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CHRISTIAN COMMENTARY<\/strong><\/p>\n If you were asked to describe our world in one word, would you choose the word \u201cpeaceful\u201d? I\u2019m guessing there are a lot of other words that come to mind before peaceful. Your list may include words like chaotic, broken, unstable, frightening, or disintegrating.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n As a nation, we’ve lost confidence in our government, medical institutions, and scientific exploration. And many have lost confidence in religion, with church attendance at an all-time low. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Right now, the world is anything but peaceful.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n But we all desire and need peace. So many people look for peace in superficial things, including drugs, alcohol, entertainment, and money. And yet, they still feel empty.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Truthfully, we\u2019ve been looking for peace in all the wrong places and the world cannot offer true, lasting peace. We need a peace that isn\u2019t of this world.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Other-worldly peace is just what Jesus offers us. On Palm Sunday, a week before He was to go to the cross, suffer and die, Jesus took His disciples aside and gave them an amazing promise, saying, \u201cPeace I leave with you; my peace I give you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n This is a remarkable promise. \u00a0<\/p>\n Think about what Jesus was going through when He made this promise. He had spent the last three years of his life hounded by the haters and suffocated by persecutors and oppressors. There was constant pressure on Jesus\u2019 life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite all this, Jesus had peace. It is this peace that He invited His disciples \u2013 and by extension us \u2013 to share in.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Today, Christ offers the world three kinds of peace: \u00a0<\/p>\n 1) Peace with <\/i>God<\/b>\u00a0<\/p>\n Christ offers peace with God. In Romans 5:1-10, Paul tells us that all human beings begin as enemies with God and that it is only through faith in Christ that we can have peace with God. In fact, it was Jesus\u2019 death and Resurrection that made this peace possible.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Jesus knew this was the case. He knew His death was the only way to reconcile a sinful people with a righteous God. This is what Christ came to do and it is why, hanging on the cross a week after giving His disciples His peace, He could proclaim, \u201cIt is finished!\u201d The war is over. Peace between God and humanity is now possible.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 2)\u00a0The peace of <\/i>God <\/b>\u00a0<\/p>\n Christ also offers his followers the peace of God. Earlier in John 14, Jesus gives an interesting instruction to His disciples: \u201cDo not let your hearts be troubled.\u201d This is a daunting command and I imagine all the disciples wanted to do was ask, \u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n We turn to Isaiah 26:3 for the answer: \u201cYou will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.\u201d Jesus is saying that our minds are crucial to experiencing God\u2019s peace.\u00a0With our minds fixed on Him, we can be at peace in this chaotic and anxious world. \u00a0<\/p>\n Paul picks up this theme in Philippians 4:8-9. He tells the Church, \u201cFinally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable\u2014if anything is excellent or praiseworthy\u2014think about such things.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The result? \u201cThe God of peace will be with you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n 3) The peace God will bring when Christ returns<\/b>\u00a0<\/p>\n Finally, we\u2019re offered the peace God will bring when Christ comes back to dwell among us. \u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s no coincidence that one of Jesus\u2019 titles is \u201cPrince of Peace.\u201d\u00a0We are promised that the world won\u2019t have true, lasting peace until Christ comes again. But when he does, Isaiah 2:4 tells us strange things will happen: \u201cThe wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n What is Isaiah saying?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n He is saying there will be peace that our minds can\u2019t yet even fathom. Deep, lasting, transcendent peace. A peace this world can\u2019t explain or recreate.\u00a0<\/p>\n But it\u2019s a peace that makes perfect sense if you know Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n At the very end of John 16, the very end of Palm Sunday, Jesus gives His disciples a powerful promise. Today, over 2,000 years later, Jesus extends to us the same transcendent promise of peace saying, \u201cI have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart. I have overcome the world.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n Dr. Jack Graham<\/strong> is the Senior Pastor of\u00a0<\/em>Prestonwood Baptist Church<\/em><\/a>, one of the largest and fastest-growing churches in America. He is the author of the acclaimed\u00a0<\/em>Unseen<\/em><\/a>, and his\u00a0<\/em>PowerPoint Ministries<\/em><\/a>\u00a0broadcasts are available in 92 countries and are heard daily in more than 740 cities. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n