Pastor’s Corner

The Peace of God 
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice . . . And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:4-7 

What does it mean to have “peace”? Maybe we have peace when our bodies are healthy. That makes sense. When we are healthy, our bodies feel peaceful. Maybe we feel like we have peace when everything is going well at work, or even when we have work. Being out of work, or not having steady work, is stressful. Life definitely feels peaceful when work is going well. But a lot of times in life, we would probably not describe our life as being “peaceful.” 

In the passage above Paul said, “Rejoice in the Lord always . . . And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” When Paul wrote this, I don’t think we would say Paul’s life was exactly “peaceful.” When Paul wrote this, he was sitting in a prison in Rome. On top of this, Paul’s health was not great, but that was alright. Paul’s health did not bring him peace, Christ did. Paul’s work was not always going well. Paul was constantly dealing with false teachers who threatened to take grace out of the church, but that was alright. Paul’s work did not necessarily bring him peace, Christ did. 

This is why Paul was so bold as to say, “Rejoice always.” It didn’t matter in what circumstance Paul found himself. Whether well fed, hungry or poor, Paul still had peace, because his peace was one that did not come from this world, his peace came from Christ. The peace Paul had was not dependent upon his good health or poor health, his peace came from Christ. The peace Paul had was not dependent upon his work going well or poorly, his peace came from Christ. 

As we continue to celebrate the Easter season, we can understand the peace Paul is talking about. As Christians, our peace almost has nothing to do with what is ongoing on in the world around us. Our peace is a lasting, eternal peace because the Son of God offered a perfect sacrifice for us on Good Friday, died for us, and rose from the dead for us three days later. Because of what Christ has done, He has mended our broken relationship with God the Father. And now, we have peace with God given to us by Jesus. This is why, like Paul, we may rejoice always. Our peace does not depend upon what is going on in this world or even in our own lives. Our peace is in Christ, and nothing has the power to take that peace away from you. 

-- Pastor Grimenstein