PEACE

Isaiah 9:6–7 “For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.”

Person of Peace

Missions strategy to establish a presence in an unreached, unengaged people group…

Similar, biblically, to Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8); Woman at the well (John 4); Jesus’ instructions to the Twelve (Matthew 10)

Qualities of a ‘person of peace’: [This person…]

Receives the messenger

Receives the message

Receives the mission

…SO, Peace at Easter…

A WORD ABOUT PEACE [Matthew 10.34-39]

Biblical Words:

Shalom (Heb) שָׁלוֹם

Eirene (Gk) εἰρήνη

Meaning = PEACE — Completeness, Security, Calm, Tranquility, Welfare, Safety

[[Peace is a settled security…a calm amid the storm…and a tranquility that certainly can be like the ocean waves coming gently onto the shore.]]

[[BUT. BUT!]] Didn’t Jesus say…? Yes, he did:

Matthew 10:34–39 “Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. The one who loves a father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; the one who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Anyone who finds his life will lose it, and anyone who loses his life because of me will find it.” [U = v. 34]

[[Before we go using this passage to be stirrers of trouble (disturbers of the peace)…as instigators (like this is a get-out-of-jail-free card to be not-peaceable); let’s ask, “Who is the one bringing the sword?” JESUS. Only Jesus. NOT YOU or ME!]]

PEACE: ACCOMPLISHED [Isaiah 53.5; Matthew 26.63-68; Matthew 27.26-31]

[The Means] Predicted:

Isaiah 53:1–5 “Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him. Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds.” [U = v. 5]

[The Means] Accomplished:

Round 1 —

Matthew 26:65–68 “Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? See, now you’ve heard the blasphemy. What is your decision?” They answered, “He deserves death!” Then they spat in his face and beat him; others slapped him and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah! Who was it that hit you?”” [U = v. 67]

Round 2 —

Matthew 27:26–31 “Then he released Barabbas to them and, after having Jesus flogged, handed him over to be crucified. Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the governor’s residence and gathered the whole company around him. They stripped him and dressed him in a scarlet robe. They twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and placed a staff in his right hand. And they knelt down before him and mocked him: “Hail, king of the Jews!” Then they spat on him, took the staff, and kept hitting him on the head. After they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe, put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him.” [U = v. 26]

[[Why so graphic?…]] The Reality: Our peace, especially with God, came at an excruciatingly high price. [The scourging culminates in the Cross.]

Our sin is serious!

PEACE: APPLIED [John 20.19-21; Matthew 5.9]

JESUS SAID,

“Peace be with you.”

John 20:19–20 “When it was evening on that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.” [U = v. 19]

Jesus speaks a blessing of peace to his disciples…To calm them in the moment and settle them for the future he set out before them. …

“…As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”

John 20:21 “Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.””

“Blessed are the peacemakers”

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”

CONCL—

…SO, instead of only looking for a person of peace in our Great Commission and Great Commandment efforts—let’s also (AND MORE IMPORTANTLY) seek to be a person of peace…

Receiving the Messengers (our brothers and sisters IN CHRIST).

Receiving the Message (celebrating The Gospel & living the Truth).

Receiving the Mission (to share the Good News [Gospel] everywhere).

Colossians 1:19–20 “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

INVITATION:

Salvation

Peace

“Unbelievable” — Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

For Facing Death — Luke 1:78–79 “Because of our God’s merciful compassion, the dawn from on high will visit us to shine on those who live in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

For Relationships (esp. “In Christ”) — Ephesians 2:13–17 “But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death. He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.” [U = vv. 14, 17]

Person of Peace (In both the Missional & Peacemaker senses)

John 20:21 CSB

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”

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