It's storytime!
Song and Promise
A few years ago, I was sitting at the computer at university watching videos on YouTube. At that point Hillsong UNITED was getting close to releasing their album Empires, and had released a lyric video for their song Prince of Peace from the new album. So I watched the video, and honestly it hit me hard. I couldn't stop thinking about the words and meaning and imagery used in the video... but instead of me telling you about it, why don't you watch it for yourself:
The thing is, as humans we all want peace. I don't know of anyone who genuinely wants to live in a warzone with people who are constantly nagging, while being unsure of where their next meal is coming from our where they're going to sleep that night, if they make it that far - and if you do, give them a hug and a pat on the head from me. What is amazing is that Jesus promises to give us the peace we so desire:
'May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!'Psalms 29:11, ESV
'And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.'Philippians 4:7, ESV
'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.'Matthew 5:9, ESV
'Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.'John 14:27, ESV
'Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.'2 Thessalonians 3:16, ESV
Isn't that great? We want peace, Jesus gives us peace, and everyone loves happily ever after! Except that the peace Jesus gives us is quite different to what we think we want...
Peace and Quiet
Anyway, back to the story. A day or two after watching the lyric video to that song, the movie Avengers 2: Age of Ultron came out in cinemas, and I went to go watch it with some friends. For those who haven't watched the movie a very bad synopsis is that some good guys (the Avengers) accidentally create a bad sentient robot (Ultron) who tries to destroy the world; naturally, they fight each other, and... okay let me not give any more spoilers. So with the song Prince of Peace still ringing in my ears, I watched this movie, and at one point Ultron, the bad guy who (as he sees it) is trying to bring peace to the world by killing everyone, has the following exchange with Thor, one of the good guys, which really stuck out for me and is so so true:
Thor: If you believe in peace, then let us keep it.
Ultron: I think you're confusing 'peace' with 'quiet'.
You see, the peace we think we want is not peace, but actually quiet - the absence of bad things happening around and to us. We would like nothing bad to happen to us, only good things, and then we'd be happy. But the peace Jesus gives is not like that - in fact, He says exactly the opposite:
I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace. In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.” [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.]John 16:33, AMP
So we will have trouble - that is, danger, terrible things happening to us, people harming us (intentionally and otherwise), consternation from difficult decisions, the tension from being pulled between people's expectations and our purpose, and many others. But in the midst of all these troubles, we can have courage, because Jesus has overcome.
But that's a bit strange, isn't it? How does someone else being victorious affect whether or not I have victory and peace in my struggle?
Death and Life
As surprising as it may sound, the key to this actually lies in... baptism. But in order to understand why this is so, we have to understand what actually happens at baptism.
To be clear, when I speak of baptism I'm not speaking about when a baby gets sprinkled with or dipped in water. I'm speaking about when someone who is old enough makes a decision to be publicly baptised as a declaration that they are, from now onward, following Jesus. And part of what happens when one is baptised is called identification, meaning that I get identified with Jesus. The apostle Paul put it this way:
'Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 'Romans 6:3-4, ESV
When we are baptised in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we are baptised into Christ, so that His death is now our death and His life is now our life. This is why Paul could say the following:
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.Galatians 2:20, ESV
Since we have died, and Christ now lives in and through us, His victory is now our victory. In particular, since He has overcome the troubles of this world, we have too, and we have true peace as we too go through those troubles.
I hope that helps you with your understanding of what true peace is. It certainly has helped me! Please comment below; I'd love to hear from you and have a conversation about what true peace is.
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