John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
The tender hearts of “born again” (John 3:1-8) Children of God yearn for and earnestly seek after “peace” in every respect. The Apostle Peter exhorts us this way, “he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: 11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it” (I Peter 3:10-11); that is, earnestly look for those places (in particular worship) where there is “peace” and then go to where “peace” is and work with all diligence to secure and maintain it. However, our great adversary and his vile minions hate “peace”, and they do everything possible to disrupt and destroy our “peace”, creating as much disorder and confusion as they can. But, the “peace” our Lord has given us is different than the practical or natural “peace” in this world. Because of the wickedness in this present world, there is always going to be those who hatefully clash with those who seek “peace”. Our Lord explained it this way, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34)! Our peace is so often disrupted by “a sword” of evil and violence because the adversaries of good (morality, honesty, integrity, kindness, etc.) hate good and will do everything possible to destroy it. However, one of the titles of our Lord is “The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6) and preachers are to have their “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15) and Paul declares that “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1) and our Lord promised to leave His “peace” with us and give it to us. However, the Lord goes on to tell His Apostles, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). So, what is this “peace” that He has given us? Within a few hours after telling His Apostles these things, our Lord, as our High Priest, Sacrificed Himself on the Cross to reconcile us to God; thus, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Man’s “peace with God” was shattered when Adam disobeyed God, he committed the first sin (Genesis 3:6) and there was only “one” (Romans 5:17) that could restore that “peace”, Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God! Because we have this blessed “peace with God”, we can “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16) and when we die our soul/spirit is immediately with the Lord in His “paradise” (Luke 23:43) and then on the great Resurrection Day in our Resurrected bodies we “shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (I Thessalonians 4:17)! Thus, we worship “The Prince of Peace”, the preachers preach “the gospel of peace” and we rejoice because we “have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”!