247. Abundance of Peace and Truth
Jeremiah 33:6b [I] will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.
God hides His presence because of sin; God promises to reveal His presence because of forgiveness of sin. For this reason, the Gospel is vitally important. The Gospel brings God close to us, while Sin brings God further away from us. This is why it is so important for believers to attend a gospel-preaching church regularly. This truth must be believed: sin separates; forgiveness unites. Repentance believes sin is real and harmful; faith believes forgiveness removes sin and the separation from God that sin caused.
In the Gospel God reveals the abundance of peace and truth. Jesus is our peace, and Jesus is the Truth. In fact, Jesus is the only way to true and lasting peace: this peace is peace with God, peace with others; and peace within the self. Jesus gives His peace, not as the world gives. The Peace of God is not only abundant, but it is also eternal. Worldly peace is transient and short-lived. God’s peace is always available and does not ever end. God’s peace is abundant and deep and strong. It is deep and strong enough to provide a solid foundation for living. It is so deep that the outward circumstances of life cannot touch it. Rather when trouble and peace come into contact peace always wins out. It is so deep that inward turmoil cannot reach it or take it away. No matter what else is going on around us or in us, peace remains and guards our hearts and minds. We may become distracted by the fears, doubts, worries, anxieties, troubles and struggles of living in a world of sin, but the peace of God passes understanding and keeps us in Him. God reveals abundance of peace.
Jesus is the Truth. The Gospel is Truth. This truth is absolute and absolutely certain. It is purely true and more real than all the lies of the world. Abundant truth is reliable and a life can be built on it. Truth is not relative or elusive. We do not have to ask, with Pilate, “What is truth?” We know the truth; we have the truth, for we have Jesus and His Gospel. This truth is abundant. God has revealed it to us in His Word. God is not hidden; God is revealed. And all God’s promises are open, available, ready to be received, activated by faith, and energized by the Spirit. The forgiveness of sins reveals the goodness of the hidden God.