over 10,000 deaths in either 2017 or 2018 and still rage on. Peace is often defined as “freedom from or the cessation of war or violence.” In this sense our world will never know Peace until Christ return in he establishes a new Heaven and new Earth.
Another way the word peace is used is from the bible when it talks about Peace with God. Before someone is saved they are at war with God. Colossians 1:21 tells us “This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.” NLT John 3:36 Tells us “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” NIV As you can see if you are not saved you do not have peace with God. The only way to have Peace with God is by accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
The wonderful thing is that when you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior you have the opportunity to experience another kind of peace, Peace from God. Peace is sometimes defined as a state of tranquility. Not a word we use very often but it is defined as “state of being calm.” Our world and especially people in the United States are not experiencing a lot of calm. Depression, anxiety and stress is at an all time high! This is one area I struggle myself, stress. The thing is as Christians who have been saved we shouldn’t let the sin of stress overpower us. When Jesus showed up in the upper room and said “Peace be with you.” He was in essence saying “Relax and Rejoice we have won!” Jesus won the war over satan and sin when He died on the cross and rose again the third day. Because of that we know that WE have won! We know, if we are saved, that our eternity is determined and nothing can take that away. We know that even though we face pain, suffering, trials and difficulties we can live in peace through the power of the Holy Spirit.
If you have never accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior you need to and experience a wonderful kind of peace, peace from God. If you are like me and struggle with stress and anxiety, even though you are saved, maybe you need to search scripture and read what God says about trusting in Him and casting our cares upon Him. Spend time in prayer and ask God to strengthen you and not allow stress and anxiety to creep into your life.
Philippians 4:6
Isaiah 41:10
John 14:27
Psalm 34:4
1 Peter 5:7
Proverbs 3:5-6
Matthew 6:25-34