Sunday Recap (How do the words of Jesus give us peace?)
This past Sunday at Evident Grace, we looked John 16:15-33. Those verses include Jesus’ well-known declaration,
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
And while these words include a tremendous promise, Jesus has so much more to say surrounding them. So, we looked at this Big Picture Question:
How do the words of Jesus give us peace?
And we answered it in this way…
Jesus tells us plainly about the Father.
Jesus knows all things.
Jesus overcomes the world.
As Jesus is speaking to His disciples, He begins to speak plainly, with no metaphors or figurative language. This was not always Jesus’ way, but at the end, He wanted to make sure the disciples understood Him clearly. And what does He have to say when He speaks clearly? He teaches the disciples that the Father loves them. They will be able to stand before the Father without fear one day. Jesus will not have to stand between them, and they can stand without fear. What an incredible promise for them and for us. Those are words of peace – standing before God with no fear, no guilt, no judgment.
When Jesus says that, the disciples declare, “Now we know you are from God because you know all things.” What a declaration. Jesus knows everything. Jesus is from God. These are peace-giving words. When we are confused about our lives, when we don’t understand what God has done or is doing, our only comfort has to be that our loving Savior knows all things. He makes plans and directs our lives in God-oriented ways that our beyond us at times. But knowing that He is from God, that He is gracious, gives us a hope and trust to endure. Knowing these words gives us peace.
And finally, Jesus tells them that He has overcome this world. This world is full of pain, death, and suffering. We struggle through it. And while this promise does not say that we will avoid the pain and death and suffering, we know that we are eternally and spiritually protected because Jesus overcame our sin and the sin and the world by His death on the cross. This is our peace as we move into a hurtful and sin-ridden world.
As the sermon came to an end, we concluded things this way.
Truth: Jesus’ words give us peace because He teaches us about the Father, because Jesus knows all things, and because Jesus has overcome the world.
Application: Living knowing Jesus speaks words of peace to you so that you do not have to fear this world and all its pain.
Action: Pray for peace.
Now having said that. Do what God told you to do. Read the Bible.
Avoiding the harshness of the above action happens when we think about this. Jesus, our living word, becomes more real and more comforting to us as we study the scriptures, and we often lack peace because of our lack of loving God’s words.
I hope you enjoyed the sermon, and if you missed it or want to explore it deeper, you can find it online now. I look forward to seeing all of you again this week and on Sunday.