“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” (Colossians 3:15) The secret to Christian peace is contentment and trust. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart” (Proverbs 3:5 & Luke 12:22, 30–31) (implementation).
What does peace mean? Does it just mean the absence of conflict (no war)? What does the word mean in Biblical terms? It can certainly refer to the absence of conflict but it also points us to something better in the place of the conflict.
In Hebrew, the word for peace is “Shalom”, mostly found in the Old Testament and in the New Testament the Greek word is “Eirene”. Both word’s basic meanings refer to being complete or whole. There are 379 verses in the Bible with 408 references to peace. This is then a trait we need to master.
In Joshua 8:31, they were commanded to make an altar of “Shalom Stone”: “as Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of uncut stones, on which no one had lifted up any iron. They offered burnt offerings on it to Yahweh and sacrificed peace offerings.” The stone was perfectly whole and complete.
Job described his wholeness of peace as follows: “You shall know that your tent is in peace. You shall visit your fold, and shall miss nothing.” (Job 5:24)
Our daily lives are multifaceted and full of “moving parts” that can influence our peace of mind. Whenever we experience something in our lives that is out of sync or have a breakdown of any sort our peace breaks down too. When this happens our lives are not “whole” and restoration needs to take place. When “shalom” is used as a verb this is exactly what happens, you bring restoration and restore your peace.
How do we achieve such “shalom”?
When we reconcile and heal broken relationships we bring shalom, this is seen in the following Scripture: “When a man’s ways please Yahweh, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” (Proverbs 16:7)
Throughout the history of the Old Testament, the kings were supposed to cultivate “shalom” but it hardly ever happened to lead to the prophet Isaiah saying: “For to us a child is born. To us a son is given; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6). Isaiah is looking forward to a future King that will be coming, bringing with Him endless shalom. He will heal all that is incomplete and broken making it complete and whole.
Jesus’ birth is announced as the arrival of “Eirene”, bringing His peace to the world: “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.” (John 14:27)
Paul described it as follows: “Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;” (Romans 5:1). Jesus, when He died, brought restoration between the Creator God and humans, leading Paul to further say: “For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in his flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace;” (Ephesians 2:14-15). Jesus himself is our “Eirene”
The Challenge
If we are in Jesus and His peace is in us, then we must create this peace around us, doing so in humility, patience and love. “For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him; and through him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on the earth, or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:19-20.)
This means that Jesus brought reconciliation to all things on heaven and earth, making peace through the blood that was spilt on His cross. Peace brings a lot of work. We must take what is broken and restore it to what God has intended it to be. This is true for our lives, our relationships and the world we live in.
Bible Project has an amazing clip on peace.
May we have the heart of the Apostle Peter as we set our goal as follows: “Let him turn away from evil, and do good. Let him seek peace, and pursue it.”
(1 Peter 3:11) May you pursue peace and the One who brought it to us. In doing so bring “body life” in Christ to what He intended it to be.
