THE PEACE OF THE CROSS

Peace is one of the rarest commodities in our world today.  Almost everyone is looking for a lasting peace, whether on the personal level, marital level, social level, political level or vocational level.  We all want peace – peace of heart and mind.  The wise man of Proverbs rightly observed, “A heart at peace gives life to the body.” (14:30)  But where can you find that kind of peace?

The majority of purveyors of peace today are like the ones of old of whom the Lord said, “They dress the wounds of My people as though it were not serious.  ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.”  (Jeremiah 6:14; 8:11; Ezekiel 13:10; I Thessalonians 5:3)  The panacea of peace that they offered was an illusion because they promoted and promised peace with no necessary preconditions.

Many definitions of peace say it is the absence of certain negative things, like freedom from: disorder, war, conflict, strife, etc.  From a Biblical perspective, peace is not just the absence of the negative, but the presence of everything necessary to give us a sense of wholeness…well-being…completeness…calm…control and tranquility.  So let’s look at God’s definition of peace.

In the Old Testament, the word for peace is shalom. Besides being the familiar Jewish greeting, it also means wholeness, prosperity, health, safety and completeness.  As you would expect, all lasting shalom comes from the Lord.  The Bible reveals that man can only have true peace when he is in a right relationship with God.  That right relationship is manifested by righteousness or “right living.”  Here are two examples:

“The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be a quietness and confidence forever.  My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.”  (Isaiah 32:17-18)

“I will make peace your governor and righteousness your ruler.  No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.”  (Isaiah 60:17-18)

We can clearly see that righteousness is the root and peace is the fruit.  One produces the other.  It is for that reason that the Bible says, “There is no peace for the wicked.”  (Isaiah 48:22)  The wicked have no peace because they have no righteousness.  In contrast, we read:

• “He promises peace to His people, His saints.”  (Psalm 85:8)
• “Great peace have they who love Your law.”  (Psalm 119:165)
• “The Lord blesses His people with peace.”  (Psalm 29:11)
• “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in You.” (Isaiah 26:3)

Since God is the “Lord of Peace” (Judges 6:23-24), we find Him constantly entering into a “Covenant of Peace” with people.  (Numbers 25:2; Isaiah 54:10; Ezekiel 34:25; 37:26; Malachi 2:5)  Throughout the time of the Old Covenant, God often pointed toward His coming Messiah who would be the very Incarnation of Peace:

“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 increase of His government and peace there will be no end.”  (Isaiah 9:6; c.f. Micah 5:4; Zechariah 8:10)

Here’s another incredible Messianic verse (or prophecy) that was written hundreds of years before the birth of Christ.  It will help bridge our thoughts into the New Testament peace of the cross.

“Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows…He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5)

Whereas shalom is the normative Hebrew word for peace, eirene is the dominant Greek word.  It means: “Wholeness, an inner sense of well-being” and it is found in every book of the New Testament except for 1st John – 90 times in all.  Spiritual peace is a key theme in the New Testament and eirene builds on the foundation of shalom in the Old Testament.

Since Jesus is the theme of the Gospel message and the focus of the New Testament witness, we would expect peace to be constantly related to His life and ministry.  But Jesus did not bring ultimate spiritual peace through His birth – but rather through His death.  His redemptive and reconciling death on the cross opened the way for an eternal peace that came from a restored relationship with God.

Peace was Christ’s parting gift to His disciples.  “Peace I leave with you.” Jesus said. “My peace I give you.  I do not give you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”  (John 14:27)  Even before His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus said to them, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace.”  (John 16:33)  The first thing He said to them after His resurrection was, “Peace be with you!” (John 20:19, 21, 26)

The apostle Paul wrote to the Colossian Christians, “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things…making peace through His blood shed on the cross.” (Colossians 1:19-20; c.f. 2:13-15)  It is easy to see that spiritual peace is inseparably linked to Jesus Christ and His death on the cross.  It was His shed blood that brought about the permanent eternal peace that man could never achieve through religion or good works.

Again Paul wrote:

“He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.  Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” (Romans 4:25-5:1-2)

God wants us to live in peace (Romans 8:5-6; Hebrews 12:10-11) in every area of our lives – spiritually, martially, relationally, vocationally.  Not to live in the peace of God is to depreciate the blood of Christ!  To not be an agent of peace in every sphere of influence God gives us is to live below the standard set by our “Prince of Peace.”

One Bible scholar summarized Biblical peace this way: “Peace is an attribute of God; is revealed through Christ; is mediated by the cross; is a chief fruit of the Spirit in the life of the believer.”  (Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, Bill Mounce, pp. 503-504)

The subjective sense of well-being flows directly from an objective relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  On the basis of the cross, we have a harmonious relationship with God that results in harmony with others. That’s why all authentic followers of the “Prince of Peace” are to be ambassadors of His kingdom, proclaiming and living out the “Gospel of Peace”. (Ephesians 6:15; c.f. Romans 11:19; 12:18; I Thessalonians 5:13; Hebrews 12:14)

I want to close this study with some more wonderful verses, some of which we have read before.  May they be a six-fold benediction upon your life of the peace that is yours through His blood.  Read them…pray them…believe them…memorize them…meditate on them – until Christ’s peace permeates every fiber of your being!

• “Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way.” (II Thessalonians 3:16)
• “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything 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.”  (Philippians 4:6-7)
• “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.”  (Colossians 3:15)
• “May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The One who calls you is faithful and He will do it.”  (I Thessalonians 5:24)
• “Now may the Lord of Peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way.” (II Thessalonians 3:16)
• “May the God of peace who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.  Amen.” (Hebrews 13:30-21)

Shalom!