Text: Psalm 85:4; Isaiah 40:1-7; Mark 1:1-8; 2 Peter 3:8

Theme: “Peace”

___________________________

Intr- Complete the sentence”: “I will live in peace when______________

What would come to mind at this point? A time in the future, things we need or wish to accomplish? A time when everything will be falling in place as opposed to the present, where we feel like we are not in peace?

This is a trap we frequently fall into. We think that peace will come at last, peace will settle in in the day month or year when…

And then we will the blanks with all sorts of man-made hopes of how a life in peace looks like.

As Christians, we know how to fill the blank space. But first, we need to remove one word and change another.

“I (will) live in peace (when) because ______________

Advent reminds us how that blank is filled out and filled up. We have the peace that is not absence of war, that is not in something outside of us, nor in calm and tranquility in nature. This peace has a name: Jesus.

Our peace comes from these three places
The manger,
The cross
and The empty tomb.

We don’t wish for it anymore because we have already received it through faith.

And how did that happen in our life? Three key Bible verses help us to understand:

-“Justified (Saved) by faith we have peace with God” – Romans 5:1 – We have peace with no one less than God himself. Our sins are counted no more. We have the Peace that comes from the forgiveness of our sins.

-“Peace be with you” (John 20) – Jesus bestows peace on us. He doesn’t say “I hope you can feel the peace I am bringing to you”. Sometimes we don’t “feel” at peace, but we are still at peace, because it is granted by Him to our hearts.

-“The peace of God which exceeds human understanding will guard your hearts and minds”– Phil 4   – Daily life peace.

I’ve mentioned one mistake we make when thinking about peace, the idea that we will live in peace when something we desire happens. We already have it, Jesus. Now the second mistake is the way we might think that peaceful life is led. We cultivate a wrong idea of what living in peace means. Sometimes we place our hope for peace in:

-having financial security
-Perfect health
-Relationships that last happily ever after for years
-Not worrying about anything and never getting anxious
-Not engaging in difficult situations because they rob us of our peace.

However, it is impossible to live like that. Do you remember any time in your life that looked like this? Me neither. If we think we do, it’s probably because we have edited and revised our memories. “Back in the day everything was good, peaceful. Etc.…” We edited the worst parts to retain the good ones. We project that into the future and since it will never happen, we think that we just can’t live in peace anymore.

Here is what it really means to live a life where Christs’ peace settles in our hearts and minds:

A life where we:

• Hold fast in faith to Christ;
• Deal or cope with our challenges and difficulties;
• and to enjoy the victories;

all given by His hand.

Don’t fall for other promises, they won’t work.  The peace that exceeds your understanding, this is the one that can guard your mind and your heart. This is what life with Christ in peace is about. If we get distracted, we will think that life in peace is possible only when everything is falling in place, we have that TV commercial daily life and we have a happily ever after perspective, etc.

You have that peace through faith, you are in Christ. Then comes the challenging part: how do you keep this peace?

1 – For the mouth of the Lord has spoken (Isaiah 40) – Source = Keep trusting

2 – Do not go back to folly (Psalm 85) – Keep learning in Obedience

3 – Do not think God is delayed (2 Peter 3) – Keeping pushing through in Perseverance

4 – Repent and believe, daily (Mark 1) – Keep going back in repentance to His Forgiveness

 Living in Christ’s peace is living a life first in which you are forgiven and saved. You don’t have that worry anymore; Your heart is at peace. Then, in daily life, strengthened by Him, you lead a life where we have the conditions to deal with our challenges, cope with our difficulties and to enjoy the victories.  The peace that exceeds your understanding, this is the one that can guard your mind and your heart.

“I live in peace because ….. of CHRIST

Cc – Finally, if one image could illustrate the peace we have In this world, here is it (Video)
Advent: We live in peace because of ____ CHRIST_____ He is our peace and our life. He is our life in peace.