1-17-2016 weekly message

Meditation of the week: Psalms 23:1-6

Main scripture: Romans 5;1-11

Subject: The power and joy of them that have peace with God

           Apostle Paul testifies of the blessing for that are justified through believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. The peace with God is the blessing from justification. The peace spoken in the scriptures is “Shalom” in Hebrew. “Shalom” is the peace not fearing, that is beyond understanding.

           The judge, Gideon saw the angel of the LORD, but he not died even though he was supposed to die, but not dead through Shalom:

“And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight.

And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God! for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face. And the Lord said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.

Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it Jehovah–shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abi–ezrites.”(Judge 6:20-24)

                 At that time, the angel of the LORD was the appearance of Jehovah LORD God. In other word, Jehovah God appeared in the form of the angel. When Moses asked the LORD God to show him his glory. The LORD God said unto him, no one can live upon seeing him:

“And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.

And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:

And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:

And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.”(Ex. 33:18-23)

             Yeah! God is the Holy One without sin at all within him; sinners are to be death approaching unto him. We can understand the character of the LORD God how much God hate sins through his word spoken unto Moses before he went up to the Mount Sinai:

“And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish.

And let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them.”(Ex. 19:20-25)

               Such a dreadful the LORD God appeared in the world in the form of man. So many people saw him, but no one died upon seeing him. Apostle John testified of the grace of God saying,

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”(John 1:14)

The LORD God gave them such a fullness of grace, but they not recognized him at all. They couldn’t see the fullness of truth within him at all either.

              The LORD God gave a burdensome message unto the people of Israel that was in fornication with the Gentile kingdoms departing from him, and worshipped their idols. They were ended up with not doing judgment as well as seeking the truth:

“Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.”(Jer. 5:1)

           Apostle Paul testified of Jesus who was the glory of God that appeared in the wicked world:

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”(2Cor. 5:21)

Yeah! God created man in the earth not in vain, but he made a plan to have them full in heaven and earth in Christ. According to his pleasure of his plan, Christ Jesus appeared in the world, and transferred the sin of the world unto his for him to be sin, and died for us. No one can the glory of God unless the One without sin becomes sin itself. This is the reason why Jesus, the glory of the only begotten Son of God appeared as full of grace and truth to died for our sins.

              Apostle Paul testifies of the blessing for them that are justified through the righteousness of God through believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the peace with God so that they can see the Glory of God. They that believe on him dwell in him, and he dwells in them. What a blessing it is! They not die upon seeing him that dwells within them. In other word, Jehovah-Shalom is within them. They have already entered into the glory where God abides; they have the blessing of dwelling in the kingdom of God.

“For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”(Rom. 14:17)

           Whosoever have peace with God through believing on him are the ambassadors for Christ that reconcile sinners with God:

“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”(2Cor. 5:18-20)

             Whosoever are justified through believing the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that gives the remission of sins is Jehovah-Shalom within them. They no more fear the devil that is reigning in the world with the power of sin and death, but abide in the grace of the Lord. They always walk in the faith of him hoping the glorious appearing the Lord Jesus Christ, and rejoicing always in the hope. This kind of joy is the power beyond understanding.

            Apostle Paul testifies of them that have peace with God:

“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

And patience, experience; and experience, hope:”

            Before Jesus departed the world, he spoke unto the disciples to teach Christians what is the world unto them:

“Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”(John 16:32-33)

             Therefore, Christians should be clothed with the whole armor of the words of God to have peace with God in the wicked world where the devil still is reigning. And they should abide in the words of God with endurance unto experience of the goodness gathering together all things(Rom. 8:28). Then they shall be victorious life spiritually in the hope of appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ that is the glory of God.

                The children of God passing through the world could pass through tribulation and experience, and also could be mocked by people. But the love of God pouring through the Holy Ghost shall make not ashamed of the hope in the day of Christ, but rather be in joy. Apostle Paul testified of the charity that is the love of God:

“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”(1Cor. 13:4-7)

           When we are full of the love of God, we are able to rejoice in God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, the Christians that dwell in peace with God could rejoice always, and pray without ceasing to be full of the love of God given through the Spirit; and they could give thanks in all circumstances to be used to fulfill the will of God. Amen! Hallelujah!