Scripture References: Philippians 1:1-11
Our Great Privileges in Christ – Continued
We Are the Recipients of Divine Peace
Continuing on, this is a second great privilege that is ours:
“And peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” as Paul wrote in verse 2.
Again, Paul’s words are both a prayer and an encouragement. He was reminding the Philippians that they had received the peace of God through Christ and praying that God’s peace would fill and flood their lives.
The New Testament speaks of peace with God (Romans 5:1) and the peace of God (Philippians 4:7). Peace with God comes when we are saved. The war is over. Peace has been made through the blood of Christ (Colossians 1:20). We have accepted Christ and are no longer in rebellion against God. We have been reconciled to God through Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:18).
There is something more. This reconciliation should be followed by the peace of God that fills our hearts in all circumstances of life. But no one can have the peace of God until he or she has peace with God.
This peace of God in daily life, according to Paul, is “from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” They have a monopoly on it. Only God can give peace to a troubled life, and He mediates this peace through Jesus Christ His Son (Acts 4:12).
Peace with God is God’s grace gift to the unbeliever who repents and accepts Christ. The “peace of God” is God’s grace gift to the believer for all of his or her needs in life.
In his Greek-English lexicon, Joseph Henry Thayer defined “peace,” as Paul used it here, as:
“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 whatever sort that is.”
Thayer added that this is “a conception distinctly peculiar to Christianity.”
Eric Barker was a missionary from Great Britain who served more than fifty years in Portugal.
During World War II, life in Portugal became so dangerous that Barker was advised to send his wife and eight children to England for safety. His sister and her three children were also evacuated on the same ship. Barker remained behind to conclude some missionary matters.
When he stood to preach the next Lord’s Day morning, he told his congregation he had just received news that his family had safely arrived home.
It was not until later that the congregation understood what Barker had meant. They thought he meant his family was safe in England, but that wasn’t the case.
Just before he went into the pulpit to preach that Sunday morning, he had been handed a telegram telling him that a German submarine had torpedoed the ship on which his family was sailing. All passengers had perished. They had arrived safely home, not to England, but to heaven where Jesus had welcomed them!
This peace, which it is our privilege to have, is divine rest in the midst of life’s most difficult struggles. Like Barker, we can have peace in our hearts, regardless of what happens because our peace comes not from our circumstances but from our Lord. He is our peace.
There is here one final privilege that belongs to the Christian. Remembering it and taking it to heart will strengthen us against majoring on minors.
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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