“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one
body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell
among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through
psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with And whatever you
do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God the Father through him. And the peace of God, which transcends
all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Colossians
3:15-17, Philippians 4:7 NIV
Just like what Colossians
3:15 states, we should let the peace of God rule in our hearts, since as
members of one body which is in Christ Jesus, we were called to peace. This is
because “we know that we are children of
God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” (1
John 5:19) – “Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew
5:9)
Hence, we should let the message of Christ dwell among us
richly as you teach and admonish one another with gratitude in your hearts;
just like what Colossians
3:16 states. This is because the word of God states that we should become
ambassadors of Christ, for Jesus says, “All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
(Matthew
28:18-20)
You are the light of the world. A
city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it
under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone
in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they
may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. For you
are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own
possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of
darkness into his marvelous light. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ,
God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be
reconciled to God. (Matthew
5:14-16, 1 Peter 2:9, 2 Corinthians 5:20)
In other words, we should keep the Spirit flowing within us
while we are proclaiming what Jesus has done for us, for the word of God
states:
The peace of God, which transcends
all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians
4:7)
However, just like what Colossians
3:17 states, we should do everything with giving thanks through Christ
Jesus, and with the Holy Spirit whom God has poured into us to help us in the
walk with Him. (John
14:15-17,26-27) This is because the Spirit (John
4:24) made us the new creations in Him (2
Corinthians 5:17) to be the righteousness of God. (1
Peter 2:24) – “For God made Christ,
who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made
right with God through Christ.” (2
Corinthians 5:21)
Those who belong to Christ Jesus
have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the
Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians
5:24-25)
Yet for us there is but one God,
the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but
one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
(1
Corinthians 8:6)
Overall, because we became the children of God (1
John 3:1) by believing and receiving Him as our Lord and Savior (John
1:12-13), we should be ambassadors of Christ with humble-heart, for He is
the way of the life and the truth. (John
14:6)
For to us a child is born, to us a
son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be
called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah
9:6)
Because He is the way of the life and the truth (John
14:6), let’s live our lives as sacrifice-living to do the will of God even
though it is hard, and hope-living for the glory and the kingdom of God (Matthew
7:21; Philippians
3:20-21, 2 Corinthians 5:1)
Then Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross
and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever
loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain
the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange
for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with
his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have
done.” (Matthew
16:24-27)
Since, then, you have been raised
with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the
right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For
you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is
your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians
3:1-4)
I believe that all of us are called to peace, since we are
members to each other (Romans 12:4-5 NIV), for “we know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under
the control of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19) Without the peace of God
(Philippians 4:7), we eventually want to give our lives up as following Christ.
This is because we are going to be at war even within ourselves, and following
Jesus becomes legalistic. The powerful reminder, I believe is this: Garden of
Eden! [read Genesis 1-2] This is because everything that God had made was at perfectly
peaceful until Adam, the first-man sinned by not protecting the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil. We know this by Genesis 2:15-17:
The Lord God took the man and put
him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God
commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you
must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat
from it you will certainly die.”
And once He sinned, Satan, the enemy of God has crept into
this world, for the Bible says:
When Adam sinned, sin entered the
world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone
sinned. (Romans 5:12 NLT)
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