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May the wholesomeness that is His peace become progressively more and more real and true in our lives, as we continue to study His promise – The Lord bless you from Zion; May you see the peace of Jerusalem, All the days of your life. [Psalm 128:5] And, it is by shining the light of His face upon you, enlightening you in the knowledge of Him, in the face of Christ in you, that God blesses you. [Numbers 6:25, 2 Corinthians 4:6] Lord Jesus Christ is the true light that enlightens any man and is seen displayed in the life of the apostle Paul, in his encounter with Him in a vision brighter than the midday sun, that turned him around and transformed his life. [Acts 26:16]
a] The Lord appeared to Paul, to appoint him as a witness to the Gentiles, of the gospel of salvation, that is found in the Name of Jesus, and nothing else.
b] The Lord appeared to Moses to anoint him, that he may accomplish his appointment of delivering God’s chosen people out of their bondage of slavery in Egypt, promising him His protection and His sufficiency.
c] And having glorified His Father in the finished work of the Cross, the Lord appeared to His disciples to assure, speaking His peace upon them.
Blessed assurance of peace:
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week,the doors being locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them, and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’. [John 20:19] The disciples were closeted behind a locked door in fear and discouragement, owing to what was to them an unexpected turn of events. But on that first day of the week, the Risen Lord appeared miraculously in their midst, to allay their fears with His blessed assurance of peace. And on this first day of the week, He desires to do the same, in your life too, by appearing and giving you peace. More often than not, even as it was with the disciples, it is peace that your heart longs for when you are in fear.
Fear – comes to all :
And fear can come to anyone when the situation warrants it, even as it is seen in the lives of people who were in a close relationship with God, as David and Paul were. Elijah too after the pinnacle of Mount Carmel, was the very next day in fear, a steep downhill,under a broom tree and wanting to die!
Fear can lead to doubt:
Fear invariably leads to doubt, even in the mind of a christian, when the circumstance seems to be hopeless, and contrary to what the Lord has spoken in His word. And hardness of heart can happen, causing doubt to spring up.Even John the Baptist, who heralded the arrival of Christ into the world, as the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world, was not immune to it. It was the absence of one person, Jesus,that had overwhelmed the disciples, giving them no strength to face the next day.They were huddled behind a closed door, when the Lord appeared, assuring them of His presence, and giving them peace. And today, if you are struggling with fearful doubts and anxiety, He stands outside the shut doors of your heart, waiting to enter in, appear to you, to flood your being with peace. He is the God of all comfort, who loves you with an everlasting love. Whatever may be your pain, the knowledge of His presence with you, and living in the awareness of it brings encouragement that strengthens and lifts you up.
The Lord assures – by many proofs:
He [Jesus] presented Himself alive to them after His suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking to them about the kingdom of God. [Acts 1:3] As can be seen above the Lord appeared many times to the disciples convincing them that He had indeed risen from the dead, driving away every vestige of doubt that led to fear in them, to be replaced by peace from Him. The Lord is patient in His love for you, is the truth gleaned from it, for He will do the same in your life too. He will speak to you again and again that you may be thoroughly convinced of the truth that He desires to convey to you. The centurion needed just one word from the Lord of assurance, while Gideon needed more than one sign of confirmation. But the Lord knows and understands.He knows the frailty and fickleness that is part of each human nature.
God’s foreknowledge & pre-planning:
When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. [John 20:20] The significance of what the Lord did, lies in it being a revelation of the truth that even in your life, even before you face a problem, God has already provided a solution for it. In His foreknowledge God knew that Adam was going to sin. And in His pre-planning, He had made provision for it even before the creation of the world. Therefore when you are entangled in a problematic situation, instead of sulking in a corner all you need to do is to look to God, to rest in the sufficiency of the knowledge that He knows all about it. And it means that He has prepared a way for you to overcome it. There is no need in your situation to play the blame game. Peter elaborated on it on the day of the pentecost.
CROSS – the Father’s plan:
This Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death, for it was impossible for Him to be held by it. [Acts 2: 23,24] The Cross was not the scheme of man, or the plan of the devil. It was the eternal plan of God. He was not killed by the hand of man, but gave His life, that man may live and not die. And though the Cross is certainly incomparable,the words of Joseph to his brothers,after he had gained a right and godly perspective of all the pain that he had experienced, captures the essence of it – ‘You sold me, but God, sent me’. The Lord appeared to the disciples, and showed them His hands and side, to establish the truth that His death on the Cross was according to the plan of God the Father, so that man may not perish, but trust in the Lord Jesus to be redeemed and saved.
Prepared by God:
What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him. [1 corinthians 2:9] And what no eye has seen is what was seen as a prophecy by Abraham, as he in obedience went up the mount of Moriah, to lay down his son, Isaac, And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh, as it is said, on the Mount of the Lord it shall be seen. [Genesis 22:14] On the Cross was seen what God has prepared for those who love Him, the hands of the Savior stretched out in love, to be nailed to the Cross, taking the punishment for sin, that you may receive His peace.
HIS purposes – stand forever:
Life may bring unexpected twists and turns, but the purposes of God stand forever. It was the conclusion of Job, and can be yours too, when you know Him to be the Almighty God, to declare, I know that you can do all things; And no purpose of yours can be thwarted. [Job 42:2] All that He has prepared, is for those who love Him, as the apostle says. And loving God is trusting Him; believing and trusting Him, even when you cannot understand how it could be possibly happen in your life.
Knowing that HE knows –
‘I know that HE knows’, is the truth that needs to be your sufficiency, until He works it out. Job had a lot of questions, to which the Lord Almighty mightily replied with many, many questions that silenced the mouth of Job, making him well aware of his own foolhardiness, and the sovereignty of the All powerful, Almighty God, for whom nothing was impossible.
CROSS – death dealt a death blow! –
As Christ was crucified on the Cross, the devil rejoiced. But what he did not know then, was that it was the foreknowledge and pre planning of the Father, and it spoke of his own defeat. Christ died that He may overcome death, by rising again. He defeated death, and the one who has the power over death, the devil.
A flourishing finish –
God has a wonderful way of springing up surprises in your life. The Son of God died on the Cross, so that you can live forever;. He was not killed by the enemy. He gave up His life; and He rose again, to be alive forevermore, holding in His hand the keys of death and Hades. And God never changes His purposes. Twists and turns may come suddenly, but His purpose stands, unshaken. And He who began a good work in you will bring it to a flourishing finish.
HIS purposes are never thwarted:
And with a humble heart, may we give thanks unto the Father, for the blessed assurance that we have in His Son Lord Jesus for the marvelous plan that has already been prepared for each one of us, and the Holy Spirit’s enabling in us that we may accomplish what He has purposed, His plan that can never be thwarted. In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
