On a Sunday evening some 2,000 years ago, the disciples of Jesus were huddled together in fear, hiding from those they thought might call for their death, as they has called for the execution of their Master. They’d seen Him crucified and His body laid in a tomb. For them, suddenly life had become empty and meaningless. But out of nowhere, the risen, living Lord Jesus appeared to them! And in that moment, the lives of these 10 disciples were forever changed!
Our living Savior is also ready to change lives today, like He changed the lives of those 10 disciples! The Good News we proclaim is not that Jesus lived and died, but that Jesus died and now lives! If one comes to Christ, placing their faith and trust in Him, they’ll discover, by virtue of His presence in their lives, that like the disciples, their lives have changed! Or as the great missionary, Hudson Taylor said it, their life has been “exchanged.” Like the disciples, they exchange . . .
1. Fear for Peace - v. 19
Jesus entered a place dominated by fear and flooded it with peace! And when one allows Christ into his life, he finds, by virtue of His presence, Jesus will flood his life with peace! Part of the reason is, when we turn to Christ, we go from being at war to being at peace with God.
“You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.” - Colossians 1:21b-22 (NLT)
In the center of the Seal of the President of the United States is a dominant likeness of the American Eagle. A bundle of arrows, a symbol of strength and war, is clenched in the Eagle’s left claw. An Olive branch is held in the Eagle’s right claw, signifying peace.
Today the Eagle’s head is turned to his right with an intense focus on peace. Prior to the term of President Harry S. Truman, the Eagle’s head was turned to his left with a focus on war.
When one turns from sin to the Savior, from trusting in self to trusting in Christ, the focus of his life is changed from turmoil and conflict to peace and serenity! And not only are we at peace with God, we possess the peace of God, which Paul describes as a “peace that passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).
Two artists were once asked to paint a picture illustrating serenity. The first painted a beautiful evening scene. ln the foreground was a lake, its surface calm, surrounded by meadows that stretched as far as the eye could see. Cattle were gently grazing in the lush fields. Near the lake stood a small cottage, beautifully reflected in the quiet waters. The sun was setting, bathing the sky in shades of scarlet. Everything about the picture was serene.
The second artist chose a different path. He painted a wild, stormy scene with heavy black clouds rolling ominously overhead. Lightning flashed through the darkness as torrential rain lashed the setting. A raging river plunged over a high cliff in the center of the portrait, its waters crashing against the rocks in a never ending display of power. But nearby, in the shelter of a small crevice, a small bird sat secure on her nest, absolutely sheltered from the chaos that raged around her. The second painting depicted serenity better than the first. It was no contest.
Though chaos may reign around the child of God, because of the presence of Christ, peace can reign within us.
2. Sorrow for Joy - v. 20
When the disciples realized that the Lord was with them, they were overjoyed. Likewise, when Christ moves into yow life, your awareness of His presence in your life will fill you with a sense of joy!
“Joy is not the absence of suffering, but the presence of God.” - Anonymous
John 16:22 tells us that by virtue of the presence of the risen Lord in our lives, we will rejoice, and Jesus said, “no one will take away your joy.” I like the fact that the Bible says the disciples were “overjoyed.” In other words, they “overdosed” on joy. Such is the nature of the joy that comes by virtue of the presence of the risen Lord in our lives. It is a joy described by Peter as “Joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8).
When it comes to joy, one needs to realize that the devil’s agenda and the Lord’s agenda are very different.
“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” - John 10:10 (NLT)
“When it comes to joy, you can be the devil’s victim or Christ’s victor.” - Anonymous
Days before Easter, Napoleon was about to take the Austrian village of Feldkirch. The villagers prayed for God to deliver them the night before Easter Sunday. On Easter morning, church bells rang to call the village to worship. Napoleon heard the bells but didn’t realize it was Easter. He thought the bells signaled the arrival of Austrian reinforcements. So he had his armies retreat.
The presence of Jesus always makes our joy stealing enemy flee!
Focusing on Jesus’ presence always thwarts the Devil’s purpose!
3. Meaninglessness for Purpose - v. 21; 23
The disciples went from not knowing what to do to having a purpose in life. When we invite Christ into lives, we also receive a purpose in life, which is to represent Him in the world by seeking to live as He did!
It’s only living with a sense of divine purpose that enables me to reach my full potential! Too many are living life without purpose. They go from one project to another, finding that accomplishment doesn’t necessarily guarantee fulfillment. No, it’s living with purpose that brings fulfillment, and through a relationship with the living Jesus, we can possess a sense of divine purpose that brings eternal fulfillment!
“A purpose is not a goal, A goal is something that can be reached A purpose is never achieved. It exists before you and lives on after you’re gone, Purpose is a direction - like west. No matter how far you go, there’s still more west to travel . . . You use purpose to set your course in life. It’s the quality around which you center yourself.” - Richard J. Leider & David A. Shapiro, Repacking Your Bags
What did Jesus mean in verse 23? This verse is similar to Matthew 16:19 and Matthew 18:18, which says that
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[a]bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[b] loosed in heaven.” - Matthew 16:19 (NIV)
Both footnotes read, “Or will have been.” We’re empowered to declare what God has decreed. In the Matthew passages, we can declare that God has decreed the power of Satan to be bound and the power of the Holy Spirit to be loosed.
So it is here. We can declare to all who believe the message of the Good News what God has decreed, that they are forgiven; and to those who will not believe that they are not.
“If you forgive the sins of anyone they are forgiven [because of their faith]; if you retain the sins of anyone, they are retained [and remain unforgiven because of their unbelief].” - John 20:23 (Amplified)
But notice that we have a responsibility in this, for we can choose not to share the Good News. If there is anything with which we should be generous, it’s the Good News! This is our purpose! This is our mission!
4. Weakness for Power - v. 22
Through their encounter with the risen Lord, the disciples received the Holy Spirit for the purpose of sustaining them until the day of Pentecost, when He would come into their lives to indwell them forever. Jesus, in speaking of that day said, “You shall receive power, after the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8).
From that day until this, the Bible teaches that each one who receives Christ as their Savior has the living Lord Jesus dwelling within them through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Through the power of the person present within us we can fulfill the purpose the Lord has in mind for us and experience His joy and peace on a daily basis!
“During the middle of a five year drought in Zimbabwe, I was in the garden trying to keep the remaining plants alive by pouring left over dishwater on them - when it began to rain. For days, we had been hiring a boy to haul buckets of water on our small plot just to keep the green plants alive. It took him all day to get the bucket full and cover the half-acre plot. But in five minutes of heavy rain the whole garden was soaked, the entire yard, all of the neighbor’s yards, and in fact, the entire city had been soaked. It would have taken thousands of hours, millions of buckets and hundreds of people to do what God did in five minutes. That is the difference in whether we do something in our own strength or in the power of God’s Spirit.” - Missionary Ilene Bradberry
On our own, it’s easy to fall into sin and difficult to rise to victory. But by the power of the Spirit, what was easy (falling into sin) is made difficult and what was difficult (rising to victory) is made easy!
Conclusion: Is your life lacking peace? Joy? Purpose? Power? I have good news for you! Jesus is alive! Let Him into your life today and let His presence change your life as you exchange fear for peace, sorrow for joy, meaninglessness for purpose, and weakness for power!
Let the presence of the living Lord fill your empty life today!
