This week, as part of a high school assignment, my son floated a leaf down a creek and recorded the effects of the current on the leaf’s course. After he returned home we ended up discussing various aspects of physics like mass, weight, inertia, force, torque, and equilibrium. Equilibrium in the material world made me think of balance and peace in other areas of life. Have you thought about peace lately? This is a wonderful season to do so, because Christmas is rooted in peace. We need peace with God and with others in order to thrive.
In contrast to equilibrium, peace is not the stabilization of opposing forces. Also it’s not just the lack of conflict, getting along with others, or warm feelings of goodwill. True peace, lasting peace includes those, but runs deeper. It’s not dictated by circumstances or generated by self striving. True peace is a gift from God that resolves your rebellious waywardness. It reconciles you with God. It brings wholeness by healing your brokenness. It provides rest, solace, tranquility, and contentment. It offers welfare and prosperity by fulfilling all God created you to be. True peace, God’s peace, is only found in Jesus.
Jesus Is the Prince of Peace
Jesus, God the Son, became a man, died, and rose again so you can have peace with God and others. Apart from Jesus, people are lost and hopeless. Their desire to put themselves before God and others separates them from God. Their self-centeredness harms them and others. However, anyone who trusts and obeys Jesus experiences new, abundant life in a joyful, loving, harmonious relationship with God. Jesus is the peace you need. This is the glorious news the angels declared to shepherds in Israel 2,000 years ago when they announced the birth of Jesus. “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Their proclamation was revolutionary. For the first time in history people could find peace with God. Jesus makes it possible. God prophesied this through Isaiah centuries before, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). Later God told Isaiah how this servant son if his would bring peace and salvation. “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations…I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness” (Isaiah 42:1, 6-7). The apostle Paul further explained Jesus as peace to those who trust him. “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel” (Colossians 1:19-23). Jesus taught of his light-giving, life-giving role as savior and peace, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God” (John 3:16-21).
Embrace Jesus as Your Peace
Jesus died to pay the death penalty for your wrongdoing. He has bridged the chasm separating you from God. He rose again to give you victory over sin. By trusting and obeying him you can live rightly with God and for God. You can grow into all he created you to be. Life doesn’t have to be a rollercoaster of conflict. You can know joy and excitement without toxic friction. You can overcome worry and anxiety. You can be free from tension. Embrace Jesus as your peace. Along life’s waterways you will still encounter choppy waves, but peace in Jesus can be your calm, consistent undercurrent which sees you through. Cast your cares on him for he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). Paul encouraged believers, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).
Share the Peace of Jesus with Others
As you live in Jesus and experience his peace, share it with others. He is calling you to be a minister of his reconciliation. “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:14-21). So tell others of God’s love and salvation which brings peace. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Extend grace and mercy. Forgive them as God has forgiven you. Put their interests before your own. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone (Romans 12:18). Take to heart Jesus’ teaching, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9).
Conclusion
We live in a fallen world of broken people which yearn for peace and restoration. God has provided the wonderful solution in Jesus. When Jesus came as a baby and grew to become the savior of the world, he brought peace from the inside out. He has since returned to heaven and intercedes as a mediator of peace for all who trust and obey him (1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:34). In God’s perfect timing, Jesus will return to complete the peace he won through his death and resurrection. At his second coming he will establish peace and righteousness on earth externally by vanquishing disease, death, evil, and Satan. He will reward believers and judge unbelievers (Revelation 19:11-21:8). Does your heart long for peace? Embrace Jesus, the Prince of Peace. He is calling you, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). Then share his peace with others this Christmas and every day.