Sanctified life
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
I would like to return to what is essentially a prayer of Paul at the end of his letter to the Thessalonians. In Hebrews 13 we read, “Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (vv. 20-21). The Lord Jesus Christ died for us, and the God of peace in righteousness raised Him up.
Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed (Psalm 85:10)
The God of peace wants us to know His presence (Philippians 4:9) and the sanctification it produces.
Sanctification involves separation to God and separation from evil in all its forms. It is about holiness, and equips us for the worship and service of God. It produces Christ-likeness. And it affects the whole of our beings, spirit, soul and body. Our spirit is that invisible part of us that makes us conscious of God and able to communicate with Him. Our soul embraces our emotions and personalities. Our bodies physically express who we are. Together they describe our whole being. We were made by God to have fellowship with God. When sin separated people from God, how did God bring about salvation? By entering His creation in the Person of Jesus Christ. In the words of Philippians 2, He came “in the likeness of men”. The Lord Jesus took a body:
Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:
“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me” (Hebrews 10:5).
In His body, He expressed the fullness of God’s love and grace, and it was His body that was given for us. The Lord Jesus expressed His holy deep emotions in His soul: “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour” (John 12:27). And the last words Jesus spoke on the cross were addressed to His Father at the moment He laid down His life for our redemption: “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit’” (Luke 23:46).
The Lord devoted Himself, body, soul and spirit, to the Father’s will and to accomplish the work of salvation. Now, as the redeemed people of God, we are enabled to respond to God in the entirety of our beings. It is the God of Peace Himself who sanctifies us, spirit, soul and body. He protects us from the spiritual, emotional and physical dangers we face in a fallen world. This work looks on to the coming of the Lord Jesus when we shall know salvation in all its fullness. God’s work is to make us more like our Saviour, who pleased God in all the aspects of His life in this world. This morning we come to remember the Saviour who gave Himself for us and to “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 29:2). Peace reigns in our hearts as we look up to the God of Peace who has glorified the Great Shepherd of the sheep. The Holy Spirit magnifies the Lord Jesus as we bow before Him, and we are moved to live for our Saviour, spirit, soul and body.
