“For to us a child is born… And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 9:6
How does it feel when a significant family member can’t make it to a holiday gathering?
Or maybe they come, but you’re at odds? Maybe it’s between you and a sibling, a parent, or your child, but there’s a sense of division that something’s missing or broken.
Last time we looked at 4 reasons that we find ourselves overwhelmed…
And we reviewed God’s call on us to live a life of peace, full and abundant.
But is there peace on earth since the birth of Christ, the Prince of Peace?
Obviously not, nor did Jesus claim to bring peace to the earth (Matthew 10:34).
So what kind of peace does he intend for us?
Imagine yourself as a mother with all your children gathered together at your table, eating and laughing while all your grandchildren run about the house in squeals of fun and games. Do you not feel whole, complete, at peace?
The translations for peace in the bible take on different slants in meaning from governmental peace to interpersonal peace, to an everyday greeting or blessing. Shalom, the Hebrew word for peace, derives from a root meaning that conveys wholeness or completeness, and sometimes Hebrew literature uses the word shalom to convey perfection.
There is no way for us to find peace, wholeness, or completeness without unity with our maker.
If you wonder how separation made God feel, just look at all he suffered to make a way to reunite us to himself.
In episodes 1 and 2, on our identity, we looked at God’s purpose for creating us in his image—so we can unite with him in love. But sin separated us.
Christ came to rage war against the division of sin and to restore peace between us and God while we walk the overwhelming journey of this life.
But he also made a way for us to one day see him face to face in a land where he rules as the Prince of Peace. That is our hope and our inheritance.
When we abide in Christ, he keeps us on the path of love through out the difficult road of this life, and he lifts the burden of our guilt by uniting us with his perfection.
Our love isn’t perfect, but Christ’s love in us is perfect. His love unites us together as one family, whole and complete.
God, the Son, came to earth to make what has once broken between us whole again.
Let’s live at peace with God by abiding in Christ and uniting with our brothers and sisters in his love, a love that shows righteous regard toward one another.
Next time, we’ll look at how the so-called wisdom of this world threatens to pull us off the track of peace and love, leading us to wander into a wilderness of disillusionment.
Robin Wood
clfarmer