Peace: Jesus the Prince of Peace

(Guest post by Everett, age 18)

Last week, my mother talked about Hope. This being the second week of Advent, today’s word is Peace. As Advent means arrival, Christmas celebrates Christ’s coming to us. We are waiting for December 25th to arrive, but more than that, we are waiting for Jesus to return to us. I think it can be hard to find peace while anticipating such an occasion because so many people still need to come to faith, but we can see similarity to what Israel experienced when Isaiah prophesied about Jesus’ birth. Isaiah 9:6 says, “For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”

I wonder how anxious Israel was waiting for that prophecy to come true. They were waiting for the Messiah to come and save them—to bring them peace—and He did come, but not in the way they were hoping for. Let me explain, the Jews wanted Jesus to overthrow the Roman Empire and establish Israel as the major world power, then they would have peace and prosperity under their own rule, or so they hoped. I believe this is what Jesus meant in Luke 12:51 when He said, “Do you think that I came to provide peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”

He goes on to explain that households will turn against each other because of Him; He’s prophesying how controversial His Name and teachings would become. But don’t think Jesus isn’t the Prince of Peace. He most certainly does give peace to His followers, but Israel rejected Him, so they missed out on the kind of peace we receive from God. They didn’t understand what it meant that the Messiah would be the Prince of Peace.

That is because God’s peace is different from the world’s definition of peace. We are going to look at three different ways this is true.

The first way that God’s peace is different is that it is a peace that reconciles people and God. Jesus is the Prince of Peace because He reconciled people and God through His death on the cross. Romans 5:1:11 explains all of this better than I can. Paul said, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we celebrate in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also celebrate in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous person; though perhaps for the good person someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also celebrate in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”

We can be at peace with God now because of Jesus’ sacrifice. The Pharisees rejected Jesus because they didn’t understand that they needed to be at peace with God. They were righteous in their own eyes, so they believed they were already at peace with God. But the new Covenant that Jesus brought isn’t limited to any one people group, and it goes deeper than the old covenant. Instead of ritualistic religion, God wants relationships with each of us. The Pharisees missed out on the peace that Jesus offered them.

The second way that God’s peace is different from the world’s peace is that God’s peace is lasting even in the midst of trouble. The world defines peace as tranquility, and as the cessation of war. So, the worldly idea of peace is the absence of worry, or like a vacation from their troubles, but it’s not a lasting peace. Whereas, since Jesus is God, He can handle everything that we could possibly worry about, and He wants us to shoulder our burdens beside Him. Jesus wants to be with us every step of the way, working together. When things become too much for us to bear, Jesus will carry us through. He doesn’t tell us to take a vacation and forget about our problems; He wants to face them with us and give us peace in the middle of the problem.

Paul describes this peace in Philippians 4:7, which says, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” This is a kind of peace that is present even in times of strife and hardship. The Holy Spirit can give us His peace even when we have plenty of things to worry about. Paul wrote this to the church in Philippi while he was in prison, so he demonstrated his own teachings by urging his fellow believers to rejoice in the Lord rather than worry about him or anything else. Philippians 4:4-6 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all people. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Even in hardship, the Lord will provide for us and take care of us. Jesus said so in Matthew 6:34, when He said, “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” So, rather than worrying about everything that might happen, we should trust that God will take care of us, and He will give us His peace. Faith and peace go hand in hand.

The Enemy wants us to worry and stress out about every little thing, and we have a tendency to fret over the things we can’t control, but simply worrying never helps us. I think we should ask ourselves where our faith is. Do we believe that accidents or natural disasters are going to destroy us? Or do we believe that God will protect us? We won’t be able to concentrate on His purposes for us if we spend our time worrying about the future, so instead we should humble ourselves before the Lord and lay all our worries down for Him to take care of.

So how do we receive His peace? I’ve found a helpful prayer to pray is this: “If I don’t need to worry about [fill in the blank], then Lord, please give me peace and relieve me of my burden.” This prayer works because God doesn’t give us false senses of peace.

Sometimes it can be hard to remember to ask God to relieve us of our anxieties, and it is possible to go back to worrying after He gives us His peace. This is why we need to keep His Word on our minds and in our hearts 24/7. We need to pray without ceasing, and then instead of focusing on ourselves and how worried we are, we’ll be able to focus on God and what He wants us to do. Remember, in John 16:33, Jesus said, “‘These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.’”

Jesus has overcome the world, He conquered death and the grave, and proved that He really is the Son of God, so if we trust in Him, what then should we fear? God is greater than the enemy. He’s greater than anything that could harm us, so we are safe to rest in His peace. And once His peace washes over us, we can focus on what He wants us to do.

And the thing is, as I said, peace and faith go together, and since our faith is proven by obedience, I think it’s safe to say that peace is what follows our obedience. So, if we obey God’s will for us, He will give us His peace, and at the same time, I think we can know that we’re following His will based on whether we feel peace about it or not. But oftentimes, we miss out on the peace Jesus offers us when we don’t surrender all our worries and anxieties to Him.

So, like I said before, the world’s peace is found in the absence of trouble, whereas God’s peace is present even in the midst of trouble. And while the world’s peace only exists under set conditions, we are called to share God’s peace with all people. This is the third way that God’s peace is different from the world’s peace. In Matthew 5:9, Jesus says, “‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.’”

That’s one of the beatitudes that us believers are supposed to exhibit. And in Luke 10:5, Jesus instructs His followers on how to proclaim the Kingdom of God. He tells them, “And whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’”

A commentary from The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges says about that verse, that “God’s messengers should begin first with prayers for peace, not objurgations.” Objurgation is a fancy word for a rebuke or a scolding. But what that means is that we should first show the Lord’s love and will for people before we preach repentance.

MacLaren’s Expositions of Holy Scripture put this nicely. He said, “All Christians are to be peacemakers in the deepest sense, and especially in regard to men’s relations with God. The whole scope of our work may be summed up as being to proclaim and bring peace with God, with ourselves, with all others, and with circumstances.”

We are called to bring God’s peace with us everywhere we go. Like MacLaren said, we are supposed to help bring peace between humanity and God. In order to do that, we need to first understand God’s peace and receive it from Him, for we cannot give away something we don’t have.

What does it mean to bring God’s peace to other people? The message to spread around is that God wants all people to live in harmony with Him. All people need to be reconciled with God, and so the first step is to be converted.

We can see in all this how Jesus really is the Prince of Peace, because He brought peace between us sinners and God, so now we can be His friends and children. That’s why us Christians should work to spread this peace to everyone who isn’t at peace with God. Just like the Pharisees, so many people today are missing out on the peace that Jesus is offering them, because they don’t think they need to be reconciled to God; they are righteous in their own eyes.

Rather than berating people or ignoring sin, our message should focus on the peace God wants us to have with Him. If we try to live at peace with God, we will be obedient to Him, and we can lead by example and show the world what His peace is like.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Isaiah prophesied about Him so long ago, and yet so many people still don’t see it. Jesus bridged the gap between us and God, and now, through faith in Jesus, everyone can be with Him in Eternity; everyone is invited. The problem is that so few people accept His invitation, somehow they’d rather stay as they are, living in sin, rather than being at peace with God. So, we should show them just how amazing it is to live at peace with God. If we do this from a place of love, then His peace will spread through us to other Christians and nonbelievers alike, and we can show evidence of God through our lives.

During this time of Advent, let’s remember what Jesus, our Prince of Peace, has done for us and share this message of peace with the world.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for giving us Your peace. Help us lay all our anxieties down at your feet, so they won’t distract us from doing Your work. Please help us follow You and always be peacemakers and spread Your peace to everyone around us. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.