War and Peace!


For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.

2 Peter 2:4-9

Adam and Eve made the choice to invite sin and rebellion into the world. It was an awful choice that brought pain and suffering and death to every baby ever born. Interestingly, we know nothing of Adam and Eve’s “walk with the Lord” after the Fall of Man. We are only left to speculate, but I think that their lives were miserable. When they sinned Eve blamed the serpent and Adam blamed Eve. I seriously doubt that the “blame game” stopped after that.

I think Adam and Eve became bitter and hardened old people who would not have been a pleasure to be around. They were the first to live lives that were given over to Satan. They were the first to sin and I think the first to display the ugly effects of sin in their lives.

All of the other Bible characters are depicted on the time line of struggling against sin and various attempts to return to God and live in His favor.

It is a painful struggle. Consider Joseph, Job, Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Noah, Jonah and David. The struggle does not end with the coming of Jesus. The war continues to rage with John, Peter, Paul and a long list of men and women who engaged against the rage but suffered daily in their pursuit of righteousness.

If you are honest, you know that the struggle against sin and unrighteousness continues today in you and in me! I can truthfully say that in my heart I desire to stand sinless before the Lord. But my flesh desires to satisfy itself with many things. I daily stand before the tree in the Garden of Eden and rationalize that “just one bite” won’t hurt anything! Then of course like Adam and Eve I look for someone else to blame. But as a Christian I am awakened to the fact that my salvation is based on the fact that Jesus took the blame for my sin! Jesus broke the sin cycle as He not only took the blame, he also paid the penalty!

The Peace of God which goes beyond all understanding is not just a frame of mind. The Peace of God is the end of the War that has raged since the Garden of Eden. Let God’s Peace rule in your heart today so that you can walk away from the Tree and live victoriously!