Wednesday – July 6, 2016
Wednesday, hump day, and time again for a feast on the Word of God. God is so good to us, He is infinitely beyond good.
Colossians 3:15 (GW)
15 Also, let Christ’s peace control you. God has called you into this peace by bringing you into one body. Be thankful.
I left off yesterday talking about the word ‘Christ’ and how it may be interpreted and gives amazing insight and depth where there was only another word before. In this Gods Word translation of the Bible we still see the idea that we grant permission or perhaps more accurately choose to let the peace of Christ or Christ’s peace be the controller in our lives. If we are driving a car and we have a passenger in the passenger seat who knows the way speaking instructions to us, we can chose to obey those instructions or not. If not, then there is obvious trouble. In the spiritual when God is giving the instructions and we don’t follow those instruction there will be stealing, killing, and destroying by the enemy in our lives. In the preceding natural example it may just be some relational friction but in the spiritual realm the result can be devastating. In the God’s Word translation (GW) the word rule is translated ‘control’ and recall that it means: to arbitrate, to govern, to prevail, to rule, and to umpire. So the ‘peace of God, of Christ’ is to be the deciding influence in all decisions.
Now let’s take a look at the word ‘peace’. The English word ‘peace’ is transliterated from the Greek to ‘eirēnē’ and to English as peace. The meaning of this word ‘peace’ is to join, prosperity, one, quietness, rest, and set at one again. Many times when someone is saying they are at peace or they have peace about a certain thing, situation, or decision they are speaking about an emotion or the lack of rational conflict. Although the peace of God, or Christ, will or may include that it is far more and comes only by way of knowledge of God and Christ Jesus, faith in that knowledge, fueled by love, with a unbreakable fixation of vision on the hope (promises of God) that is in Christ Jesus. Perhaps that hope is our children, our finances, our health, whatever it may be it is in Christ Jesus and it is ours, the children of the Kingdom of God. Okay, let’s go ahead and tear this apart and look at the component parts.
First, let us consider the aspect of peace that has to do with being joined. Joined to what or to whom? In this case Jesus, more broadly and specifically Christ. We are joined with Him as Messiah and all that means. We are joined with Him as the Anointed One for we are anointed ones emulating Him and doing the greater things. And, we are joined with the Holy Spirit in salvation and in baptism. Whatever the Father provided to Jesus, is provided for us (excepting the powers of the Godhead).
Second, peace is prosperity, His prosperity, when we meet the Biblical criteria from the spiritual realm the resources of the Kingdom of God will flow in physical form into our lives not because we focused on them but because we focused on Him and the goals of the Kingdom of God. God is not pleased when His children are poor, as He is not poor. We are His children, we are full citizens of the Kingdom of God, and we are joint-heirs with Christ Jesus who is heir of all. Thinking, talking, and being poor has no place in the Kingdom of God. Our earthly financial status is some reflection of our spiritual status. We knew intuitively before that the peace of God was one great deal however as we uncover more fully the Truth about the peace of God we will see it is way better than we thought.
Third, next we find the meaning of one. We are one with the body of Christ like it or not. Beyond that we are one with Jesus, one with the Holy Spirit, and one with God the Father. Now if we are doing our own thing with a lack of focus on the will of God we are causing tremors, turbulence, and confusion, in the Kingdom of God. We become like a cancer in the human body. Our actions outside the will of God are sin and like the things in the will of God will bear fruit. The problem is in one case it is stealing, killing, and destroying and in the other it is abundance not just for us but for others around us.
Fourth, we find the definition of quietness (calmness, tranquility, serenity, and being calm). This quietness comes from the knowledge of God and His Son Jesus Christ. It comes from knowing we are joined with Him, in fact when we are operating according to His will we are not perceived by the enemy. This emotional calmness comes from knowing that the fullness “faith and credit” of Heaven is backing us and can become visible in abundance on demand. We are one with the Godhead, we are His power projected to the forward position but we are far from alone in the battle and losing is not on the radar unless we are distracted by circumstance. We have all of the provision that Heaven and earth can provide at our command. We are in absolute right standing with the Father with the exact same righteousness Jesus possesses. What do you suppose that is worth?
Fifth, we have entered God’s rest which is God’s provision. In this current creation, God put everything in place and rested, entered into the provision, on the seventh day. Seven is the number of spiritual perfection. When God, Elohim, finished on the sixth day this creation had provision for eternity. Sin changed all of that. Consider the following Scripture.
Hebrews 4:1-4 (GW)
1 God’s promise that we may enter his place of rest still stands. We are afraid that some of you think you won’t enter his place of rest. 2 We have heard the same Good News that your ancestors heard. But the message didn’t help those who heard it in the past because they didn’t believe. 3 We who believe are entering that place of rest. As God said, “So I angrily took a solemn oath that they would never enter my place of rest.” God said this even though he had finished his work when he created the world.
4 Somewhere in Scripture God has said this about the seventh day: “On the seventh day God rested from all his work.”
Sixth, and finally we are set at one again with God. Adam was one with God in the creation and now we are one with God in the redemption. There must be no difference between my thoughts and His thoughts, my words and His Words, my ways and His ways. We should be able to say as Jesus said; if you have seen me you have seen the Father (John 14:9). Thank you Jesus and thank you Holy Spirit for honoring the Blood Covenant between Abraham and Jehovah.
By Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
