Volume 3 Issue 12

 

 

nd suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased’” (Luke 2:13-14). This exclamation of the heavenly host was occasioned by the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. An angel appeared to some shepherds and said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).

A wish that has been expressed almost since the beginning of time is one of peace on earth. So, did the proclamation of the angels at Jesus’ birth signal the fulfillment of this elusive wish? Was peace on earth to become a reality at long last? Hardly. This Child whom the prophet called, “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6), was to become a victim of violence, a victim of murder. The questions arise then: “Did the angels misunderstand the meaning of Jesus’ birth? Were they speaking out of turn? If it was a birth that was to usher in peace, did Jesus fail?” No, though to the natural man it would appear so. The world today experiences horrific atrocities against the sanctity of human life. The 20^th century witnessed two world wars, innumerable regional conflicts, maniacs that kill not only themselves by detonating bombs strapped to their bodies, but completely innocent bystanders, and terrorism unparalleled in human history that takes the lives of thousands in a moment of time. Evil as these events are they pale in comparison to the 40 million innocent babies slaughtered since 1973 in the United States in abortion mills sanctioned by the government and justified in the name of a woman’s right to choose. China forces abortion upon any woman who would dare conceive a second child in an attempt to curb their population growth. Radical feminists and gutless men assure peace on earth is far from a reality. Nevertheless, peace on earth was established with the birth of Jesus.

How is this to be explained in light of what has just been said and the fact that Jesus even said of Himself, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34)? Jesus’ words are even more difficult to understand when it was He who said,  “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). Was Jesus guilty of not fulfilling His Father’s will by stating that He came to bring a sword upon the earth and not peace? Of course not. Speaking of the Father, Jesus said, “And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I ALWAYS DO the things that are pleasing to Him” (John 8:29).

There is no contradiction. The birth of Jesus did bring peace, but it was a peace that was first to be experienced by those who love God and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. “For He Himself (Jesus) is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14). However, “There is no peace for the wicked” (Isaiah 48:22). This is understood when the word for peace is explained. In the Old Testament the word is shalom, a very common word among the Jews. It is used as a greeting and as a word of farewell. Shalom is best understood as meaning “wholeness, lacking nothing, being complete in body, soul, and spirit”. This definition is just the opposite of the state of being of fallen man. There is not wholeness and there is a lacking within that causes unrest and a searching for something beyond ourselves. The Amplified Bible gives an excellent definition of what that “something” is. “He (God) has planted eternity in men’s hearts and mind [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun, BUT ONLY GOD, can satisfy], yet so that man cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). It has been aptly stated: “There is a hole within man that is the shape of God and only He can fill it”. Indeed. Man attempts to fill that hole with all that the world offers – money, food, entertainment, and so forth, but they do not bring the lasting peace so desperately sought after for they are not shaped like the hole within, but Jesus is. “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which translated means, ‘GOD WITH US’”  (Matthew 1:23). Jesus is God; He is the missing PIECE that alone makes PEACE within us possible.

The lack of peace we see in the world between men is a visible expression of the lack of peace that exists between fallen man and God. Thus, for peace to exist on the earth, we must first experience peace with God. That is the message of the angels to the shepherds at the birth of Jesus. “And on earth peace AMONG men with whom he is pleased” (Luke 2:14). The Greek word used for “among” is en and literally means “IN”. There will be peace ON the earth when there is peace IN the earth, specifically in the individual hearts of the earthen vessels of man. The peace that began at the birth of Jesus will grow and expand until all the earth experiences it. “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. THERE WILL BE NO END TO THE INCREASE OF HIS GOVERNMENT OR OF PEACE, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and FOREVERMORE. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:6-7). This is the promise of Christmas.

We have seen that the Hebrew word for “peace” is shalom. Just as important is understanding the definition of the Greek word for “peace”. It is eirene. It means “to set at ONE”. Notice within this definition the similarity to shalom. To set at one implies something is missing, something is less than WHOLE. Thus, shalom, wholeness, is needed. Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden caused a DIVISION in the relationship between God and man. Man was no longer whole. God had SEPARATED Himself from man and the ONENESS man originally enjoyed with Him before the Fall was shattered. Peace was no longer possible because two wills were now exerting themselves within creation – God’s and man’s.  For peace to once again become a reality God and man must be set at one, God and man must be reconciled. This process of reconciliation began at the birth of Jesus. “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, THAT GOD WAS IN CHRIST RECONCILING THE WORLD TO HIMSELF, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19). In Jesus, God and man are at peace, set at one. “For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fulness to dwell in Him (Jesus), and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, HAVING MADE PEACE through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven” (Colossians 1:19-20). The peace that the angels spoke of at the birth of Jesus has become a reality for those who have accepted Him as Lord and Savior. The chasm that our sins created that separated us from the heavenly Father no longer exists. “Therefore having been justified by faith, WE HAVE PEACE with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Paul very clearly states the ONENESS we now share with Jesus. “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20). This is nothing less than the fulfillment of Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer” He offered in the Upper Room among His disciples shortly before His crucifixion. “I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; THAT THEY MAY ALL BE ONE; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me” (John 17:20-21). The peace the birth of Jesus made possible began in individual earthen vessels between God and the individual; thus, making peace possible one human heart at a time, as we shared that peace with the world. However, it is obvious not all the world is at peace. Why? Because what the world calls peace and what God calls peace are two different things.

“Everyone is greedy for gain; from the prophet even to the priest everyone practices deceit. And they heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people SUPERFICIALLY, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace. Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done? They certainly were not ashamed, and they did not know how to blush; therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time of their punishment they shall be brought down, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 8:10-12). Jeremiah lived in the twilight years of the kingdom of Judah, the southern kingdom of what was known as Israel during the reigns of David and Solomon. Babylon, under the kingship of Nebuchadnezzar, had laid siege to Judah in 605 B.C. and in 597 B.C., both times deporting some of the population back to Babylon. Judah was facing national extinction because she had broken the covenant between herself and the Lord. Her sin was not so much one of abandoning the worship of the Lord as MIXING it with her worship of foreign deities and her indulgence in behavior forbidden by God. It is no coincidence that the name Babylon means “mixture”. The Jews hated Jeremiah because he vehemently opposed this mixture. The false prophets proclaimed peace in the name of the Lord, in essence proclaiming ONENESS and WHOLENESS with Him, but Jeremiah knew better. “Behold, you are trusting in DECEPTIVE WORDS to no avail. Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal, and walk after other gods that you have not known, THEN COME and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’ - that you may do all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 7:8-11). The deceptive words were, “Peace, peace” spoken by the false prophets when there was no peace, no oneness with God. For the false prophets peace came at the expense of truth. They had deceived themselves and their fellow Jews into believing a union of oneness existed between themselves and God because they were religious and offered Him sacrifices. In their minds they had not forsaken the Lord, thus the bond, the covenant between them remained intact, thus peace remained intact. But they were wrong.  As long as evil not only existed among the Jews, but was openly and defiantly practiced, peace was impossible. Peace with God, oneness with God, necessitated a cleansing of the heart, a cleansing that was accomplished by God’s use of a pagan nation. After Nebuchadnezzar had laid siege to Jerusalem for the third time in 586 B.C., totally destroying the city and temple and again deporting a large segment of the population to Babylon, the Lord said,   “As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord God, ‘Go, serve everyone his idols; but later, you will surely listen to Me, and My holy name you will profane no longer with your gifts and with your idols’” (Ezekiel 20:39).  Peace is not a MIXTURE of truth and lies; it is a purity of heart that results from passing beneath the sword of Jesus, recognizing that “the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24).

The world would have us compromise with evil, to tolerant evil, and in the end, to embrace evil; thus, achieving peace. The world attains peace at the expense of righteousness, which in reality is no peace at all, for evil creates a restlessness within man’s heart. “Your iniquities have made a SEPARATION between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken falsehood, your tongue mutters wickedness. No one sues righteously and no one pleads honestly. They trust in confusion, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. They hatch adders' eggs and weave the spider's web; he who eats of their eggs dies, and from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth. Their webs will not become clothing, nor will they cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity, and an act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; devastation and destruction are in their highways. They do not know the WAY OF PEACE, and there is no justice in their tracks; they have made their paths crooked; whoever treads on them does not know peace” (Isaiah 59:2-8). Fallen mankind expends much energy in an attempt to escape the reality that they are sinful people while struggling to excise the turmoil within. One drinks himself into a stupor; one uses drugs to get a high; one occupies his mind with endless work, dreading the moments of silence when his thoughts rush in upon him, exposing his heart to himself. Peace mocks them as a thirsty man is mocked when he dreams he is drinking from a glass of cool water. The dreamer awakes and discovers his thirst remains. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for RIGHTEOUSNESS, for they shall be SATISFIED” (Matthew 5:6). Dreams do not satisfy, they tantalize, and as long as man hungers and thirsts for ANYTHING other than righteousness, he will remain UNSATISFIED, for the mixture of good and evil within his heart will torment him, promising him peace while delivering emptiness. As the false prophets did long ago, he will cry out, “Peace, peace” hoping that by mouthing the words peace will be more than a wish, more than a dream. Yet, world peace will remain nothing more than a dream as long as man rejects the SOURCE of peace and the sword that comes with it.

When Adam and Eve rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden He drove them into exile. “So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim, and the FLAMING SWORD which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:24). Man was no longer ONE with God. A DIVISION           had been created and in His MERCY God would not allow man to eat of the tree of life while in a sinful, fallen state, for to do so would have condemned man to an eternity of enmity with God. It became necessary for man to undergo the slow and often painful process of dying to self. Therefore, He placed a flaming sword at the entrance to Paradise, NOT so man could not return and eat of the tree of life, BUT so WHEN he returned, the work of the sword would ensure that those who ate of this tree would be holy as God is holy.

The way of peace is not by accommodating evil. Even on a physical level this has proven to be true. In an attempt to avert World War II, nations thought to appease Hilter and retain peace by giving him Poland after he invaded it. The folly of their actions was soon revealed as Hilter’s aggression continued unabated. It took the “sword” of America and England and other nations who DESIRED peace for peace to be achieved.  Likewise, it takes the sword of God to achieve peace between Himself and us and between us and others.     

“For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power – making it active, operative, energizing and effective; it is sharper than any two-edged SWORD, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [that is, of the deepest parts of our nature] exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12 AMP). God’s work within us is often painful and unpleasant. It is often unwelcome and unappreciated until later. “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the PEACEFUL fruit of righteousness” (Hebrew 12:11). The sword of God trims and prunes, at times cutting so deep we fear we will die. Yet, it cuts deeply because sin lies at the very core of our being, corrupting every thought, every word, every action, no matter how good they may be. The sword exposes us to ourselves bringing us to respond to Jesus as Peter once did. “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8)! Peter was not an evil man. He was not a murderer or a thief; rather, he was a humble (though often outspoken!) fisherman struggling to make a living. Yet, Jesus’ presence exposed to Peter the awful truth that “NOTHING good dwells in me” (Romans 7:18). Nothing? Nothing! “And all our RIGHTEOUS deeds are like a filthy garment” (Isaiah 64:6).

The world would have us compromise with evil to attain peace and as born-again Christians we reject such compromise. We quickly bring out the Word (sword) of God and fight against it, as we should. However, Satan has little to fear from us if we fight against the wickedness AROUND us if he can keep us from fighting against the wickedness WITHIN us. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the OUTSIDE of the cup and of the dish, but INSIDE they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also” (Matthew 23:25-26). Those are the words of a WARRIOR; fighting words, but so were the words of the angels when they said, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth PEACE among men with whom He is pleased” (Luke 2:14), because peace destroys all that stands between God and us that we may be one.