This early morning, I just opened up my Bible and started reading from Paul's letter to the Galatians. I was grabbed by the simplicity of his opening lines - Galatians 1:3-5 NIV:
[3] "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, [4] who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, [5] to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."
As I was just thinking about the line "grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" I had an image float through my mind that the "grace and peace" were gifts from God. I could almost see a big present labelled "grace" and another present labelled "peace". They are for us and they are from God!
Grace is best defined as unmerited favor. In other words, we did nothing to deserve it, nothing! It would be like I purchased a bouquet of beautiful roses and walked out of the store and gave them to a random woman that I had never seen before. That would be a great example of unmerited favor. Now suppose that I actually know the woman, although she doesn't know me. I know quite much about her life, her choices, both good and bad, and still decided to give her the roses. That is closer to an example of what God is presenting us with when He gives us grace. Now take it one step further and suppose that I have unlimited resources and in addition to giving the woman the bouquet of roses, I also pay all her debts off, every last one of them, her car, her mortgage, even all of her maxed out credit cards. Now that is starting to sound like what God has done for each of us! Wow!
Now looking at the gift of peace, the word used here is the Greek word Eirene which is pronounced i-ray'-nay.
Definition:
1. a state of national tranquility
A. exception from the rage and havoc of war
2. peace between individuals, i.e. harmony, concord
3.security, safety, prosperity, felicity, (because peace and harmony make and keep things safe and prosperous)
4. of the Messiah's peace
A. the way that leads to peace (salvation)
5. of Christianity, 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
6. the blessed state of devout and upright men after death
There is much to this word, and one could believe that Paul actually meant them all (except maybe the last one, as He was addressing those who were alive). He was speaking to a persecuted people, the early Christian church was constantly under pressure and attack. It was only after Constantine's conversion in the 300's that the Christian church became a protected and non-persecuted entity. So, tranquility would be a great gift to the people of the church.
Secondly, peace between the members of the Body of Christ, the church in Galatia would be a huge blessing. Peace in any house or organization is blessed, for the opposite is terrible to live through and experience.
Third, personal security and safety is always welcome. There is nothing so unsettling as to feel that you are in danger. Continuing on the third definition - prosperity and felicity (great happiness) are certainly welcome in every home and heart. God is our provider, and understanding that allows us to turn to Him in our need, and unload our burdens that we are yoked with, instead taking up His yoke which is easy and light (Matt 11:28-30).
Fourth, peace is descriptive of our path to salvation. Jesus gave himself for our sins, to rescue us from this present evil age (Gal 1:4). He intends that we understand our salvation experientially.
Fifth, the knowledge of our salvation and God's blessing and His character provides a unique insight that many people do not understand or experience. Paul describes it elsewhere as a peace that passes understanding (Phil 4:7). There is a settled-ness in the soul of one who is saved. The early martyrs were amazing examples of possessing this peace and settled-ness in the face of terrible death. It was recorded that many faced their death at peace and worshipping God, singing while the wild animals attacked them (see Fox's Book of Martyrs). Many who watched were converted to Christianity by the simple observation of the peace and tranquility of those facing death.
All of this, the "grace" and the "peace" are meant to be real gifts that we open and experience! God knows us, and loves us and saves us! Jesus came to pay for our sins (debts) and save us from this evil age. His grace and peace are not a couple of nice sounding words, but rather are life-changing gifts of His love. Let us open them and enjoy them to our fullest expression.
Amen!
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