Jer. 8:18--9:6
Rom. 5:1-11
John 8:12-20
Rom. 5:1-11
1Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. 6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. 9Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. 10For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Isn’t that a nice promise—“we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”? According to Strong’s, the word used by Paul is: eirēnē, pronounced i-rah'-nay. It is from the verb meaning to join and to be one, quiet, at rest, set at one again. We are at rest and one with God through Christ.
Peace can mean other things, too. The word we use now is derived from the Latin pax and before that the Hebrew word shalom. Along with the freedom from violence, peace has connotations of safety, prosperity, security, and even friendship. It also can indicate healthy relationships and equality, justice and goodwill.
Are there other words that come to mind when you think of peace? What does it mean to you that through our faith, we are at peace with God and have access to God’s grace?
Paul is referring to all of these when he says we are at peace with God. He says we have “hope of sharing the glory of God.” Despite any current sufferings, “hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”
Emily Dickinson’s poem Hope is another way of looking at the idea of hope as something that never demands anything of us, but gives and gives despite everything.
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
These are powerful promises and assurances for us to think about. Do they help you come into a closer relationship with God?
For your Journal: Find some images of peaceful scenes—pictures you have taken, on-line searches, drawings of your own or someone else, etc. One of my favorite peaceful pictures is in this blog. Use them to meditate on being at peace with God. What does peace mean to you?
