Peace on Earth
Notes
Transcript
What does peace actually mean? Does it mean the absence of hostility? Does it mean calmness? I submit that those are all results of peace. The word the Bible uses for peace, shalom in Hebrew and eirene in Greek, actually means something different.
Have you ever taken something apart and couldn’t put it back together again? Maybe your kid dismantled a toy and has become unhinged until it is repaired? You bought some piece of furniture that has to be assembled. So you save a few bucks and do it yourself. This usually ends in the use of some words you should probably repent for.
We have all had to deal with something that is broken and we don’t know how to fix it. We have to call a professional. That’s easy.
We look at the world and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell something is broken, fractured. Wars, the economy, racial tensions, you name it. We pray for these issues to be healed, restored, then we go on with our lives.
What happens when your wife quits talking to you? Your husband seems more like a roommate than a partner. That friendship that was once so strong is all but gone. There is a hole in our lives that seems to be bleeding out.
“Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
This seems like a stretch, right? Peace on earth is a great greeting, but I don’t see peace. I see the opposite everywhere I look. That is where our perspective needs to shift.
The Hebrew and Greek words used for peace in the Bible do not simply mean the absence of hostility or violence. Peace in the Bible speaks to restoration to wholeness; complete. Peace means coming together for mutual benefit, sharing all things. Peace is healing.
This is why Isaiah looked forward to the Prince of Peace Is 9:5-6
For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Our relationship with God had been broken. It was fractured everywhere you looked. That is why Jesus is called Prince of Peace. He is the only one who could restore the relationship. Bring shalom. Peace. Not only between God and man, which would have been enough. He tore down the wall of hostility we have between each other by giving us His heart.
And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them. Such people are not serving Christ our Lord; they are serving their own personal interests. By smooth talk and glowing words they deceive innocent people. But everyone knows that you are obedient to the Lord. This makes me very happy. I want you to be wise in doing right and to stay innocent of any wrong. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.
This is also why Jesus calls peace makers children of God
God blesses those who work for peace,
for they will be called the children of God.
So how do we make peace? How do we show show Jesus to the world by making peace?
Fight for peace
Don’t try to sweep things under the rug that need to be addressed.
Let it go
If something is not worth having a conversation about, then is it worth being separated over?
Make peace, don’t keep it
Making peace requires hard conversations, work. Keeping peace is shoving it down until one day it explodes.
