Fellowship of Peace

Verse of the day: Leviticus 3:1 “When his offering is a sacrifice of a peace offering, if he offers it of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the LORD.

Contrary to what we might think, the peace offering was not for the purpose of making peace with God. The sin offering played that part in the sacrificial system. The peace offering was a sacrificial offering made to symbolize fellowship with God. The fat and blood of the animal was offered to God, while the meat was shared between the priest and the family bringing the offering (that is why no mention is made in respect to burning the meat portion on the altar). The fat was considered to be the best of the animal; therefore, it belonged exclusively to God. Blood was what was required for atonement, and was used by pagans in the worship of their heathen gods, as a drink offering (Psalm 16:4), and therefore it was forbidden that the Israelites eat fat, or suet (this is not the fat that was intertwined with the meat, but the fat of the inward parts of the animal) or drink the blood (v. 17). Today, Jesus is our Peace Offering. Romans 5:1-2 tells us, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” There is a difference between making peace with God and being at peace with God. We made peace with God in Christ. When we accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, He was the Prince of Peace that reconciled us to the Father. Now, as we continually go before the Father, in Christ, with repentance and confession of sins, we keep that peace intact. Not to be misunderstood, for there is nothing that we can do, in and of ourselves, to make peace or find favor with God. All the peace that we have is found only in Christ. However, we can disturb that peace within ourselves when we sin, backslide, or allow the enemy to convince us that God no longer loves us or will no longer forgive us. The devil will use the shame of our failures to make us feel guilty and unaccepted before God. The peace we have in Christ cannot be taken from us, but we can give it away. If we have no peace in our relationship with God, it is not because the Lord has withdrawn it; it is because we have allowed something or someone to take it. Jesus clearly told us in John 16:31-33, “Do you now believe? 32 Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” The same peace that Jesus had in His hour of abandonment by those who walked with Him, is the same peace that we have in Him, when we feel rejected and abandoned. The Father was with Him in His darkest hour, and He will be with us in our darkest hours. Philippians 4:6-7 promises, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” However, this peace will escape us if we do not come before Him being completely transparent. The offering of the fat (which was taken from deep within the animal) was symbolic to having fellowship with God, without pretense, pouring out our hearts in prayer, and not holding back what God can already see deep within us. This is the only way we can have true, intimate, peaceful, fellowship with God, and this is what He desires. John 10:10 tells us, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” The devil wants to steal God’s worship, kill our testimony for Christ, and destroy our lives, since he can no longer destroy our souls as born again believers. Instead, he now seeks to steal the peace we have in Christ, and get us to worship someone or something other than God. He wants to kill our fellowship with God, and destroy our earthly lives so that we are worthless ambassadors for Christ; as he wanted to do with Peter, by sifting us as wheat, and leaving us as useless as the chaff (Luke 22:31). The bottom line is that the devil will use others, the trials, tribulations, earthly worries, and our own guilt, to disturb the peace we have with God. Let us come before God with thanksgiving and praise, knowing that the peace that has been purchased for us is non-refundable. Let us be careful to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), putting off the old person we were before Christ, putting on the new person, by God’s grace (Colossians 3; Ephesians 4:22-24), and fully enjoy the peaceful fellowship we can have with God in Christ Jesus.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).