Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
I remember playing basketball and my best friend and I got into a bad argument. After that, I did everything I could to avoid him because we were not at peace. We actually didn't talk for a couple of months because there was so much tension between us. I did my best to avoid him at all costs. When I read this Scripture, it reminded me of the fact that as a Christian, I don't have to avoid God. Here's why. Because I'm at peace with God.
Made Right by Faith
This is where the Gospel comes in. When Paul talks about being made right in God's sight, what is he saying? He starts by saying, "Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith." How are we made right? It's when we believe in the Gospel, when we believe in what Jesus did for us on the cross, and when we receive Him as our Lord and Savior. Now we're declared righteous and we're justified. That's what the Bible says. The word justified simply means just as if I never sinned. That's what justified means.
That's good news, because when God looks at us, He looks at us through the lens of Jesus, just as if we've never sinned. I don't know about you, but that gives me confidence to approach God with boldness and with courage, knowing that He's going to hear me no matter what I tell Him. Even if I come to God with the same thing over and over again, I'm at peace with Him. I know He loves me. I know He's not tired of me. It's not like God tolerates me. No, no, He loves me. He delights when I talk to Him. Paul wants us to understand we are at peace with God.
Peace Is a Person
Then he says this: "Because of what Christ Jesus our Lord has done for us." We're at peace because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. Now people will go to great lengths to experience peace. They want peace. They'll take a vacation. They'll go on an adventure. They'll try to drink, self-medicate, do anything to experience that peace. Here's the problem. Peace is a person. Peace is not an experience.
There may be moments in our lives where we may have a dose of peace when we go on vacation, but that's not the peace that we're looking for. At the heart of every human need—because human needs don't change—everybody craves God, and we're all trying to fill that hole with something. We're trying to stuff that desire with the stuff of this world, like vacations and comfort. Yet nothing satisfies, right? Why? Because peace is a person, and peace is only found in Jesus Christ.
My question to us is simple today: Where do you turn to find peace? Do you know the Prince of Peace? His name is Jesus. Paul says, "Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ, our Lord has done for us."