Ephesians: Prescript (1:1-2) – Jesus says, “Peace to you.” (part 4) and the intro to the eulogia (1:3).

Wednesday September 12, 2018

 

Ephesians: Prescript (1:1-2) - Jesus says, “Peace to you.” (part 4) and the intro to the eulogia (1:3).

 

Eirene is called the very peace of God, Php 4:7, and of Christ, COL 3:15.

 

PHI 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

 

PHI 4:5 Let your forbearing spirit [epieikes: gentleness, sweet reasonableness] be known to all men. The Lord is near.

 

PHI 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

 

PHI 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 

The word “guard” (phroureo) is a military word that means to keep by guarding. The peace of God is the sentinel of your heart and mind.

 

PHI 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable [nobly serious: Arnold], whatever is right [just or righteous], whatever is pure [hagnos: holy], whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute [pleasing], if there is any excellence [arete: virtue] and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.

 

PHI 4:9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you.

 

One wonders at the peace that God possesses. It is no wonder that it is described as surpassing understanding.

 

Without God’s peace guarding our hearts and minds, could we set our minds on the things Paul lists? Peace guards our inner selves from that which rejects these things.

 

God is at perfect ease and tranquility; having a perfect well-being without a trace of worry or fear. Christ said, “My peace I give to you.” One must ponder the significance of that statement.

 

JOH 14:25 "These things I have spoken to you, while abiding with you.

 

JOH 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

 

JOH 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

 

Peace is linked to the ministry of the Holy Spirit by the Lord. He teaches us as well. What does He teach us?

 

God the Holy Spirit teaches us the purposes of God in Christ Jesus. Knowing these things floods the heart and mind with perfect peace.

 

It is Christ’s peace because He perfectly understood these things and through God the Holy Spirit He is teaching them to us. The imperfect in peace cannot lead the imperfect in the way of peace. No one could do this but God. Christ is God and has taken the nature of a man so that He could show us the way.

 

How could Jesus maintain His peace in the Garden of Gethsemane, when He stood before the corrupt Sanhedrin, when He stood before Pilate and Herod, when He stood before His own nation and heard them cry out, “Crucify Him, Crucify Him. We have no other god but Caesar.”? Did He just say to Himself, “I’m God and none of this matters? They can’t touch Me.” It is significant that He wept over Jerusalem.

 

The peace of God doesn’t mean that we are cold or unfeeling in the face of the delusional and despairing world.

 

He is the only One worthy of worship and worshiping Him is the only path of peace for any person, and yet He stood before them and heard them blaspheme Him to their own demise, and He stood with perfect peace. Jesus understood the purposes of God and He trusted the plan of the Father completely.

 

We must humble ourselves before Him and learn from Him. He takes us by the hand as God took Israel out of Egypt and He leads us in perfect peace. He has put Himself inside of us to make this a certainty. 

 

Peace cannot be had without understanding. The Christian must understand what has happened to him, what his destiny is, and he must comprehend the grace of God.

 

He must know that through Christ he is at perfect peace with God. God is the only One who fully accepts him.

 

ROM 12:16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

 

ROM 12:17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.

 

ROM 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

 

Do not be wise in your own opinion. We are to be wise as serpents, but not in our own opinion. Our wisdom comes from the Trinity. We are at peace due to what we know and believe, and that peace will exist among us, but not among the unreasonable or unbelieving, and so far as it depends on us we offer love and grace as God did to us when we were His enemies.

 

PSA 4:8

In peace I will both lie down and sleep,

For Thou alone, O Lord, dost make me to dwell in safety.

 

ISA 26:3-4

"The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace,

Because he trusts in Thee.

"Trust in the Lord forever,

For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.

 

HEB 13:20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord,

 

HEB 13:21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

 

Peace is the new relationship between man and God brought about by the atonement of Christ.