The Key of Peace
Matthew 16:13-19 // Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
ADVENT IS THE CELEBRATION OF THE KING AND HIS KINGDOM! Advent means the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event. During Advent, we turn our attention to celebrating the two most important events in all of human history. One of them has already taken place; the other is yet to come. Both of them have to do with the arrival of the King and His Kingdom. First, we remember the incarnation of Jesus, which was the breaking in of the Kingdom of God on the earth.
Luke 1:30-33 // And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
John 1:9-14 // The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
During this season, we celebrate the incredible and miraculous arrival of our King over 2000 years ago. Second, we look ahead to the promise of His second advent, when He will return to establish His rule and reign upon the earth during a time period referred to by theologians as the Millennial Kingdom.
Revelation 20:4-6 // Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 // For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Philippians 3:20-21 // But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
This is the Advent week of PEACE, where we get to remember that Jesus is the Prince of PEACE! We get to anticipate the day where He will establish His rule upon the earth. More than that, we get to learn how to access His peace here and now even as we wrestle through trials, suffering and persecutions. Remember, the Keys of the Kingdom unlock heaven and bring it to earth. Anyone want to learn how to unlock more peace into your life? I need all the keys, but I really need to learn how to use this one more effectively. Let’s dig into the Word!
LET PEACE RULE
Colossians 3:12-15 // Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
Peace = eirēnē
A state of national tranquillity (exemption from the rage and havoc of war)
Harmony between individuals
Security, safety and prosperity
The tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is
Rule = brabeuō = to be an umpire; to decide, determine; to direct, control, rule
USING THE KEY OF PEACE
How can peace be your “umpire” in a swirling world of chaos? Umpires determine strikes and balls, in bounds and out of bounds, and they call penalties when the rules of the game are broken. They “rule” the game by making sure that the participants stay within the boundary lines of the game. In this way, the safety and tranquility of God is meant to rule over our lives, by helping us decide what is within the boundary lines of God’s heavenly culture.
In order to be a good umpire, you must know the boundary lines and be intimately familiar with the rules that govern the game. Without order and boundaries, everything is reduced to chaos. But Jesus is the PRINCE of Peace, meaning that He has the governing authority to implement order and bring peace.
How do we use the key of peace in any situation?
1. Determine what’s TRUE - What does God’s word say about this situation?
You will not access the peace of God’s Kingdom without consulting Heaven’s constitution. Jesus spent the majority of His three years of ministry teaching people about the Kingdom of Heaven. His teachings are the Keys of the Kingdom that He handed to the disciples. The “binding” and “loosing” language refers to laws and principles that govern heaven’s value system. We are bringing Heaven’s government to earth! So we must ask, “What is heaven like?”
Romans 14:17 // For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Jesus’ teachings reveal Heaven’s Kingdom culture to us. It begins simply with what is right in God’s eyes (righteousness). Peace is the byproduct of being right with God and practicing what is right in God’s eyes. He LOVES righteousness and hates wickedness (Heb. 1:9), and our own life experience testifies that when we engage in wicked or evil deeds, peace flees. I wonder if many of the world’s anxiety issues are actually righteousness issues?
Before Jesus changes us, we don’t actually want to obey God. We also don’t know how to deal with the anxiety and pain that comes into our lives when we ignore His ways and abandon His design. So we create entire industries meant to help us cope with the anxiety and discomfort that our unrighteousness has produced.
This is why Jesus sent His disciples into the world and said, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:18)
Do you know what Jesus has commanded? We must be intimately familiar with the “rules” of God’s Kingdom if we are to “umpire” our lives in a way that produces peace.
Ephesians 5:8-10 // for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
Example 1 - You’re watching the latest viral Netflix series, and a scene starts playing that begins to suck the peace out of your soul. You begin to feel uneasy, anxious, or maybe even fearful. Pay attention! Ask yourself: Is this good, right and true? If peace begins to evaporate, then a different kingdom is starting to rule over you. What do you do? Push through? Ignore your feelings? Give it authority? NO! Turn it off. Use the Key of Peace. Being temporarily entertained is not worth surrendering your home or family to the enemy’s Kingdom of chaos.
Example 2 - Someone starts gossiping about someone else. You begin to feel uneasy as someone else “confides” in you or “just needs to vent” about their conflict with someone else. Or you begin to feel dirty as someone starts sharing about another person’s sin or shortcomings. You begin to feel yourself think poorly about this other person, who is not there to speak for him/herself. Pay attention! Ask yourself: Is this good, right and true? If peace begins to evaporate, then a different kingdom is starting to rule over you. What do you do? Ignore your feelings? Give it authority? NO! Shut it down. Use the Key of Peace.
2. Determine what’s LOVING - What would Jesus do in this situation?
Jesus was the living, breathing demonstration of the love of God at all times.
Romans 13:8-10 // Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
This is why we say in our home that “Love is our only rule.” If it’s not loving (according to the example and teaching of Jesus) then it’s not “good and right and true” and it will destroy peace.
If we want to be like Jesus, the Prince of Peace, we need to learn to GOVERN certain situations where we have the authority to call balls and strikes. If we don’t learn to “rule” with His Kingdom values, we abdicate our responsibility to bring peace into our realm of influence. Chaos reigns because we didn’t use the keys.
Ephesians 5:1 // Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
So how do we govern with the love of Jesus? GRACE AND TRUTH.
John 1:14-17 // And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Ask the Lord, “What is needed in this situation? Grace or truth?” Then do your best to walk it out.
Mark 4:35-41 // On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
In the ancient world, the sea represented chaos. It wasn’t just physical; it was believed to be the dwelling place of spiritual forces of darkness. This is why Jesus REBUKED it! We are watching the PRINCE OF PEACE use His governing authority to bring peace to the chaos. Let’s continue our journey of discipleship by learning how to use the Key of Peace to bring the rule of Jesus into a world given to chaos.