PEACE WITH GOD FOR ALL MEN
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” Romans 5:1 NKJV
The statement in our theme scripture may seem self explanatory to us today, who are personally acquainted with the holy spirit and the message of grace.
To a Greek however, that may have been newly converted, this drove the point home because Greeks lived with a worldview shaped by the capricious, unpredictable nature of the gods. The gods were powerful but emotionally unstable. They became angry easily and humans lived in fear of offending them.
To a Roman, everything revolved around order, law, and status. Paul’s words translated as the legal hostility having been canceled; a new status had been conferred, you are now under divine favor and not condemnation.
And finally, to a jewish listener that immediately thought in theological categories, this meant the barrier between you and God, which is the guilt of sin has been removed. The final sacrifice of atonement has been made once for all.
Across all audiences, harmony with the divine has been secured in a way human effort or ritual could ever guarantee. We now have a God who is not distant, not moody, not transactional, but relational, intentional and fatherly.
Let this truth be your anchoring peace when the trials of life rise to make you believe otherwise. Hallelujah!
Prayer: My Father, I thank you for this wonderful truth. I thank you that my life is hidden in Christ, who is in you. By your spirit I have freedom and peace because you cause me to will and to do according to your good pleasure. By your grace I have come to mount Zion where rest is assured and mercy follows me all my days. To you belong all glory, honor and praise. Amen!
CI.
RELATED RESOURCES
• Colossians 1:20
• Ephesians 2:13
• Isaiah 53:5
