The Peace of Christ

Meditations for the Season of Advent 

December 2, 2022

The Peace of Christ

Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

Jude 1:2

The word peace is used almost one hundred times in the New Testament. We encounter this word quite often in the Advent and Christmas seasons. Scripture teaches we have peace with God because of what Christ has done. Scripture teaches us to live in peace with one another. Scripture teaches us we can cast our anxieties onto God, and receive in exchange the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding. Recently I came across a statement that made me realize I have much yet to accomplish in plumbing the depths of what God wants us to understand and experience in His peace.

The statement I read is this:

“Nothing discourages me, not even discouragement.”

Eugène Ionesco 

This observation points to the truth of God’s purpose that we overcome despair by living in the reality of His peace, love, and wholeness. Ionesco’s observation also points to the dichotomy in the Christian life. When the scriptures speak of a peace that surpasses all understanding, they are also speaking of a peace that few Christians experience. After all, Ionesco was a poet, so perhaps he was taking a rather large poetic license in his observation.

Or perhaps he was pointing to the experience of peace God desperately wants all His children to know. We can reach out for this peace by first remembering that God always does the heavy lifting for us. When we are in that place where faith seems well beyond our measure, we can recall the words of Jesus: “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27). Jesus may have died on the cross, but he didn’t stay dead.

When I begin to think that Ionesco’s observation may be just pie in the sky, I recall the words of Miles Stanford: “To be disappointed is to have believed in yourself.” If that is true, and I believe it is, then it is also just as true that to be discouraged is to have believed in yourself.

My takeaway: The bottom line for me is remembering to fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith (Hebrews 12:2). When I do, I can take a nice bite of Ionesco’s pie in the sky.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2022 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.