Of the many titles given to Jesus, none are perhaps quite as striking as “the Prince of Peace.” When considering the names and titles which God describes Himself to us as, we should remember that God doesn’t need to name himself for His benefit. Whenever God gives himself a name, he does it for our benefit.
So when the God-breathed, holy Spirit inspired scriptures refers to Jesus as the Prince of Peace, what does that mean? That’s a challenging question to answer, but it’s vital to understand to appreciate the gift of divine peace that Jesus gives to us.
Welcome back again to part three of our series on powerful belief. In part one, we looked at the prophetic report of Isaiah about what Jesus’ sacrifice accomplished for us. We also saw some of the common stumbling blocks that people struggle with when it comes to believing.
In part two, we continued along that theme, and also saw how the words that we speak are connected with what we believe in our heart.
Today, we put all of the pieces from the previous two weeks together, so if you haven’t yet read the last two studies, it might be helpful. By the end of this study today, you will understand how to have truly powerful belief in Christ Jesus. Let’s get started.
One of the biggest areas that I struggled with in the past, was the idea that I was waging a constant battle to “improve myself”.
- Improve my performance – to commit less sinful actions
- To look more like Jesus, meaning basically the same thing, to commit less sinful actions
- To never be comfortable, but always in this constant war to try and become what God wanted me to be.
This feeling was spurned on by the Christians around me who said things like: If you’re comfortable in your Christianity, you’re doing it wrong. A phrase which always struck me as a bit of a dangling-carrot. Did Jesus die to subject us to further futility? Is the work complete or isn’t it? Did Jesus only perform a half-redemption?
I have since come to realize that I am not alone in these questions. And millions of Christians around the globe are on a mental and spiritual treadmill. Constantly running to try and reach an unreachable goal. Never being satisfied, and never feeling any comfort – because if they dared to, they would be a “lukewarm Christian” in their view.
Well, today we are going to examine this, as we have a discussion about being secure in Christ.
In my past, I lived a life in deep fear. It was crippling, it was debilitating, and it caused me to miss out on many things, many pleasant experiences, and many years with family and friends. Things that I couldn’t enjoy because of my fear. Fear that was totally and completely irrational – but it didn’t seem to be so at the time, because I was believing a lie instead of the truth.
Jesus said, in John 8:32, that you shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free. And we have studied that in the past before; but many misinterpret that to mean “you shall know things about the law” – when the people that Jesus was speaking to were Jews… they already knew the Law – and while the Law was true, it was not “the Truth” that would make them free.
The truth that will make them (and us) free today is not about religion, rules, traditions or the laws of the old covenant. The truth that will make us free, is specifically the truth of Jesus Christ, what He has accomplished, and your identity in Him today. That is an identity of His beloved, an identity of His perfect righteousness, and holiness, an identity completely safe and secure in Christ. That is your identity today. And what I want to share with you in this study, is how knowing the truth of His perfect love, can shatter your fears today.
Many times in scripture God has said to not be afraid (it’s not actually 365 times, closer to 110), but really once should be enough for anyone who takes the word of God seriously. However, we still find it difficult to not be afraid in certain circumstances. Often we think that being afraid of certain things is normal. Just a part of being human. However we still have the very words of God that tell us to “fear not”, “do not be afraid”. Was He just saying it for the sake of saying it… or is there something for us to learn and see in His words?
It might be interesting to note that whenever God said to not be afraid, it always accompanied a revelation of Himself… who He is and His nature, character and power. This is key when considering His words. God never tells us to not be afraid, without telling the reason why we do not have to fear. It’s one thing to simply say “aww, don’t be afraid!” – but it’s quite another thing to say “Don’t be afraid, because I am here!” and when God is the one saying it, you now have a very solid foundation upon which to securely stand. What we will be studying today is the security that we have in Christ, and how His words of fear not, are not just empty suggestions, but a reality for us to live in – all because of Jesus.
Do you know that God loves you? Most believers would answer “yes” without thinking. However, I want to go deeper than that. Do you know that you are the beloved of God? Do you know that God loves you more than any other thing or person in existence? Even choosing to sacrifice His dearly beloved Son so that you would be spared? Most believers have a superficial awareness of the love of God for them, but have never really explored the depth of His love.
This is what we will be doing today. Digging deeper into the love of God which is poured out upon us. The matchless love which in Christ Jesus we have full access to today. By seeing the love which God has for you, it will make it easier to experience intimacy with Him, and help us to frame the right mindset for our relationship with God.
There is a division in many Christian circles today; and this division is between the holiness of God, and the Grace which Jesus Christ has brought to humanity. You may have heard it spoken in church or preached from the podium, that “God is a Holy God. His Holiness is uncompromising and His eyes see everything.” This is an absolutely true statement – no doubt about it at all. But what is the intent of the message? For believers in Christ Jesus who have been cleansed from all of their sins, is the holiness of God still something to fear?
I have spoken to many believers who are facing confusion, because they have been taught that they should be in fear regarding the holiness of God and should constantly be weighed-down in remembrance of their sins. To do otherwise would mean that God had “given them up to their sinful lusts” or that they have a “seared conscience”; and we have an entire separate study on the true meaning of a seared conscience for those who are trapped in the psychological jail-cell of sin and guilt because of that particular false teaching.
The question we will be answering today in this study is: Is the Holiness of God separate from the Grace of Christ? Many people think that they are on two opposite ends of the spectrum, as if God has a split-personality disorder. Yet is this what the Bible actually teaches? We will be looking at this today in the scriptures.
How aware are you of your sins? You may have been taught in the past that to be more humble you must maintain a constant awareness of your own sins and shortcomings; and that to do otherwise would be a sign of arrogance and pride. I had been taught that before, and that teaching led me down a very dark road of pain and despair, as I would constantly remind myself of how bad I was and all of the ways that I was not measuring-up to God's perfect standard – all the while thinking that by me doing this, I was pleasing God by staying humble, when in-fact I was actually practicing false-humility.
Today in this study, we are going to be examining this common misconception and wrong belief of remaining sin-conscious, and how Jesus Christ has actually set us free from this bondage; free to be truly humble by exalting Christ instead of our own efforts.