Peace in Christ - Shalom

Last week we looked at Pauls benediction prayer in I Thessalonians 5 and we talked a little about sanctification. To be sanctified means we are 100% loyal and given of ourselves over to God. Now, we know this doesn't stop with a one and done kind of truth. Sanctification, just like salvation is initial but also continuous. What does that means? Well, simply put, it means once it begins, it should never stop.

Everyday we should be pursuing salvation, repentance, forgiveness, and as we lean into Christ and we trust in Christ more and more each day. We begin to grow Spiritually through prayer and our relationship to Him. We believe that we are justified, regenerated, and adopted and all three are simultaneous. It’s initial and ongoing. Regeneration, is what we call the new birth, it’s that gracious work of God whereby the moral nature of the repentant believer is spiritually quickened and given a distinctively spiritual life, capable of faith, love, and obedience.

But regeneration, the capability of faith, love and obedience isn’t sanctification. Sanctification is the work of God which transforms believers into the likeness of Christ. We go from being capable of this lifestyle, to being and walking in those things. We become holy, because he is holy within us. So each and every day we must pursue to be sanctified. Outside of who we are, without the Holy Spirit in our lives we would never pursue God.

And it’s this constant pull in our daily life that keeps trying to tell us to turn from Him, and back to our sin. But being sanctified means that the pull of sin non longer has the power in our lives to turn os from our savior anymore. My prayer is that we learn this as a church. We learn this together and we learn this with in the unity of Christ.

But here’s the problem. If we do not give our sin over to the sanctifying power off the Holy Spirt in our lives, we will survive in the sea of sin and there will be no peace in our lives. This morning I want to show us why peace is important in our prayer life that leads us to be holy. Israel is an amazing place to go. If you ever get the chance, take it.

Watching the Chosen on Wednesday nights does give us a bit of realism to our faith. But if you want a deeper, more tangible feel, go to Israel. It will change your life. When I was in Israel I learned two words. One was, Cafe’ Afook. Which means upside down coffee. It’s like a latte. Cream, expresso and then foam on top. Very delicious. The other word I learned was Shalom.

Our word for peace finds it Origen in the word shalom. But just like many Hebrew words, it doesn't just mean one thing. It’s a word that carry’s multiple meanings. Shalom not only means peace, but it also carries this idea of completeness. Which means: the state or condition of having all the necessary or appropriate parts. Like, Shalom, you have everything you need to have, to have peace. We can have it, it’s complete.

We’re won’t be lacking in anything to finish what we need. We need completed peace in our lives. Especially is we’re pursing sanctification described by Paul when he said, let the God of peace sanctify you. In Genesis chapter 1 and 2 we see a united world, living as one. Everything is complete and unbroken. Humanity is complete and has an unbroken relationship with God, creation and with each other. But then, that’s not the world we live in today.

Today, we live in a post Genesis chapter 3 world where we long for our relationship with the earth, with each other, and with our creator to be restored. We long for renewal and restoration. We long for shalom, peace. But we never find lasting peace because around every corner, we find in this world that we live in, is that this earth fights back at us with thorns, wild animals, earthquakes and floods.

We fight each other in wars and oppression and divorce. We are enemies of God with our sin and our rebellion . I think we all know it. We see it in our lives and in our jobs and in our home life that clearly something isn’t right…. There is not completeness in our lives. We’re missing something. We’re missing unity. That is what Shalom means… it means unity… it means one-ness.

But what we learn is this… when we talk about peace, (In God’s context) it isnt the absence of war or conflict. The peace we find in Christ isn’t dependent upon our outward circumstances. This week I’ve been saturating in Johns gospel preparing my heart for lent and Easter. And listen to what Jesus tells his disciples in John 14:27. I am leaving you with a gift - Peace of mind and heart.

And the peace I give is a gift the world Gannon give. SO don’t be troubled or afraid. I love how Jesus reminds us that the peace that he gives, it can not be imitated or faked. The world can’t give you Christ like peace. That is why I’ve been passionate about our series saturated. We’re learning to pray together. But in reality, if you are being present we are learning to rely on Jesus more.

Not our circumstances. When we face hardships in our life, I always hear in our Christian circles, we just need to pray through.. We just need to pray through the issue. And I'm like no… We need to stop trying to pray through the issue. We need to stop trying to pray through the circumstance. and begin praying through the suspicion of our own hearts that we don’t trust God. Isn’t that the culprit to our growth in sanctification?

We can’t walk away from sin because we trust in our sin more than we trust in the work of Christ in our lives. What we need to pray through is the untrusting of our heart. We cant worship Jesus as the prince of peace but have no peace. The Holy Spirit does his greatest work in our lives, when we are willing through prayer to soak in the atmosphere of His presence.

A trusting heart is a heart at peace with all things because it knows, and loves, and trusts the prince of peace. Not our circumstances. I love in this Scripture how Jesus says, my peace, my Shalom will be Shalom of heart and mind. I admit, my heart and mind suffers often. It suffers because I yearn to be like Christ. It suffers because I often contemplate my responsibilities of being your pastor.

No one in this church will care for your soul as much as I do. Don’t ever forget that. But also remember relationship must be both ways. I went to be one night with My own burdens on my heart, and your burdens were on my heart as well. One night I went to bed with much pain and anxiety in my heart and my mind. One of my strengths is harmony and when there is no harmony in my heart and mind I become unwell.

I fell asleep and was awakened one early morning by the Lord to get up and to saturate in His word. I began to pray and His presences fell upon me and his presence pressed upon my soul and quickly i went to my pen and wrote this beautiful reminder. Don’t be overwhelmed by your circumstance. “Choose” to be overwhelmed by my love. Let’s be honest, this is way easier said than done.

We’re easily overwhelmed by a lot of things in our life. And truthfully, we’re overwhelmed because we put so much emphasis on our works and not our relationship. Right? Serving in a church setting is a lot easier than forgiving others. Being in leadership is better than lowering ourselves sacrificially to love the unlovable. The church shouldn’t be focused on what we can do, as much as it should be focused on how we can be one with one another in Christ.

That’s what the world wants to see. They want to see a church that’s authentic in their worship. So, let’s ask this final question…how do we find Shalom, how do we find resolve and peace? Let’s read Colossians 1:19-20 together. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20: and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

Do you recognize the past tense of that phrase? He made peace. His peace, was made. Not he was thinking on making peace. Or Peace was in the plan or the pipeline. No! He made it. He made shalom by reconciling everything to himself.. amen right? It was something already done and guess what… it’s available to you and to me. Through Christ… That’s the key… to the peace we need in our life.

The peace the world cannot give is not in the world, but in Christ. There’s a bog theological word for that… it’s called… atonement. This is such an important theological word, that Atonement is 1 of only 16 articles of faith that serve as the foundation of the Church of the Nazarene. The article of faith says this… ⚐#17 We believe that Jesus Christ, by His sufferings, by the shedding of His own blood, and by His death on the Cross, ⚐#18 made a full atonement for all human sin, and that this Atonement is the only ground of salvation, ⚐#19 and that it is sufficient for every individual of Adam’s race.

Now, let’s go back to Colossians. We just read verses 19-20. Now in the light of what we just learned about atonement. Let’s read verses 21-22. 21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

Today, I can claim Colossians 1:21-22 as my own today. But… that isn’t true for everyone who is listening in today. Calling yourself Christian isn't enough. Going to church isn't enough Just believing that God is real isn't enough. First it begins by realizing that very single person ever born on this earth because of the sin condition of the human heart needs a savior. That includes you and it includes me.

Not one person today was born righteous. There’s not one person born and living today who deserves salvation. We need a savior. We got to realize it. Holy Spirit, open upon the eyes of their hearts this morning and then do iot every morning! Second, we must accept that God’s plan to reconcile us to himself is through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. I don’t receive salvation and heaven because i am better than you.

I receive salvation because i receive the atonement of Jesus Christ through the shedding of his blood. Listen, church. To receive that salvation and the promise of heaven we must repent of our sins and ask Christ into our life as Lord. We gotta make it personal. Jesus tells us in Luke, repent or perish. Im telling you today just Because you got a bumper sticker that says Jesus take the wheel doesn’t make you saved.

We’ve got to make it personal. Jesus Christ is my peace for he is the one who paid the price for my sins. We need atonement.. and it can become a little intimidating. Yet, it can be explained easily. Take the word atone, and split it into two words. Atone.. at one. We are to be at one with Christ. When I am at one with Christ I have peace. I personally have peace.

I can’t explain to you the depths of what completeness means. But I know I have peace because I am at one with chrsit.. I am at one with Christ because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. This creates peace in my soul that is beyond my circumstances and situation. I want encourage you today to let God examine your heart. Do you know that you know that your are at-one with Christ.

I didn’t ask if you are religious. I didn’t ask if you believe in God. I didn’t ask how good you are, how much you serve, what you’ve given financially. I asked you.. do you have assurance that you are at one with Christ. Because if that’s not you this morning then you need to stop acting like you have it all together and start humbling yourself and overcoming any barrier today to allow Christ into your life.

Because Paul gives us a clear command for us believers and followers of Jesus about this ideal of shalom. It’s found in verse 23: 23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.

What Paul is saying is this… those who are at-one with Christ don’t sit around in a church playing church and acting as if their life is ok when it’s not. Paul is saying that those who are in Christ are called to believe in this truth called the gospel and to stand firm in it. And he clearly says, don’t drift away from the assurance you receive. It means were called to take action.

We have a responsibility in our church and our community as followers of Jesus to take whatever action is necessary to maintain our position of surrender to his will so his Spirit can live and operate in us to fulfill the purpose for which we have been created. That purpose is to be in right relationship with God through the atonement of Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross and his victory over death and sin through his resurrection.

Do you hear me church… is it getting into your heart this morning? We are called to be witnesses of his Shalom. We have the responsibility to proclaim this truth to others who have not heard it or experienced it. Our goal should be not to add to the volumes of cash into our treasury for us to sit idle in our seats believing were impacting our community for Jesus. No!

Our goal should be to continually be adding volumes to the lambs book of life while depopulating hell in the process. Shalom comes when we are in the center of God’s will, being made complete in his spirit. Is that you this morning? If the Holy Spirit is talking to you this morning don’t push him off. Don’t live through another day without experiencing the peace , the shalom of JEsus.

Come and stand firm in his grace, forgiveness and his shalom… Page 309: Come Holy Spirit though art welcome. *