Isaiah - Verse By Verse

Walk thru Eph #154

versebyverse | May 06, 2008 20:02

Thought:  To me, society craves the peace, love and faith that only God can provide.  "People need the Lord!"

Question:  Do I own the "peace that passes understanding"?

Scripture:  Ephesians 6:23 (NIV):  "Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

Paul is winding down his letter and closing with thoughts that keep us welded to Christ.  Peace, love and faith all come only from God.  We see Christ bridging us to the Father Who is the essence of these qualities; and so Christ becomes our essence, too.  Christ said He brought peace of a unique kind to us, a peace the world knew nothing about.  Thus Christ is Our Lord, Our Master, in these matters.  Paul wants the brothers to have peace; Christ's peace, the peace that calms us in the presence of God The Father.  And Paul wants us to have "love with faith from God the Father."  Here is another scriptural proof that faith comes from God.  It is His gift to us.  It would never have occurred to us to exercise faith.  God invented it when He reached down to us in the beginning of history, desiring us to believe in Him, as we see in the stories of Noah and Abraham.  And, of course, this long, condescending reach was continued in His gift of Christ to us, the greatest expression of love ever made by any being anywhere.  And these three, peace, love and faith, would be meaningless unless they could come "to the brothers."  People need these things!  So God has made a way for them to reach us.  That "way" is Jesus Christ.

Prayer:  Lord God, thank You for Christ through Whom we receive Your wonderful peace, deep love and strengthening faith.  Amen. 

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