\n<\/strong>
\nSeeking the Peace of Christ
\nChristianity and Peacemaking <\/strong><\/p>\n
by Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts Seeking the Peace of Christ: Introduction<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n This is the first part of a series I\u2019m calling: Seeking the Peace of Christ: Christianity and Peacemaking<\/em>. <\/span><\/p>\n Peace is essential to Christianity. There can be no doubt about it. Consider, for example, these passages from the New Testament Gospels <\/span><\/p>\n Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:14, KVJ)<\/span><\/p>\n Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. (John 14:27)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Then there are these verses from the writings of the Apostle Paul: <\/span><\/p>\n Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom 5:1)<\/span><\/p>\n For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Rom 14:17)<\/span><\/p>\n Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:6-7).<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Of course then there\u2019s the classic statement of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount: <\/span><\/p>\n Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matt 5:9)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n So peace is essential to Christianity, and Christians must surely seek to be peacemakers. Right? <\/span><\/p>\n Unfortunately, it\u2019s not that simple . . . or, at least, we Christians have complicated what was meant to be simple. When it comes to the matter of Christianity, peace, and peacemaking, we encounter several perplexing problems. Three stand out in particular.<\/span><\/p>\n First, theologically conservative American Christians (like me) have tended to think of Christ\u2019s peace mainly if not exclusively in terms of personal peace with God and the inner peace that follows from this divine relationship. Now let me say at the outset of this series on Seeking the Peace of Christ<\/em> that I passionately believe that you and I can have personal peace with God through Christ. I also believe that one result of this peace is deep, inner tranquility and a sense of well-being, the of God \u201cwhich surpasses all understanding\u201d (Phil 4:7). I would never deny the wonder of these dimensions of peace, and will not do so in this series. But I would contend that the peace of God, as revealed in Scripture, includes much more than we evangelicals sometimes think. It\u2019s not that we are wrong in what we believe about God\u2019s peace, but that we believe far too little.<\/span><\/p>\n The second problem with peace is that we who speak English tend to think of peace in negative terms, as the absence of war or other kinds of conflict. When two sides in a war come together and sign a treaty, then peace has been achieved. Or when a husband and wife finishing fighting, we might say that have worked out peace in their relationship. But this sense of peace falls short of the biblical vision. As you\u2019ll see in this series, the Bible speaks of peace as something far broader and grander than merely the absence of conflict.<\/span><\/p>\n The third problem when it comes to Christianity and peace is that the language of peacemaking is often used among more theologically and\/or politically liberal Christians to describe a certain kind of political stance in the world. Peacemaking is often aligned with full on pacifism, or, at least, with a strongly pacifistic anti-military stance. In my experience in a mainline denomination, so-called peacemaking often goes hand in hand with vigorous, partisan criticism of the United States. Now I\u2019m not suggesting that this political perspective is necessarily right or wrong. But it does confuse matters if we want to understand the biblical notions of peace and peacemaking. The way many Christians use this language may keep those who use it from missing the biblical sense(s) of peace. Moreover, evangelical Christians can associate peacemaking with liberal theology, while politically conservative Christians can assume that one who talks about peacemaking embraces a liberal political agenda. Bible-believing Christians can almost forget that Jesus was the one who blessed the peacemakers, and therefore we had better figure out what this means so we can join them. <\/span><\/p>\n As we begin this series on Seeking the Peace of Christ<\/em>, my goal is uncomplicated. I want to grapple with the biblical understanding of peace, so that we might experience the fullness of God\u2019s peace in Christ and be agents of peace \u2013 yes, peacemakers \u2013 in the world. Tomorrow I\u2019ll begin to lay out the biblical vision of peace by starting at the beginning. <\/span><\/p>\n Paradise: A Vision of Peace<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n I have seen Paradise . . . well, sort of. Let me explain.<\/span><\/p>\n A few years ago my wife and I were camping in Kings Canyon National Park, a deep valley in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. On the first morning of our stay, we packed a lunch and headed off along a trial that ran beside the South Fork of the Kings River. As we meandered through the pine and cedar forest, the trail gradually climbed up the narrowing canyon. After about four miles of uphill hiking we came to upon the dazzling cascades of Mist Falls. Suitably named, the falls cooled us with the mist that showered our trail. Clambering up the trail that had become quite steep, we finally arrived at the top of the falls. <\/span><\/p>\n Before us lay an exquisite sight. The valley above the falls became wider and flatter. The river that rushed through the gorge below was now placid as it flowed gently between verdant forests and blooming meadows. The granite walls of the glacier-carved valley shone in the bright Sierra sunlight. Locating a perfect spot for our picnic lunch, Linda and I drank in the tranquility of our heavenly realm. No wonder it was called \u201cParadise Valley.\u201d And, no wonder that peace should pervade a place called \u201cparadise.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Paradise and peace: these two ideas are inseparable. I can\u2019t imagine being in paradise that was anything other than peaceful. Moreover, when I think of experiencing real peace, that sounds like paradise to me. I know lots of people who would readily agree: the mom with young children who cherishes those rare moments when her kids are asleep and the house is quiet; the harried manager who takes an extra minute in the stillness of his car just to calm his soul after work; the high school student whose jammed schedule allows no time for sleep. Then there are folks who find themselves in heartbreaking conflicts with family or friends. Others experience a war on the inside as old fears and wounds haunt them every day. Many in our world today confront life-threatening violence in their communities. Peace in relationships, in our hearts, in daily life \u2013 now that would be paradise indeed.<\/span><\/p>\n Most of us are familiar with the Old Testament word for \u201cpeace.\u201d It is shalom<\/em>. For Hebrew speakers, shalom<\/em> has a much richer and fuller significance than the English word \u201cpeace.\u201d Whereas we sometimes limit the idea of peace to the absence of conflict, shalom<\/em> includes far more. It comprises notions of wholeness, completeness, soundness, and prosperity. The Psalmist sings, \u201cThose who are gentle and lowly will possess the land; they will live in abundant peace\u201d (Ps 37:11, literal translation). God\u2019s promise of blessing to Israel through Isaiah uses similar language: \u201cI will make your towers of sparkling rubies and your gates and walls of shining gems. I will teach all your citizens, and their peace will be great\u201d (Isa 54:12-13, literal translation). <\/span><\/p>\n In the Old Testament, peace is also inseparable from righteousness and justice. These latter concepts are embodied in one Hebrew word that connotes right-relationship between two or more parties. This word is usually translated as \u201crighteousness,\u201d referring not only to doing morally correct deeds, but also to living rightly in relationship with others. Righteousness is also closely connected to justice, because the righteous person acts with justice in the civil or judicial sphere. The necessary link between righteousness and peace can be seen, for example, in Isaiah\u2019s vision of a future day when a righteous king will reign over Israel and God\u2019s Spirit will be poured out upon the people: <\/span><\/p>\n Then the wilderness will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will become a lush and fertile forest. Justice will rule in the wilderness and righteousness in the fertile field. And this righteousness will bring peace. Quietness and confidence will fill the land forever (Isa 32:15-17, NLT).<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n With a similar picture in mind, the Psalmist looks forward to a time with God\u2019s salvation pervades the nation. It that day one will proclaim, \u201cUnfailing love and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed!\u201d (Psa 85:10).<\/span><\/p>\n In biblical perspective, therefore, the absence of conflict is only the bare beginning of peace. True peace includes personal wholeness, corporate righteousness, political justice, and prosperity for all creation. That\u2019s exactly the way God intended things to be when he created his garden, his paradise. (Our word \u201cparadise\u201d comes from a Greek word that described the elegant parks of ancient Persian kings.) Perhaps no term better describes God\u2019s perfect paradise than \u201cpeaceful,\u201d a world full of wholeness, righteousness, justice, and prosperity.<\/span><\/p>\n The creation accounts in Genesis reveal the peaceful dimensions of God\u2019s masterpiece. Not only do we find no evidence of conflict in the first chapter of Genesis, but also we sense that all relationships are sound as creation works together to fulfill God\u2019s purposes. That same picture is confirmed and clarified in Genesis 2. There creation is pictured as a garden both beautiful to the eyes and filled with delicious food (Gen 2:8-9). Adam will work in the garden and it will produce abundant fruit with minimal toil. The right-relationship between God and Adam is seen in God\u2019s generous provision for Adam, in God\u2019s ongoing care for him, and in his complete obedience to God\u2019s command (Gen 2:18-25). When the Lord creates a female companion for the man, the relationship between the two people is also full of peace. They share intimate fellowship with each other, naked in body and soul, completely without shame (Gen 2:25). In their lack of shame we also sense the peace that fills their own souls. <\/span><\/p>\n The Old Testament conception of peace is closely related to the New Testament notion of fellowship. In my book, After \u201cI Believe,\u201d<\/em> I showed that the New Testament Greek word for fellowship, koinonia<\/em>, might better be translated as \u201cintimate fellowship.\u201d When we have peace with God, we live in intimate fellowship with him. Similarly, peaceful (peace-full) human relationships are also characterized by koinonia<\/em>. What could be more intimate than the fellowship shared by the man and the woman in Genesis 2? Peace, intimate fellowship, righteousness, justice, these interrelated qualities characterize God\u2019s perfect paradise. They reveal God\u2019s intentions for how we are to live. In a nutshell, we\u2019re to live in peace.<\/span><\/p>\n Paradise Lost and Peace Destroyed<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n I my last post I showed that peace, in biblical perspective, is closely related to the idea of paradise. God created the world as a place of peace: justice, harmony, fellowship. Through the end of Genesis 2, peace prevailed in God\u2019s good creation.<\/span><\/p>\n Unfortunately, however, the story doesn\u2019t end in Genesis 2. Even as my wife and I had to leave Paradise Valley eventually (see my last post), the first humans couldn\u2019t remain in God\u2019s perfect creation. Linda and I left voluntarily, however. Adam and Even were kicked out of their paradise. And, whereas Linda and I left our valley in its pristine state, Adam and Eve ruined everything, not only for themselves, but for the rest of us as well. In fact, they disrupted the peacefulness of God\u2019s entire creation.<\/span><\/p>\n How did this terrible thing happen? When he was created, Adam was told by the Lord that he could enjoy the fruit of all the trees in paradise, save one. The fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he was to avoid completely (Gen 2:16-17). When the serpent enticed the woman to eat some of the forbidden fruit, she disobeyed God\u2019s command and was joined by her husband in an illicit feast (Gen 3:6). All of sudden, peacefulness was shattered.<\/span><\/p>\n Immediately after they disobeyed God\u2019s command, Adam and Even felt shame about being naked. They felt the need to hide from one another and from themselves. They no longer had peace between each other or even in their own souls (Gen 3:7). When God came to enjoy fellowship with them, they tried to hide from God as well (Gen 3:8). Sin had also destroyed human peace with God. <\/span><\/p>\n Once God found the cowering couple, he explained the dire results of their actions. The intimate partnership God had designed for man and woman would be replaced with oppressive domination. The woman would fulfill God\u2019s command to bear children, but only with intense pain (Gen 3:16). The man would also continue to till a garden, but now he would fight against thorns and thistles as creation itself turns against him. Whereas God intended humans to live forever in his peace, now they would die, both physically and spiritually (Gen 3:19). Finally, as the ultimate demonstration of what sin has destroyed, God banished Adam and Even from paradise. They could no longer enjoy the perfect, peaceful creation God had intended for them.<\/p>\n The story of Adam and Even grips our hearts because it is not simply an ancient account of two people and their tragic mistake. It is our story as well. It is our personal tragedy. We share in this story both because Adam and Eve are our spiritual ancestors and because we mirror their behavior in our own lives. Like the first humans, we have rebelled against God. Thus we live outside of God\u2019s paradise. We yearn for the peace for which we were created, but never experience that peace, except in bits and pieces. Though we were meant to live in peace with God, our neighbors, our world, and even ourselves, we experience brokenness in all of these relationships.<\/span><\/p>\n One of the things I find most attractive about Christianity is its realistic appraisal of human life. Some religious traditions minimize or even deny the reality of sin and its results. Suffering and evil are considered to be illusory. The Bible shows us, on the contrary, that these sorry states are all too real. God doesn\u2019t try to sweep them under the rug of religious pretense, and neither should we. Thus when terrible things happen in our world, when terrorists murder innocent people, when tsunamis or hurricanes wipe out whole cities, when rich CEO\u2019s steal from their hapless shareholders, Christians should not be surprised. Sad, yes; horrified, indeed; but not surprised. <\/span><\/p>\n Yet, at the same time, we must not fall pretty to cynicism or fatalism. Though we face the pain of this world head on, we don\u2019t surrender to it. Unlike some philosophies and religions, we do not believe that suffering is essence of material existence. Beneath, the reality of suffering there is the goodness of God\u2019s creation. That the bottom, there is God\u2019s peace. As Christians, we live fully in this world, facing its brokenness head on, but not trapped forever within it. Though peace was truly destroyed in the fall of humankind, the Creator of peace remains. And he has a plan to reestablish peace throughout his creation. I\u2019ll have more to say about this in my next post. <\/span><\/p>\n The Peacemaking Mission of Jesus<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n So far in this series I\u2019ve shown that God created this world with the intention that it be full of peace. But human sin twisted God\u2019s creation, so that brokenness now pervades that which God had intended to be so peaceful. Yet God has not given up on his creation, nor on his creatures.<\/span><\/p>\n In the Old Testament God promised to mend that which had been lost in the Fall by reinstituting peace on earth. Through Ezekiel, the Lord looked forward to such restoration for his people: <\/span><\/p>\n And I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I will give them their land and multiply them, and I will put my Temple among them forever. I will make my home among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people (Ezek 37:26-27).<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Peace will come by God\u2019s effort. The result will be material blessing and, most importantly, a mended relationship between people and God. The prophet Isaiah brought a message similar to that of Ezekiel: <\/span><\/p>\n How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, \u201cYour God reigns\u201d (Isa 52:7). <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Notice how God\u2019s peace is integrally related to his salvation, to the restoration of his reign on earth. When God saves, he will restore his kingdom so that those who live under his rightful rule will experience the fullness of his peace.<\/span><\/p>\n Isaiah\u2019s vision of God\u2019s future peacemaking effort takes an unexpected turn in the next chapter. There the prophet describes God\u2019s Suffering Servant, \u201ca man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief\u201d (Isa 53:3). This Servant suffers, not because of his own sins, but so that we might be forgiven for our sins. \u201cBut he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed!\u201d (Isa 53:5). God would restore peace on earth, but only through one who took upon himself the penalty for human sin.<\/span><\/p>\n Jesus entered the world as the one who would fulfill the mission of the Suffering Servant, thus bringing divine peace. Even before Jesus was born, one of his relatives proclaimed what God was about to do: <\/span><\/p>\n By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace (Luke 1:78-79)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Upon the occasion of Jesus\u2019s birth, angels filled the sky with praise to God. What did they sing? \u201cGlory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to all whom God favors\u201d (Luke 2:14).<\/span><\/p>\n Peace on earth sounds just great, doesn\u2019t it? It also sounds like something you might read on a tacky poster in college dorm, or like something cooked up by a politician to win a few extra votes in the next election. Or it sounds very much like something a British Prime Minister once said, to his ultimate shame. <\/span><\/p>\n In March 1938, Germany absorbed Austria under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. Then, turning his eyes to Czechoslovakia, Hitler and his generals drew up a plan to take over that sovereign nation as well. As war between Germany and Czechoslovakia seemed imminent, the Czechs looked to their allies, France and Great Britain, for help. But the French and the British were eager to avoid a war with Hitler\u2019s military machine. <\/span><\/p>\n In September 1938, the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, in partnership with French leaders, began negotiations with Hitler. Things appeared hopeless, however, because Hitler insisted on Germany\u2019s right to annex a substantial portion of Czechoslovakia. Yet Prime Minister Chamberlain was so eager to avoid war that he caved in to Hitler\u2019s demands. Hitler did promise, however, to resolve all future differences through consultation rather than military action. A trustworthy promise to be sure! <\/span><\/p>\n In October 1938, Neville Chamberlain returned to jubilant crowds throughout Britain, announcing that he had achieved \u201cpeace with honour. I believe it is peace in our time.\u201d Of course we know the rest of the story. Within months, Hitler had annexed the rest of Czechoslovakia and would soon invade Poland. \u201cPeace in our time\u201d was no peace at all because it failed to remedy the root cause of the strife: Hitler\u2019s plan to dominate Europe.<\/p>\n Similarly, the biblical slogan \u201cPeace on earth\u201d doesn\u2019t mean much unless God deals with the basic human problem of sin. Peace doesn\u2019t come along just because baby Jesus was born in a manger. It isn\u2019t a by-product of Christmas cheer or other happy thoughts. Jesus\u2019 birth was only a prerequisite to his final peacemaking effort, something we celebrate during Holy Week, not during Christmas. As a human being, the Word of God made flesh, Jesus represented us on the cross. He bore our sin as had been prophesied for the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53. His death dealt a fatal blow to sin, the root cause of human brokenness and separation from God. Because Jesus was crucified, we can have peace in all of its fullness (Isa 53:5). Paul triumphantly celebrates Jesus\u2019 peacemaking work in the opening of his letter to the Colossians: <\/span><\/p>\n For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and by him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his blood on the cross (Col 1:19-20).<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The peace God intended for creation \u2013 once lost because of sin, often promised by the prophets \u2013 God reestablished through Jesus by \u201chis blood on the cross.\u201d For this reason Paul can say simply of Christ: \u201che himself is our peace\u201d (Eph 2:14; NIV).<\/span><\/p>\n But what are the dimensions and implications of the peace Jesus has wrought on the cross? What kinds of peace can we expect to experience through believing in Jesus? I address these questions in future posts in this series. peace.<\/span><\/p>\n Peace with God Through Christ<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n So far in this series I\u2019ve shown how God intended his creation to be full of peace. This intention was broken but not destroyed when the first human sinned against God. Yet God had a plan to restore his shalom on earth, a plan focused on the life, death, and resurrection of his Son, the one who fulfilled the role of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah.<\/span><\/p>\n How do we experience God\u2019s peace? It all begins when we enter into relationship with God through Jesus Christ. As we put our trust in him, Jesus not only promises us eternal life in the future, but also he invites us to begin to experience that life right now, however incompletely. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n When we receive the benefits of Christ\u2019s sacrifice through faith, we can have peace with God: \u201cTherefore, since we have been made right in God\u2019s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us\u201d (Rom 5:1). Where once we were God\u2019s enemies because of sin, now because of Christ we have been reconciled to God (Rom 5:10-11). The strife between us and the Lord has been overcome by his grace.<\/p>\n I realize that this way of thinking about people and God will seem strange to most of us. Even many Christians tend to think of those who are not Christian as being basically good, as being in touch with God to some extent. We think of non-Christian people more as seekers than as God\u2019s enemies in need of peace with God. And, indeed, those who don\u2019t know the Lord may be seekers. But they are also, in a profound sense, both separated from God and opposed to God. Yet God has extended an offer of peace through Jesus Christ. Faith means receiving this offer, putting down our opposition to God, and entering into a peaceful relationship with Him. <\/span><\/p>\n Peace with God begins when we experience reconciliation through Christ, but it doesn\u2019t end there. When Paul, a faithful Jew, speaks of \u201cpeace with God,\u201d he thinks of the Old Testament concept of shalom. Peace with God includes intimacy, blessing, and the unimpeded flow of divine love. It encompasses everything God had intended for his relationship with us. When we have peace with God, we begin already to live in the restored creation, even while we yearn for that restoration to be completed. Once our peaceful relationship with God is renewed, the other dimensions of peace will follow, including peace with ourselves and peace with others. I\u2019ll explore these dimensions in future posts. peace.<\/span><\/p>\n Inner Peace Beyond Understanding<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Jesus promised to give his followers supernatural peace: <\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m leaving you with a gift \u2014 peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn\u2019t like the peace the world gives. So don\u2019t be troubled or afraid (John 14:27).<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n After Jesus ascended to heaven, he gives this peace through the mediation of the Holy Spirit. Peace is one aspect of that which the Spirit produces in our lives (Gal 5:22).<\/span><\/p>\n The inner peace given by God isn\u2019t like the peace provided by the world, according to Jesus (John 14:27). It isn\u2019t peace that depends upon outward circumstances or inward rationalizations. Indeed, God\u2019s peace often comes when events or reasons would provide just cause for worry. As Paul notes, God\u2019s peace \u201cis far more wonderful than the human mind can understand\u201d (Phil 4:7).<\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019ve never experienced this kind of peace, all of this talk can sound rather dreamy and unrealisitic. But millions upon millions of Christians have known supernatural, inexplicable peace precisely in situations that would seem to demand fear and distress. The great hymn writer Charles Wesley, who wrote such beloved songs as \u201cHark! The herald Angels Sing,\u201d lived a full life of service to Christ. Early in his 79th year, however, his health began to falter. As sickness dominated his body, Wesley knew that he would soon die. His doctor, who regularly visited his bedside during the last days, described Wesley\u2019s attitude in the face of death: <\/span><\/p>\n He possessed that state of mind which he had been always pleased to see in others \u2014 unaffected humility, and holy resignation to the will of God. He had no transports of joy, but solid hope and unshaken confidence in Christ, which kept his mind in perfect peace.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Lest you think that only the unique heroes of Christian history have such peace when death approaches, I have sat with many ordinary saints in the hours before their passing. These also known the perfect peace that once filled the heart of Charles Wesley. <\/span><\/p>\n Obviously, I have not yet confronted the imminence of my death. I\u2019m hoping to delay this experience for a quite few more years. But I have known the peace of God that is \u201cfar more wonderful than the human mind can understand.\u201d Such peace first came to me when I was in junior high. My father worked as a computer analyst in the aerospace business in Southern California. After Americans finally landed on the moon, zeal for space exploration waned and federal funding dried up. My dad lost his job and remained out of work for many months. The expenses associated with supporting a family of six continued, however. Before too long my family\u2019s financial situation was very bleak. I was panicked, afraid that we would lose our home and be forced to move away from our friends and family. I felt afraid as I had never felt before. My world seemed to be crumbling before my very eyes.<\/span><\/p>\n I vividly remember lying awake one night, envisioning the worst case scenario for my family. I just couldn\u2019t escape from the grip of fear. In desperation I cried out to God for help. \u201cPlease take care of us,\u201d I pleaded, \u201chelp Dad to get a job. Don\u2019t make us move. Help us!\u201d In that moment I sensed God\u2019s lavish, comforting presence as I had never known it before. Though I didn\u2019t receive any reassurance about my family\u2019s financial situation, I felt utterly, uniquely, supernaturally peaceful. My worries evaporated in the warmth of God\u2019s love for me. Without knowing what lay ahead for my family, I knew beyond any doubt that God would take care of us.<\/span><\/p>\n In that watershed moment of my life I experienced for the first time the gift of incomprehensible peace, that which I couldn\u2019t understand and which really made no sense at all. I also learned that such peace comes, not by human effort, but by God\u2019s grace as we turn our hearts to him. The prophet Isaiah understood this truth when he said to the Lord, \u201cYou will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you!\u201d (Isa 26:3). Paul reiterated this same thought, making more explicit the connection between fixing our thoughts on God and prayer:<\/span><\/p>\n Don\u2019t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God\u2019s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:6-7).<\/span><\/p>\n What a marvelous promise! What an astounding reality!<\/span><\/p>\n Like a river glorious, Is God\u2019s perfect peace, Over all victorious, In its bright increase; Perfect, yet it floweth, Fuller ev\u2019ry day; Perfect, yet it groweth, Deeper all the way.<\/span>Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed; Finding, as he promised, Perfect peace and rest. <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Perfect peace in the midst of severe physical pain, that\u2019s beyond our comprehension. It\u2019s a gift from God.<\/span><\/p>\n Peace Among People, Part 1<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Peace with God and peace within our souls do not exhaust the potentialities of peace through Christ. Scripture connects inner peace specifically to peace among people: \u201cLet the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace\u201d (Col 3:15). If divine peace reigns within us, it should touch the rest our lives, especially our most important relationships in family, among friends, and in church. But the peace Christ impacts an even broader set of human relationships than these.<\/span><\/p>\n Paul\u2019s letter to the Ephesians lays the spiritual foundation for peace among people. After first showing that the death of Christ leads to our personal salvation (Eph 2:4-10), Ephesians 2 goes on to explore the corporate implications of the cross, focusing on the fundamental division between Jews and Gentiles. <\/span><\/p>\n For Christ himself has made peace between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one people. He has broken down the wall of hostility that used to separate us. By his death he ended the whole system of Jewish law that excluded the Gentiles. His purpose was to make peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new person from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death, and our hostility toward each other was put to death (Eph 2:14-16).<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The death of Jesus not only brings reconciliation between individuals and God, but also creates reconciliation among people by exploding the hostility that keeps us from living peacefully together. It\u2019s crucial that we pay attention to what Paul is teaching here because sometimes we get so excited about the personal relevance of the cross that we neglect its corporate implications. We end up proclaiming the possibility of peace with God and peace within ourselves without mentioning peace among people.<\/span><\/p>\n But God\u2019s plan for you includes more than reconciliation with him, however essential and foundational this reconciliation is. On the basis of peace with God, you can have peace with others as well, an essential dimension of God\u2019s perfect peace. Notice, too, that peace among people is not limited to a few close relationships. It transforms the relationship between Jews and Gentiles. It impacts races, ethnicities, and even nations. The Old Testament foresaw that the righteous king who comes humbly, \u201criding on a donkey . . . will bring peace to the nations\u201d (Zech 9:9-10). When Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he came to die so that God\u2019s peace would pervade all peoples and nations. <\/span><\/p>\n I didn\u2019t always think of God\u2019s peace in this way. I grew up focusing on Christ\u2019s provision of peace with God, within my own soul, and with my closest companions. Biblical passages that spoke of the social and political dimensions of divine peace could be reinterpreted to fit my preconceived notions of peace. I could easily ignore the texts that connect peace with righteousness and justice, or else relegate them to the future when Christ returns. <\/span><\/p>\n But when I was in graduate school, my best friend was a Mennonite pastor who conceived of God\u2019s peace much more fully. While not denying the central importance of peace with God or the blessings of inner peace, Tom spoke passionately of the broad dimensions of biblical peace. He helped me take seriously passages from Scripture that I had ignored or misinterpreted, especially the latter half of Ephesians 2, which shows how Christ\u2019s death makes peace between hostile peoples. He also showed me the rich meanings of the Hebrew term shalom, a word that I had understood to refer primarily to the absence of conflict. Through Tom, I realized that I had truncated biblical peace to fit my own values, needs, and preconceptions. By his influence, I came to embrace the richer and truer sense of biblical peace, recognizing its interconnectedness with righteousness, justice, and wholeness in all of life. (Photo: Tom Yoder Neufeld\u2019s watershed interpretation of Ephesians can be found in his commentary on this New Testament book<\/a>, which I highly recommend.) <\/span><\/p>\n Peace Among People, Part 2<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n In my last post I began to lay out some of the broader implications of Jesus\u2019 life and death. He came to bring peace, not only between God and people, but also among people. Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the grave to restore peace to a broken world. Wherever there is conflict, whether inside individual hearts, or within families, or among brothers and sisters in church, or between different ethnic groups, or even between warring nations, Christ \u201cwages peace\u201d as his disciples wield the paradoxical power of the cross. This power is paradoxical because victory comes through the embodied proclamation of Christ\u2019s own powerlessness.<\/span><\/p>\n It would be a great error to think of the social dimensions of peace as simply whitewashing social evil in a grand attempt to \u201cmake nice.\u201d It\u2019s all too easy for us to confuse peacemaking with \u201cnice-making.\u201d This was also true in Jesus\u2019 own day. Some Jews believed that, if he were the Messiah, Jesus would usher in a season of painless prosperity. To these mistaken folk Jesus said, <\/span><\/p>\n Do you think that I have come to bring peace on earth? No, I have come to bring strife and division! From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against \u2013 or the other way around. There will be a division between father and son, mother and daughter, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law (Luke 12:52-53).<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Does this passage contradict everything else we have read about the peacemaking work of Christ? No, because it must be interpreted in its unique context. Jesus is speaking in Luke 12 to those who expected a superficial peace, a peace that was really no peace at all because it failed to deal with the true cause of human brokenness. Many of the Jews in the first-century equated peace with the expulsion of the Romans. \u201cGet rid of foreign rule and we\u2019ll have peace,\u201d they thought. But Jesus came to bring an unanticipated kind of peace. His peace would address the root cause of human suffering. His peace would be offered to people who were not Jews, even to the hated Romans. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n
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\nCopyright \u00a9 2010 by Mark D. Roberts
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\nNote: You may download this resource at no cost, for personal use or for use in a Christian ministry, as long as you are not publishing it for sale. All I ask is that you acknowledge the source of this material: http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/<\/a>. For all other uses, please contact me at mark@markdroberts.com<\/a>. Thank you.
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<\/a><\/span>Frances Havergal lived in the mid-19th century. A faithful and talented Christian, she wrote many beloved hymns, including \u201cTake My Life, and Let It Be Consecrated.\u201d her relatively short life was filled with difficult challenges. When she was eleven, her mother died. Shortly thereafter her father remarried. Frances\u2019s stepmother came between her and her father, causing deep hurt to the girl. As a young adult, Frances became chronically ill. Even to get up from her bed was painful. Yet she continued to live actively, especially in her song writing ministry. During one of her periods of illness, she composed these words: <\/span><\/p>\n