How do we get, and keep, the free gift of peace that God offers? The first step we must make in order to discover peace is to have confidence in a right relationship with our Creator. God created us for the purpose of companionship, but Adam’s disobedience created a barrier between mankind and God. Yet Second Corinthians 5:21 says,
“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
Jesus who had never sinned, left heaven and came to earth to take upon Himself the penalty of sin for all of humanity. If He had not taken our place, then each of us would have had to bear the penalty for our sin ─ eternal separation from God. But when Jesus paid the price for sin, He destroyed the barrier that separated us from God that sin had caused.
We make peace with God by receiving Jesus and the sacrifice He made for us. Romans 10:9-10 tells us how to do this:
“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
When we pray this uncomplicated prayer from our hearts, God accepts us as His child. We are no longer separated from Him. Paul tells us just how easy it is to have a right relationship with the Lord:
“You have this new relationship with God simply by accepting it. It is his gift to you through his unconditional love. It is not something you could ever earn by any effort of your own, so you can’t brag about having it, or about doing anything (Ephesians 2:8 Ben Campbell Johnson).
When we ask Jesus to be our Lord and mean it from our hearts, then we become members of the family of God. Verse 19 clarifies our position with Him: “You are no longer outsiders or aliens, but on the inside with the insiders; you have a place in the family of God” (Ben Campbell Johnson Paraphrase).
Once we have become members of the family of God, then Jesus promises us something available only to Christians. He said, “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” (John 14:27 NAS).
The world doesn’t have access to this peace; it is only available to those who make Jesus their Lord and become members of the family of God. It is made available as a force that comes alive only within the reborn human spirit. This peace can become the anchor of our souls when the winds of circumstances threaten to bring us ruin.
When the rest of the world panics, we can remain at peace knowing the Lord will protect us. Receive the peace and protection of God by faith today!
