Pastor Aina taught on «Shalom»
Pastor Aina Torp
In the summer worship service of Oslochurch yesterday, Pastor Aina Torp taught on the Biblical concept of «Shalom»:
- Jesus established the order, the shalom, of His Father in heaven, by tearing down the old! He LOVED people, and SHOOK foundations and old mindsets, tearing down spiritual and religious strongholds that held people captive.
- What comes to your mind when you read the word «peace» in the Bible? asked the pastor.
- Our natural minds often think of the absence of outward conflict, the end of all wars, harmony in our emotions, silence and quiet, the end of outer things that disturbs us in any way.
- When the Bible talks about «peace«, the root word is often the word «shalom», which comes from the word «shalam», meaning: to be complete, perfect and full. So even though the word also implies all of the above, it is far from limited to that or dependent on those things! When Jesus says; «My peace I leave you, not the peace of this world, but My peace…» , he actually meant that He had peace for us that is not dependent on outer circumstances. What is this peace? Where do we find this «completeness», «perfectness» and «fullness»? Only in our relationship with Him! underscored Pastor Aina.
- As children of God and co-heirs with Christ, we were meant to draw our peace, which surpasses the peace that this world can offer, from our relationship with Him. From knowing that God is for us, and that He is far above every circumstance and situation. Him being far above our circumstances does not mean that He is some place far away and doesn’t care what we are going thru. Quite the opposite: He is right here with us, but He is not limited by the things of this world. He has given us His kingdom and, with it, His promises AND His authority. That means that we have everything we need to live in perfect harmony and fullness in the midst of chaos, conflict and war. Is it always easy? NO. Jesus never said it would be easy. Carrying all the sin and diseases of the entire human race, He definitely had the hardest time of us all… But He knew His Father, and lived in constant intimacy with Him, not doing anything except what He saw His Father doing. That’s what gave Him the strength and grace to fulfill His destiny as the Son of God, being human. He didn’t go around trying to create peace by pleasing everyone so no one would be upset…. No: He established the order, the shalom, of His Father in heaven, by tearing down the old! He LOVED people, and SHOOK foundations and old mindsets, tearing down spiritual and religious strongholds that held people captive.
- We must not fall into the trap of thinking that there is any contradiction between the peace that Jesus talked about, and the fact that we are in a war. We are supposed to engage in this war, and in the midst of it be full of His shalom: His direction, His fullness, His wisdom, His love, HIS DIVINE ORDER, established Pastor Aina Torp.
