Today I heard someone quote this verse and say that there were two things the verse tells us. I was a bit bothered by the fact that they only quoted a part of the verse and left out one of the most important parts of the verse. Can I remind us all that we have the potential to mislead others when we quote only part of a verse, and fail to quote it in context? Yes, in this world we will certainly have trials and tribulations. Yes, Jesus overcame the world and all of this life's circumstances. However, before He said that, He said that in Him we have peace. Why do we have peace? In this chapter Jesus went to great lengths to explain some things that were a continuation from the previous chapter, where He explained that He is the Vine that we are to abide in, and warned that the world would hate us because of our relationship to Him. In this chapter He goes on to explain how the Spirit would work to help us when we face the world's hatred, and how the Spirit will guide us into all truth. He told of the sorrow that was to come, and the joy that would come afterward. He expressed how He would be abandoned at the time of His greatest suffering, but that His peace would come from knowing that the Father was with Him. You see, when we leave out that crucial detail, we fail to see that the peace we have is that the Lord is always with us. Because we are in Christ, we have Him, the Father, and His Spirit who indwells us. Therefore, when the Lord allows us to suffer in this lifetime, the peace He gives us is the certainty that He is with us and will never leave us, nor forsake us. That is the foundation that enables us to fully grasp the truth that we can overcome, because Jesus has already overcome. I'd like us to also note a very important point about Jesus' statement. He made it BEFORE He was crucified and rose again. He knew He would defeat the devil, death, and the grave. The victory was His long before He laid down His life. My friends, we have God's Word and we know how this all ends; and like Jesus, even though we have not yet reached the end, because we are in Him, and He in us, the victory is already won. We have peace, because we have Him, and in Him we have already overcome.
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Romans 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 His free gift of salvation today (Romans 10:13).
No comments:
Post a Comment