Prince of Peace | Romans 4:16–25, 5:1

Abraham’s Peace Came from God

Abraham was a man at peace. Not at the beginning of his life, but Paul makes the case clear that in Christ, Abraham, and ultimately we have peace.

Jesus Gives Us Peace with Ourselves

One of the first and most lasting effects of the fall, and one of the sinful effects we see fully on display in our world is the dissonance that sin causes between us and our flesh.

In the garden one of the first disconnections we see is the disorder of man and himself. Adam and Eve after eating of the fruit find themselves to be naked and are immediately ashamed. Their bodies, that they once felt completely comfortable with, completely at home in, are now alien sources of shame.

In Galatians 5, Paul speaks of this incongruity between the body and soul.

Galatians 5:17 ESV

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

Paul notes that inside of us there is a war in our hearts, a war between the flesh and the spirit, and that every decision we make, every action we take are affected by the battle within.

John Stott, speaking of this war notes,

“Christian people, in Luther’s graphic expression, are ‘not stocks and stones’, that is, people who ‘are never moved with anything, never feel any lust or desires of the flesh’. Certainly, as we learn to walk in the Spirit, the flesh becomes increasingly subdued. But the flesh and the Spirit remain, and the conflict between them is fierce and unremitting.”

Stott, J. R. W. (1986). The message of Galatians: Only one way (p. 146). Leicester, England; Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

No where is this battle most keenly seen in the modern transgender movement. Gender dysphoria is the feeling of something being wrong with our bodies. It can manifest with depression, transgenderism, and in some extreme cases self-harm.

Gane, a transgender person had this to say, “"But it also feels lonely and isolating, not being able to feel at home in your own body but then trying to battle the, "Well, I should be able to feel at home in my own body 'cause it's beautiful and it's mine," but I want something else for it."

Sin causes us to feel stuck, to feel unwell in ourselves. The battle within manifests itself in many ways and we often medicate ourselves with alcohol, drugs (both legal and illegal) or other methods of making ourselves feel ok.

But the problem isn’t with our bodies, it’s with our souls. We feel uncomfortable because of the war of sin waged in our bodies.

When I was a child, this battle was depicted like this in our cartoons:

Now this is a humorous way to depict the battle, but the battle is very real. But scripture teaches us that in Christ, in the Christ that Abraham trusted in, we find restoration of peace with ourselves.

Galatians 5:24 ESV

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

We see this restoration in Abraham’s life. Abraham moves from being a man who does not trust God and constantly puts his wife in harms way by lying to kings, to being a man who when his son asks where the sacrifice will come from he boldly states:

Genesis 22:8 ESV

Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

Jesus came to restore what sin had broken. He brings peace to the raging storm of our lives.

Romans 6:6 ESV

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

Jesus Gives Us Peace with Others

Another way that God’s shalom, the Hebrew word for peace, has been broken is in our relationships with others. We can see evidence in the rising murder rates around the country. As of Nov. 27, Jackson alone had experienced over 130 murders. To put this in perspective, 2020, which was a record year for murder in the capital city saw only 130 people killed.

But we can also see this in other ways. Whether it be the divorce rate, the almost 100% rise in sex-trafficking cases in Mississippi, and on and on.

American writer & philosopher, and survivor and refuge from Communist Russia once said:

Man is the only living species that has the power to act as his own destroyer—and that is the way he has acted through most of his history.

—  Ayn Rand, 1905-1982, American writer & philosopher

We are at our core self-destructive, and that destruction causes pain and suffering and a disintegration of community both in the world and in the church. We see this in the toxic way that some people treat others in the church clearly. In an article on toxic churches, Chuck Lawless notes several reasons why churches can turn toxic:

1. All church members are still people.

2. Some are nonbelievers.

3. Many are undiscipled.

4. Some are carrying burdens alone.

5. Some are living in sin.

At the end of the day, thought, we act out because our souls are not at peace. But the Bible says that Jesus came to reconcile us with others.

2 Corinthians 5:18–20 ESV

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

One of the greatest examples of this in the life of Abraham is the story of Abraham and Abimelech. When we meet Abimelech he is the king of Gerar, and he sees Sarah, who Abraham told him was his sister, and made her his wife. God warns Abimelech, and he chides Abraham for almost putting him in a very precarious place with God.

Fast forward a few years to Chapter 21, and Abraham and Abimelech join together in a treaty and become fast friends.

Why the change, because as God moves in our lives, we begin to make peace with those around us.

A famous quote does, after all, say: “If God could restore us back to himself, he can restore any relationship back to us.”

Jesus Gives Us Peace with God

Luke 2:14 ESV

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

What a proclamation! What a way to introduce the newborn King. In this passage in Luke, the angels are proclaiming to the shepherds that Jesus has been born and that he will bring unity between God and man.

The word Peace has a deep and rich meaning in scripture:

Romans (1) Peace and Hope (5:1–8)

It speaks of the new relationship that exists between God and those who turn to him in faith (cf. Eph 2:14–15; Col 1:21–22).

Ephesians 2:14–15 ESV

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,

We find this division between us and God kick off in the garden. Abraham who had walked with God in Genesis 2 is hiding from God in Genesis 3. This is what sin does, it separates. But in Christ, that wall of hostility, that division between us and God is kicked down, it’s broken, it’s destroyed. We are as Adam was in the garden, able to walk in the presence of almighty God.

Romans 5:1 ESV

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the great promise of Abraham’s faith, of our faith, that the hostility that divided has been destroyed on the cross. Think about this. On the cross not only were our sins forgiven, that in and of itself is amazing, but the babe Jesus stepped into the world to restore peace with God.

Colossians 1:21–22 ESV

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

Warren Wiersbe has rightly noted!

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Four: Live like a King! (Romans 5)

The unsaved person is at “enmity with God” (Rom. 5:10; 8:7) because he cannot obey God’s Law or fulfill God’s will. Two verses from Isaiah make the matter clear: “There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked” (Isa. 48:22); “And the work of righteousness shall be peace” (Isa. 32:17). Condemnation means that God declares us sinners, which is a declaration of war. Justification means that God declares us righteous, which is a declaration of peace, made possible by Christ’s death on the cross.

This is the great promise of Christmas. This is what the angels sang and proclaimed

Luke 2:14 ESV

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Do you have this kind of peace today? Are you living this kind of peace today?