Love Is Here In Peace
God’s love is here and present with us in Jesus Christ. Last week we saw that love is here in hope. Today we will see that love is here in peace. Peace? … Peace is a strange word today as we live in a world where ongoing conflict and violence are the order of the day. Where is peace? What is peace? How can we find and experience peace?
1. Where Is Peace?
During the time of the prophet Micah, Israel did not experience peace. They were assailed with violence from outside and inside. The Assyrians were marching against them. Micah announced God’s judgment on his people. Their cities will be destroyed, and they will go into exile. Why? Because the leaders of Israel, the kings, the priests, and the prophets, disobeyed and abused their calling as shepherds. They did not provide peace and security to God’s people. Instead, they oppressed them committing injustices and violence against them. Instead of being shepherds, they were wolves tearing apart God’s flock. Chapters 2 and 3 describe these vividly.
Woe to those who dream up wickedness and prepare evil plans on their beds! At morning light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands. They covet fields and seize them; they also take houses. They deprive a man of his home, a person of his inheritance (Mic 2:1-2). Then I said, “Now listen, leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Aren’t you supposed to know what is just? You hate good and love evil. You tear off people’s skin and strip their flesh from their bones. You eat the flesh of my people after you strip their skin from them and break their bones. You chop them up like flesh for the cooking pot, like meat in a cauldron” … Listen to this, leaders of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and pervert everything that is right, who build Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with injustice. Her leaders issue rulings for a bribe, her priests teach for payment, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean on the Lord, saying, “Isn’t the Lord among us? No disaster will overtake us” (Mic 3:1-3, 9-11)
The same is happening today in our world, society, and even in churches. Like Israel, we are assailed from all sides and from within. The strong oppress the weak. The rich pummel the poor. The greedy exploit others. Nation goes to war against nation. Tribe fight with tribe, race against race. People hate, reject, marginalize, oppress, and even kill others who look, think, believe, and live differently from them. The horrors of human trafficking are destroying millions of lives. Refugees flee their homes and home countries hoping to find life, peace, and safety somewhere else. Church leaders, who are supposed to be the shepherds of God’s people, violate their calling through spiritual abuse, sexual abuse, and the abuse of power and financial resources. Where is peace?
2. Jesus Christ Is Our Peace
Yet, into this violent and seemingly hopeless world, God promised to send his peace bearer who will bring true peace, shalom. “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor bears a son, and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be our peace … (Mic 5:2-5a).
Micah describes the coming peace giver in 4:3-4 as someone who " judges between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide." Under his leadership, the nations "will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore."
God's peace—shalom—means much more than simply the absence of war. Shalom is much bigger and broader. Shalom means not only inner peace or spiritual peace. It means wholeness and completeness throughout all creation. It means the end of injustice. It means the rich would no longer devour the poor. All brokenness would be set right and healed, and people would love one another. Shalom would flow deep and broad, embracing all of creation.
And God did fulfill his promise. The Prince of Peace was born in a manger in Bethlehem a small, insignificant town (Matthew 2:1–12). For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. (Is 9:6-7).
Jesus Christ is our peace. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. (Eph 2:13-20).
Into this broken and hurting world, Jesus Christ brought God’s kingdom of peace, his shalom that reconciles, restores, and heals. Through his death and resurrection, the slaughtered Lamb bought with his blood a kingdom people for God. And He will return to complete his kingdom work, to establish in his new creation the perfect and complete shalom.
3. We Are Peacemakers
But now, while we wait for his return, He calls us to be his peacemakers in this violent and warring world. We are to proclaim, teach, and live out his kingdom of peace. He has given us this ministry of reconciliation. We are Christ’s ambassadors (2 Cor 5:14-21) in this world.
However, to be peacemakers, we first need peace with God. The revolution of peace that started on that first Christmas in small Bethlehem means that peace has to start in our hearts. We can't be an effective instrument for peace until we find peace in our relationship with God. Everything Jesus did, including living, teaching, dying on the cross, and rising from the dead, was designed to reconcile us with God the Father. Our relationship with God was not at peace. As a matter of fact, the Bible tells us that we are at war with God. We're not victims; we're rebels who must learn to lay down our arms and surrender if we ever hope to find real peace. That's why Paul declares so joyfully that peace has been offered: "Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ro 5:1). Unless we are at peace with God, we are not part of the solution. We are still part of the problem. But in Jesus, we can become peacemakers in this world. We can be instruments of God's peace. Following Jesus is not simply a matter of enjoying peace in my heart or with God. He calls us to join his revolutionary movement of bringing shalom to a broken world. As a follower of Jesus, I am now called to announce the good news that people can be reconciled to God. We begin this peacemaking journey in our homes, families, church, communities, workplaces, schools, etc. Peace does not mean the absence of conflict. It means working through the conflict to bring peace into our relationships.
How do we make peace? How do we proclaim the Prince of Peace and his kingdom of peace? We follow the example of our Lord. We obey his commands and put his teachings into practice. We love others, including our enemies, with unconditional, sacrificial, self-giving love. We forgive others as our Father has forgiven us. We do not repay anyone evil for evil, but we overcome evil with good. We make every effort to live in peace and make peace. We follow the instructions of our Lord in his SOM and Mt 18. We live out 1 Cor 13. And we pray without ceasing, asking the Prince of Peace to bring his peace into our lives, homes, and community.
4. The Prince of Peace Is Our Shepherd
But … in this world today, is it really possible to experience peace and make peace? We have just come out of our series on Revelation. There we have learned that as we approach the end and the return of our Lord, things are going to get worse. The war between God’s kingdom and Satan’s rule will intensify as the devil, and his forces make their last stand. God’s wrath and judgments will be poured out on the unbelieving world. And God’s people will experience increased tribulations as they suffer persecution by the world. Where is the peace in all this?
And then, we get so busy dealing with “real life” in this world. Who has time to dream about better days when we're unsure how to make it through this day? Who has time to think about peace when we barely hold our own lives together? We have bills to pay and kids to get through school. We have term papers to finish, health problems to resolve, and a retirement plan to build; a ranch to run; cows to feed; a business to keep afloat. The list of responsibilities goes on and on. Longing for peace, longing for justice, aching for better days—we just don't have time or energy anymore for that. Longing for and working for God’s kingdom gets placed on the back burner. Jesus gets placed on the back burner except for Sundays and our “church” lives. It’s so easy for us to become preoccupied and obsessed with ourselves, our lives, and our realities. When we focus on the world around us, we get depressed, skeptical, and cynical. When we wallow in self-pity, grumble, and complain, our hearts become fertile soil for anger, hatred, and self-righteousness. Love is pushed out, and we cannot make peace with others.
It is all a question of who or what do we believe in, put our trust in, fix our eyes on, and set our minds on. Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace is our Good Shepherd. He laid down his life for us. He saves us. He knows us. We know Him. We know his voice, and we follow Him. He leads us, and we find green pasture and still waters, and in Him, we have life abundantly (Jn. 10:1-21). He gives us peace, joy, hope, and love, even in the midst of our trials, sufferings, and tribulations, yes, even in this world. This is what we must do to experience peace and to be his peacemakers in the world.
We must deny self and die to self. We must surrender ourselves completely to our Good Shepherd. We must fix our eyes on Him (Heb 12:2) all the time. We must set our minds on things above, on Christ and his kingdom, not on earthly things because we are citizens of heaven (Col 3:2; Phil 3:20). Everything we do, in word or deed, we must do out of reverence for the Lord, in His Name, for His glory, giving thanks to God the Father through Jesus (Col 3:17, 1 Co 10:31). Do not worry about our lives, our bodies, or tomorrow. We must seek first his kingdom and his righteousness (Mt 6:25-34). When we are weary and burdened, we must go to our Good Shepherd, and He will give us rest. We must give over our burdens to Him, and take on his yoke which is light and easy (Mt 11:28-30). We fix our eyes and set our minds on Jesus in prayer. Therefore, do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:6-7). When we rejoice in the Lord always, we will experience his peace, his perfect shalom, in this life. He gives his peace to us. Peace is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, and it is by the power of the Spirit we are now able to have peace and make peace with others. Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God (Mt 6:9).
The Prince of Peace is our Shepherd, and He leads us to peace, gives us peace, and is our peace, in this world and in this life. And He leads us to the perfect, eternal shalom in his new creation. This world and this life may break our bones and kill our bodies, but they can never destroy our souls. The Lord our Shepherd will lead us through the valley of death and into his eternal peace. We close by reading prayerfully Ps 23. Listen and pray these words. Surrender your life, heart, and mind to the Prince of Peace, our Good Shepherd.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.