God of Peace
Hebrews 13
God of Peace, Hebrews 13. Not only will our Great Shepherd bring peace to us, but even more amazing, He will make us perfect in every good work to do His will by working in us what is well pleasing in His sight.
Now the God of peace, that
brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the
sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect
in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is
well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for
ever and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 13:20 & 21, KJV
God of Peace
Hebrews 13
We cry out, "Peace, peace, but there is no peace!" I am sure you have heard that quote. Yet, look how boldly the author of Hebrews dedicates this benediction to the God of peace. How can he make such a claim? Did the Israelites in the Old Testament ever really know a time of peace? Will man ever be able to bring peace on earth by himself? Will there ever really be true peace in the Mideast?
We
only need to read the rest of the benediction to find the answer. There
is no peace apart from the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ! That is a
rather bold statement, is it not?
In the Garden of Eden, Satan was sure that he had destroyed God's great creation. With sin entering into the world, peace was gone forever. Yet God, in His great sovereignty and love already had a plan in place, which He introduced in Genesis 3:15.
And I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise
thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
The seed of the woman would bruise the head of Satan. In other words, the seed of the woman (the Lord Jesus Christ) would and did come to this earth. His death on the cross was shed that sin might be vanquished forever. That will all come to completion at the end of time when God will separate the righteous from the wicked. The wicked, along with Satan and his angels will be sent to an eternal destruction. The righteous will be ushered into an everlasting kingdom of peace and righteousness.
Not
only will our Great Shepherd bring peace to us, but even more amazing,
He will make us perfect in every good work to do His will, by working in
us what is well pleasing in His sight. We like the idea of being
perfect, but we often chaff at the idea of being constrained to doing
the will of God. What feeble and unworthy creatures we are!
What is impossible to us, however, is possible in Christ. Christ will save a people for Himself and will enable us to be perfect in every good work according to His will. That perfection will not occur while we are still on this earth, for he we still have to battle our sin nature. However, in heaven, God's plan will be brought to completion and righteousness will reign in the new heavens and new earth.
So we see that God, in His mercy and grace sent His only Son to save a people for
Himself who would indeed experience perfect peace with a desire to
worship and serve Him alone. Oh yes, to God alone belongs glory forever
and ever!
Ponder that thought as you go about the duties of this day!
Now
the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that
great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in
you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to
whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
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