John 16:33 – I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
THEME OF THE DAY. THREE REALITIES IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. The title of today’s nugget is rather simplistic. I know there are more than three realities in the Christian life. Space nor time allows us to expand beyond the three Jesus gives us in today’s scripture. These three, though, truly capture the whole of the Christian life. All of them are real to His people. All of them are present in His people.
First is the reality of His peace – “in me you may have peace.” Here is one of the most wonderful and practical benefits of being a Christian; having God’s peace. In defining His peace, there are two. We have the declaration of peace which is judicial or legal. It has no experience attached to it. It is God making peace with us, removing the hostility of our sins against Him through the death and resurrection of His Son, the Lord Jesus. This peace is what we get through the cardinal doctrine of our faith – justification by faith. The Apostle Paul would declare our standing of peace with God in his letter to the Romans – “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Remember, this is not some feeling or emotion-based peace. It is a sinner being reconciled or knowing peace with God.
There is a second peace of God and this is experiential. We do know this by experience. It is the peace that passes all understanding and assures in times of sorrows, grief, and pain of God’s love and sovereign control. The Apostle Paul also defines this peace in his letter to the Philippians – “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). Christian, when life is hard; sorrows abound; loneliness suffocates; pain seems unbearable; anxieties rage; and stress is off the scale, stop and meditate on the peace of God in its two manifestations. Such meditation will quiet your troubled heart.
The second reality in the Christian life stated by Jesus is that of trouble in this world – “in the world, you will have tribulation.” Friends, the Christian life will always be lived with trials, tests, temptations and daily difficulties. It must. We have spiritual foes never giving us a rest. Here is a word of caution, if we find the Christian life “doable”; if we lack spiritual difficulties and challenges, not the common difficulties and challenges unsaved people also have in life; something is wrong. Jesus said, “You will have tribulation.”
The third reality in the Christian life from the words of Jesus, and what makes us live with unshakable hope, is we have overcome all that is in this sinful world – sin, self, and Satan. But not in and of ourselves – “but take heart; I have overcome the world.” We overcome the world because Jesus overcame the world. We overcome the world because we are in union with Him who overcame the world. This is why we can live above circumstances. This is why we can live with joy. This is why people will ask us for the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15).
For sure the Christian life is not easy. It wasn’t meant to be. Why does Jesus say, “Few there be that find the narrow way?” Because it is hard. Because it demands all of us, all the time. Because it is full of the stark realities of spiritual conflict in an evil spiritual world. But it is also empowered by the realities of God’s peace and God’s presence as we journey home to the real reality – heaven.
PRAYER: “Lord, I praise You for walking with Me and giving me Your peace in a world of sin and danger”
QUOTE: “The Christian life is full of trials, tribulations, and sorrows. It must be so. We are not home yet.”