Day 26: Got Peace?

Day 26: How to Have Peace and Assurance in Your Life

Got peace? Got Assurance? Perhaps a better question is, "Do you have the Prince of Peace in your life? If you do, you will have peace. Know Jesus, Know Peace. No Jesus, No peace. 

Astounding! Outstanding! That is what we discovered yesterday regarding the prophecies and claims that Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled in his life. No wonder they call Him “Savior”. In case you have forgotten some of the amazing prophecies He fulfilled in his life, here are a few.

Prophecy                       O.T. Scripture             N.T. Fulfillment

1. Born in Bethlehem           Micah 5:2                   Matthew 2:1 

2. Born of a virgin                Isaiah 7:14                 Matthew 1:18-23

3. Of David's lineage            Jeremiah 23:5            Revelation 22:16

4. Attempted murder 
    by Herod                          Jeremiah 31:15          Matthew 2:16-18

5. Betrayal by a friend         Psalms 41:9               John 13:18, 19, 26

6. Sold for 30 silver coins   Zechariah 11:12         Matthew 26:14-16

7. Crucified                         Zechariah 12:10         John 19:16-18, 37 

8. Lots cast for His 
    clothes                             Psalms 22:18                Matthew 27:35

9. No bones broken             Psalms 34:20                John 19:31-36
                                               Ex. 12:46

10. Buried in rich man's 
     tomb                                  Isaiah 53:9               Matthew 27:57-60

11. Year, day, hour of 
      His death                      Dan. 9:26, 27              Matthew 27:45-50 
                                                Ex. 12:6

 

12. Raised the third day        Hosea 6:2                     Acts 10:38-40

Remember that in the Bible there are over 125 Bible prophecies regarding the Messiah or Christ that Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled in his lifetime. Just for your curiosity, a study was done to determine what the probability of someone fulfilling just 8 or the more than 125 prophecies that Jesus Christ fulfilled in his lifetime. The results were astounding! The odds of someone fulfilling just 8 prophecies are one in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. Wow! No wonder they call Him Savior!

The Claims of Jesus of Nazareth

What about some of the claims of Jesus? What did you make out of them? Here are a few:

Bible Verse:              Claim or Action of Jesus:

Matthew 12:6,8  Jesus Claims to be greater than the temple,  and 
                           Lord of the Sabbath. Since God created the 
                          Sabbath, therefore Jesus claims divinity.

Matthew 23:37 Jesus claims to be intimately connected with the 
                         History of the Israel nation. He speaks as having 
                         observed the whole history of Israel. 

Mark 2:1-12     Jesus claims to be have power to forgive men’s 
                         sins. Jesus claims to be the ultimate judge who 
                         will who will have authority to deny entrance to 
                         the kingdom of Heaven.

Matt. 14:33
John 9:48        Jesus receives worship and does nothing to 
                       discourage it. Compare this with Acts 14:8-18 and 
                       Deut. 6:13.

John 8:58      Jesus Claims two aspects of deity for himself: 1) the 
                     eternal existence of God, and 2) the name of God. See 
                     Exodus 3:13-14. 

John 15:17   Jesus claims to be continuing the work of the Father.

John 15:19   Jesus claims to be the same level of authority as God 
                    the Father.

(Adapted from He Walked Among us … Evidence for the historical Jesus  by Josh Mcdowell and Bill Wilson)

Hopefully by now, you are beginning to see how Jesus is different from the other religious leaders of other world religions. Jesus claimed to be God in human flesh, something no other religious leader and founder has ever done. Jesus is different, and the evidence we have seen point to Him being the Messiah and Christ of the Bible. Let’s continue!

Blessed Assurance

So what does all of this mean? Does it make any difference in your life today? How about in your future? The answer is YES! For one, instead of searching for God, you need to surrender to Him. Instead of experimenting with world religions and other faiths to try and discover who God is, you are going to focus on growing in your relationship with Jesus, the God-man! We have been from the Bible that the most important thing in your life is your relationship with Jesus the Son of God. “He that hath the Son hath life. HE that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” No Jesus, No Life. Know Jesus, Know Life! Amazing! Notice these amazing texts that give us the assurance of God’s love, peace, forgiveness, and promise of eternal life.

“The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying:
      “ Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
      Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” Jeremiah 31:3

^“He will again have compassion on us,
      And will subdue our iniquities.
      You will cast all our sins
      Into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:19

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

‘There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:1

“And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” 1 John 5:11-13

A second and important thing that believing in Jesus as the Messiah and Christ of the Old and New Testaments will do for you is such faith in Jesus will provide you with assurance of salvation. Now tell me, don’t you want to have assurance of salvation? Don’t you want to know that if you die today, you are going to go to Heaven instead of the other place? I know you do, and so do I. When we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of our sinful life, then we “cross from death unto life.” God gives us an assurance that our sins have been forgiven, and gives us the perfect life of Jesus Christ to stand in place of our life. Furthermore, God continues to give us each day more of the life of Jesus so that we grow in our relationship and walk with Jesus every day! That is what being a Christian is all about. It is knowing and loving God more each day! It’s not really about how many good things verses how many bad things you did today. Being a Christian is about knowing God and loving Him more each day by spending time with Jesus Christ in Bible study and prayer just for the purpose of getting to know God better as your friend.

When this happens in your life, you will have a personal assurance that God loves you, that He has forgiven your sins, and that no matter what happens to you on this earth, because you have God’s friendship and know Him by personal experience, “everthing will be ok”, even the bad things that happen to you. So today, seek to know Jesus as your personal Savior, Lord, and Friend. Doing so will lift your burdens, cares, and stresses and give you peace and assurance of God’ favor and love.

Conclusion

I need assurance today, don’t you? I need to know that I have been forgiven of all of my past sins, present sins, and future sins. Even though God is “able to keep us from falling” into sin, we still commit sins sometimes without wanting to. God’s grace is sufficient to lift us up form the pit of sin we have fallen into, and to lift us up and place us on a forgiven, pure, and holy path. I want to know today that Jesus, My Savior and Lord, is also my Friend. I have no fear of a future judgment, because I know the Judge, and my Advocate or Lawyer is Jesus Christ. He has already taken my place on Calvary. The good news is that He has done that for all of us, including you. If you are able to, just bow your head in worship right now and tell God how thankful you are to have Jesus as your Savior, Lord, and Friend, and thank Him for the assurance of salvation you have in Christ.

Practical Steps 

1. Read the Bible and pray for the purpose of getting to know God and growing in your relationship with Jesus Christ, and not because you have to as a chore. 

2. Go for a walk in the park and meditate on God's Love. See his love written on every leaf, cloud, sunset and mountain. 

3. Live without fear. Instead, live in love and share your peace and assurance with someone else. Maybe your spouse, kids, brother, sister, or parent. People need assurance, so share yours with them.

4. Live with a positive attitude. Stop trying to be good. Instead focus  on Jesus who is good because He is God. Remember, "you don't have be good to be saved, but you do have to be saved to be good." Focus on your relationship with Jesus, and He will take care of the rest. 

~ Pastor Sal Garcia