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What do you think of when you hear the word peace? “Peaceful, Easy Feeling” by the Eagles runs through my head. Right now, as I look out my window and watch the snow falling silently, blanketing everything in white, I feel a type of peace. Dreaming of warmer places, images and sounds of the waves on a private beach fills my mind. It is one of my favorite places to be. It’s my peaceful place. However, the Prince of Peace’s purpose in taking on flesh and dwelling among us wasn’t so my life could be brimming with days sitting on a second story lanai, feet up, listening to the waves kiss the sand and watching the sun disappear in glorious color into the ocean. The Prince of Peace came to bring a peace infinitely surpassing any peaceful, easy feeling we can imagine.
For to us a child is born,
to us a Son is given;
and the government shall be upon His shoulder,
and His name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over His kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it.
Isaiah 9:6-7 (emphasis added)
If we go back to the Garden of Eden, there was peace, perfect communion between man and God. There was peace between Adam and Eve. Sin had not yet broken those relationships. But with the fall, peace was lost.
Just this morning I read the story behind the Christmas Hymn, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” (If you have time, you can read the full story here: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/the-story-of-pain-and-hope-behind-i-heard-the-bells-on-christmas-day/). It was written by the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Prior to penning the words, Henry had lost an infant child and his wife. At the time of writing these words that would become a hymn, he was visiting his oldest son who had been shot fighting in the civil war and facing potential paralysis. “He [Henry] heard the Christmas bells ringing in Cambridge and the singing of ‘peace on earth’ (Luke 2:14), but he observed the world of injustice and violence that seemed to mock the truthfulness of this optimistic outlook.”[1]
Henry looked around him in his own grief and grief for his son and his county at war with itself and wondered how people could sing of peace on earth. We too look around us and see the lack of peace. Wars, violence, and injustice abound in our country and around the world. Our country is witnessing great division. Families are broken. We are consumed with worry, fear, jealousy, lust, grief, rejection of God, and so much more that makes peace glaringly absent. But read Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s closing stanzas:
And in despair I bowed my head; "There is no peace on earth," I said; "For hate is strong, And mocks the song Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail, With peace on earth, good-will to men.”
When Adam and Eve sinned and peace between them and God and each other was shattered, God did not wash His hands of mankind. He didn’t move on to other endeavors. He didn’t forsake us. No. He had a plan from the beginning to restore the peace that was present at creation. His plan was the Prince of Peace.
Luke recorded the angels praising God in Luke 2:14, saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!” (Some manuscripts translate, “…peace, good will among men.”) We tend to think of peace in terms of circumstances – kids not fighting, no worries, the snow falling, the waves touching the sand – but Biblical peace is about relationship which is why the Prince of Peace had to come as God incarnate to restore peace by reconciling man to God through His death on the cross, burial, and resurrection.
For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross.
Colossians 1:19-20
The Prince of Peace was also called a “man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3a). As fully God and fully man, Jesus knew better than anyone the brokenness and lack of peace in His creation. He was there from eternity. He created everything very good, and He was there the moment sin’s stain touched everything from then on, driving peace away. The Prince of Peace was willing to restore that peace by shedding His own blood on the cross.
When we read of “peace on earth, good will to men,” we understand this peace is Jesus. Biblical peace is trusting in Jesus’ atoning work alone to be reconciled back to God. This is God’s good will towards man. He provided a way to redeem us through His Son, the Prince of Peace.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 5:1
Our sin separated us from God. Paul says later in Romans that we were enemies of God (Romans 5:10), but it is through the Prince of Peace that we are justified (just as if we had never sinned and just as if we had always obeyed), erasing the enmity, restoring peace.
The vertical peace between us and God enables us to have horizontal peace with others. Can you imagine if everyone in the world had peace with God? If everyone was saved? We would all be seeking to glorify God by loving others. We would forgive as we have been forgiven. We would serve and put others before ourselves as the Prince of Peace did. There would be peace in our circumstances.
Of course, not everyone does have peace with God, and even those of us who do still struggle with sin. We don’t always have peace in our horizontal relationships, but God’s standard is for us to do all we can to pursue peace with others (Romans 12:18). We pursue peace with others knowing that even when we fail, the Prince of Peace has perfectly accomplished everything needed for peace in our place.
While we pursue peace with others, we expectantly wait for the day when all things are made new, when perfect peace reigns forever. The Greek word for peace found in Luke 2:14 is eiréné. As we’ve been studying, it is the peace or rest we have in the assurance of our salvation through Christ’s atoning work alone. The Hebrew word shalom may be more familiar as it is used as a Jewish greeting. To say shalom to someone was to wish for them a foretaste of the Messianic age to come: to be complete and whole, to be healthy, to be safe, to be prosperous, to be tranquil, to be rested, to be happy, to be free from discord or agitation. This is the peace we expectantly wait for and will one day enjoy.
Reflection
1. When you hear “peace on earth,” what does it mean to you? How has your view changed upon studying what the Prince of Peace came to accomplish on the cross?
2. Have you been transformed by the Prince of Peace? First, have you trusted in His atoning work on the cross alone for your salvation and bringing you peace with God? Second if you have, how does this transform your everyday? Philippians 4:4-7 says, 4 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” We trust in Jesus not only for salvation, but every day in everything (vs 6). We pursue peace with others (vs 5). Then God gives us a peace that surpasses all understanding.
3. How does knowing the Prince of Peace give you hope personally both now and in the future?
4. How does knowing the Prince of Peace instill joy in you? What are you grateful for in what the Prince of Peace has done? How can you praise God for who He is?
5. Below are suggested songs to help you continue meditating on and worshipping the Prince of Peace:
“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” – There are many who sing this. I like Casting Crown’s version.
"Hark the Herald Angels Sing"
"His Name Shall Be" by Matt Redman
“Grace and Peace” by Sovereign Grace
“He Is Our Peace” by James Ward
“Mary Had a Little Lamb” by Rod + Rose
“Peace Is Here” by Jars of Clay
“Peace” by Michael W. Smith
“Benediction (May the Peace of God)” by Keith and Kristyn Getty
"It Came Upon a Midnight Clear"
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