The foundation is laid

How does Paul see this life? Is he completely absorbed by the immediate need of this world and his own experience, or does he deal with it better? Paul is a human being like us. He knows the hardship in this world. Way he deals with it. Trusting in God, he lets go of hardship. He takes a few steps back, and gains an overview. He takes a different position, shaped not by immediate experience but by God’s promises and by His reality. To be happy, that sometimes only works if you consciously broaden your own horizon and take a different point of view.

In Philippians 4:4-7, Paul promised the church to rejoice. For this world appears in a different light through the gospel of God’s grace. He works into this world and this world is carried by Him. This outlook and this confidence are taken from the Bible. Even in this, of course, not everything is solved – not at all! However, this includes development and outlook. Not everything happens today, and much is only saved for the future.

“Rejoice!” was the invitation to see the world from God’s perspective. Making all our wishes known to Him with thanksgiving will give peace. For in Him our desires are secure. In view of His goal, we ourselves are secure, even if not all wishes are fulfilled.

“Then the peace of God, which is superior to all sense of thought, will keep your hearts and minds as in a stronghold in Christ Jesus.”
Phil 4:7

This is a promise and certainly also Paul’s own experience. Perhaps as Dietrich Bonhoeffer once put it:

“There is fulfilling life despite many unfulfilled desires.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, to Eberhard Bethge, March 19, 1944.

Practical steps

The peace of God is superior to all sense of thought, the apostle wrote. This is his personal experience. But what if we want to take this confidence into everyday life? Then it needs something more. The inner confidence wants to be redirected into practical steps and lived in everyday life. Therefore, the apostle continues with the following verses:

“By the way, brothers,
everything that is true,
everything respectable,
everything what just,
everything what louder,
everything what friendly,
everything that is melodious,
if there is any virtue
Or if there is any praise,
so consider these.”
Phil 4:8

Eight different behaviors Paul mentions. These are the things we should now actively focus on. He recommends this following the call for us to rejoice. One belongs to the other. The statement is complete only when we connect the promise with practice.

These are eight things we should consider. We may have to make a conscious decision to do this many times a day. Something only becomes concrete when we implement it. But if we know that we are carried by joy and by God’s prospect, then perhaps we will succeed in living out more and more of this joy in our daily lives. When God is a blessing to us, we can become a blessing to others.

What is true deserves our approval. What is honorable defines our path in society and in relationships with other people. It is even more true: what is just and loud leaves no room for shadows. That which is kind and well-sounding provides for the good of others. Virtue speaks of morally high values and praise refers to our God and Father, as well as to the people to whom we give thanks. Because this should be clear: Our life cannot be divided into spiritual and non-spiritual parts. Being human and being Christian belong inseparably together. Paul encourages us to live our lives as one.

We can perhaps summarize it simply like this: Loved by God and drawn near through Christ, we may likewise treat others with kindness without reservation, to His glory.

The example of Paul

Paul is not only a theologian. He is also a practitioner. This is about practical living. This is not theoretical, but he immediately sets himself as an example:

“Whatever you have learned and received from me, heard and observed in me, put into practice; then the God of peace will be with you.”
Phil 4:9

If the words are not quite clear, look! Look at me and look at others who are walking as well! Watch and learn. Be encouraged. Elsewhere he writes:

“Become my fellow imitators, brethren, and look to those who walk as you have us for an example”.
Phil 3:17

Paul goes all out and wants to include us there. We should learn to put the gospel into practice. This is linked to a promise: “then the God of peace will be with you”.

The peace of God with us

Already the apostle had mentioned that the peace of God will keep our hearts. But here in verse 9 he goes a step further. Here it says that the God of peace will be with us. In this, two things are noteworthy. First, it is not the peace of God, but he speaks of the “God of peace.” It is the God who is characterized by peace. It is no longer about the state of “peace”, but about a person, about the “God” whose nature is determined by peace. Here we are taken into the relationship that is itself characterized by peace. When we come near God, peace applies because He created peace and because He will create peace (Col 1:20).

If we live our lives in accordance with God’s promises and reckon with them in our daily lives, this will positively influence our lives. It will first inspire our confidence, our peace of heart. But it will also look for expression in everyday life. Just as Paul described it before.

Suddenly we are no longer the center of attention ourselves, but our lives are in His light. Then everything changes. Then our worries will also receive a different weighting. This is not escaping the world, but experiencing the world from God’s perspective. Soberly, we can’t help but look at the world from “any perspective.” We adopt ways of looking at things. However, it does not have to come to a standstill there. We would do well to consciously choose such a perspective. This is what the preaching of the Gospel is for. We should learn to look at ourselves and this world from God’s point of view. If we act on it, the world lights up in different colors.

Rejoice!