Peace

Peace on earth...good will towards men

Peace be with you...and also with you

Shalom...

..and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will be yours..

Peace.  It's a beautiful term we throw around often.  In the 70's, it was an icon.  Today, it's more a state-of-mind.  Do you have it?  Where do you get it?  How does it come?  How can you make it last?

Most of my life I've viewed peace as an emotion or a feeling.  Almost like an overwhelming calmness that saturates every inch of my being, inside and out.  Regardless of situation, circumstance or any external forces...peace is being 'ok' in spite of those.  Right?

Jesus talked about peace often.
"the peace I give isn't like the peace the world gives." John14:27

"I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me" John16:33

"go, in peace" Mark5:34

"live in peace with one another" Mark9:50

Paul, one of the major New Testament authors, greets his readers repeatedly with the phrase, "grace and peace to you in Christ Jesus!"

What does it mean, exactly?  What was Jesus (and Paul) trying to communicate with that word?  Was it merely the absence of affliction, conflict or turmoil?  A warm, fuzzy feeling or emotion?  Maybe, but maybe it's more...

Romans tells us that 'the wages of sin is death.'  That without the sacrificial covering and work that Jesus did for us on the cross and the power held in His resurrection..we are enemies of God.  Enemies.  At war.  Our sin-nature is literally at war with the holiness of God...where there is sin there cannot be peace.  We cannot be friends.  In Him there is no sin, so because He is holy and without sin, He cannot be with it...it would mean He was no longer holy...effectively making Him no longer God.

THIS is what makes the gospel aka 'the good news' of Jesus not just good but GRACE!  Jesus accomplishes for us, what we cannot do on our own.  His payment of our sin (not His own, He led a sin-less life) on the cross and resurrection not only defeats sin and death on our behalf but it allows us to be friends with God.  The battle was won...where there was once war and death, we now have peace..and life!  Picture Israel right now if they were in a time of peace, instead of war.

Jesus told us that He doesn't give us peace like the world gives...the peace He brings isn't a mere emotion or state of being, though it can be those things too.  It's  not just the absence of conflict or affliction, though it can encompass that.  But the peace we have in Jesus is that the war of sin and death is over...defeated...He is victorious!  And in Him, we are too.  No longer enemies of God, but friends, at peace...and even better...adopted, beloved children!

I'm not sure I'll be able to throw the word around as much now that I've seen a bigger picture of just what peace we truly have in Christ!  The next time you pray for peace in someone's life or circumstances...remember that we're praying for the battle of sin to be won in their lives through Jesus, more than a warm fuzzy feeling in their heart...though, sometimes the two go hand in hand :)