No, nobody died. You recognize this as what you wish for all your loved ones whenever you hear someone has passed into eternity. Your hope is that they are resting in perfect peace and not in the other place. Perhaps you suspect that they are not resting in peace, but in hell. Nonetheless, you reckon it is not for you to judge, and you are right because the Bible warns us to beware lest we fall if we think we stand.
Besides, we feel the need to provide succor to the bereaved by wishing their departed relative would live in perfect peace forever. It does not hurt the dead, but it might hurt the living. Consigning every dead person to heaven could give false hope to the living. It says to those who are still around that they can live without accepting Jesus and still rest in perfect peace. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
How can you rest in perfect peace without embracing the Prince of Peace? You may know that Prince by His other name: Jesus. Allow me to remind you of the story of the United Nations to make the point that there is no peace without Jesus. The more of Christ you embrace, the more peaceful your life is, regardless of what is going on in the world.
Back to the United Nations (UN). After the devastation of the Second World War, several Western nations decided to establish an organization for peace. The UN is a global intergovernmental organization established in 1945 to maintain international peace and security. It would also develop friendly relations among nations and promote international cooperation.
An Organization Established For Peace
But what you will not find in any of its charters is that it is against Jesus Christ. You will only know that aspect of the UN if you interact closely with it. An organization that wants its 193 member states to live in perfect peace with one another is against Christ.
If the results were not so tragic, that concept would be laughable. But the results of trying to establish peace without the Prince of Peace are everywhere for all to see. Can you point to one region of the world where there is peace? Is there anyone who can point to one nation at peace with its nationals or its neighbors?
The answer is clear, but we refuse to see its implication. The only way to be in perfect peace is to embrace the Prince of Peace. Outside of Christ, there is no peace. But rather than admit that and invite Jesus into their affairs, the UN holds meeting after meeting.
What makes the situation even more ludicrous is that the more meetings they convene, the less peaceful the world’s situation grows. It seems God is telling them what we read in a previous blog. The longer we reject God’s entreaties to rest in Him, the more hassled our situation becomes.
If peace is not your experience, find time to (re)read it because living in perfect peace is one of God’s promises. We do not have to die to live in perfect peace. God says in Isaiah 26:3 that you can have peace right here and now. What? Not live with anxieties? To truly live by the dictates of Philippians 4:6-7?
We Can Live in Perfect Peace
That passage wants us to live this way. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
I confess I used to live with a heavy load of anxiety. But when I discovered that Psalm 139. 23-24 mentions anxieties and wicked ways in the same sentence, I repented. You may laugh, but it helped me to view anxiety as sin. I understood that God’s desire for me was to live in perfect peace, the type that Jesus promised in John 14.27, before He returned home. The peace He gives us is the sort that the world or the UN cannot obtain for us. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Do Not Live In Sin
So, we see that it is not only possible to live here in perfect peace, but to do otherwise is sin. But, how is that possible when the world has wars and rumors of wars in every region? The secret is in Isaiah 26.3, and it is so straightforward that it may not need unpacking. “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.
The triggers are plain. Let your mind stay on God, not on the war in Iran or Ukraine or in your nation. Secondly, trust in God. It is simple but not easy, especially if you have been trusting in your abilities for a long time. But trusting in God and focusing on Him is the only way to live in perfect peace. The choice is clear.
Maranatha!
