Will There Ever Be Peace on Earth? Part 2
Part 2:
It is sometimes lost on us who live in this present moment in time, with all its ills and illusions, that the present is a mere extension of the past with its ills and illusions. News of mass shootings across our nation in recent days overshadows all our violent past. I guess this is what is meant by recency bias. The belief that things are worse than ever is debatable. Solomon makes the point: “History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new” (Ecclesiastes 1:9 NLT).
The idea of recency bias is that the most recent thing one hears, sees, or experiences is given greater significance or weight than that of history. In theory, this applies to positive as well as negative ways of interpreting our experiences. It’s why we return again and again to our favorite restaurant until, on our last night-on-the-town, we find a fly in our soup!
A worldview that is rooted in Scripture provides us with a reliable knowledge of the ills of humanity along with the volatility and violence of nature. A biblical worldview informs us that the Fall did violence to both humanity and the cosmos. Not only did man’s nature fall from a state of grace and peace, so did the earth and the world. This is why the Scripture’s ultimate promise of redemption is the physical resurrection of man and the restoration of all things. (I’ll address this point more fully in an upcoming installment.)
The reason I approached the theme of peace on earth in the form of a question is because peace, in fact, is one of the great quests of mankind throughout the ages and one of the great questions of our existence. Its elusiveness makes it seem more of an illusion than a reality. But the peace Jesus gives is no illusion! The violence sin did to our human nature, Jesus has overcome through his life, death, and resurrection. This is the promise of Jesus and the Gospel. This is the peace he alone is able to give by the grace of God through faith in him as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. He suffered a violent death on the cross. His violence becomes our victory.
This is what I wrote about last time – being reconciled to God through faith in Jesus. This is what is meant by “peace with God.” Paul writes: “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory” (Romans 5:1-2 NLT, emphasis mine).
Someone came up with the clever play on words, often seen on bumper stickers: “No Jesus, no peace. Know Jesus, know peace.” (I’m not a big fan of bumper-sticker-religion, but this is one of the best ones out there!) So, the natural man – the unbelieving person – is not just at odds with God. He’s at war with God. He’s encamped with the enemies of God, and as long as he remains encamped with the enemies of God, he’ll know no peace with God.
Taking this a step further, the believer, in addition to knowing this peace with God, receives the peace of God as a grace-gift of his salvation in Jesus, of being in Christ, of being a new creation, and of knowing the forgiveness of sins and the reign of the Prince of Peace in his soul. This is the peace Jesus promised his disciples (then and now) in the midst of the dangers and darkness of this present world when he said: “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
The peace of God in the person and promise of Jesus is not of this world, but, yes, it can be found in this world! It is found in the heart where God dwells, where his Name is honored, where his Word is practiced, where his Will is obeyed, and where his Worshipers gather to worship him in spirit and in truth. It is found in the prayer life Jesus modeled and taught his disciples:
“Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.”
Prayer, at least the kind of prayer that Jesus modeled and taught, is a key to keeping in one’s inner being the grace-gift of peace. It is the key to keeping the Father’s name holy by keeping one’s life holy; it is the key to the inward reign and rule of God by which our will becomes subservient and completely yielded to the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God; and the key to loving God with all of our hearts, souls, and minds and loving others.
Grace and peace are inextricably linked together as Kingdom realities and as eternal qualities of God’s heart toward those he calls upward in Christ. Without God’s grace, the peace our souls long for are impossible. That’s one reason having the peace of God that comes with finding peace with God, is too precious a gift to squander in this perilous and pernicious world.
So, why do so many believers struggle to maintain this precious promised peace of God? That’s the subject we’ll explore in Part 3.