Read Ephesians 2: 11 - 22 again today. I find reading out loud helps my mind to focus. As you read this time pay particular attention to what Paul says about "peace". What do learn about this most elusive quality?
When the New Testament uses the word, peace, it means much more than absence of conflict. From the NIV Application Commentary: "Peace is not merely the cessation of hostility; it is a comprehensive term for salvation and life with God. The background to this use is the Old Testament concept of shalom, which covers wholeness, physical well-being, prosperity, security, good relations, and integrity." Isaiah 9:6 calls the coming Messiah, the "Prince of Peace".
Did you notice in verse 14 that Christ, Himself, IS our peace? Not that He brought it ... but that He IS it? "This suggests that not only ‘He alone’ but ‘He in His own Person’ made peace. It is not only that the peace was made by Christ and ranks as His achievement, but that it is so identified with Him that were He away it would also fail,—so dependent on Him that apart from Him we cannot have it.” (from: Wuest, K. S. Wuest's word studies from the Greek New Testament : For the English reader)
We learn in verse 17 that Jesus preached peace - to those near (the Jews) and to those far away (the Gentiles). The word used for "preach" here is not the usual one that means "to proclaim". A different Greek word is used that means "to bring good news". And it is good news, is it not?! There can be peace ... there really can be a hope for shalom among peoples.
William Barclay says, "It is in a common love of Him that people come to love each other. That peace is won at the price of His blood, for the great awakener of love is the Cross. The sight of that Cross awakens in the hearts of men of all nations love for Christ, and only when they all love Christ will they love each other. It is not in treaties and leagues to produce peace. There can be peace only in Jesus Christ."
Imagine using a telephoto lens and pulling back as far as possible so that you get a full view of our world. The brokenness, the warring, the hatred - it is overwhelming. The magnitude of the problems and the conflicts leave me speechless and dumb. I have no voice on that world stage. And so I begin to bring that lens in - focusing on a much closer world, my immediate world. I do have a bit of a voice in my immediate world and my immediate circles. When you focus your eyes on the world that directly surrounds you, what do you see? Is there any warring going on? Is there any hatred? Is there any brokenness and loss? Where do you need to experience peace more fully? Is it in your home, your family? Perhaps in your church? Maybe you long to experience peace in your workplace? Those are the practice fields my friends. That is where the "rubber meets the road" so to speak.
If you are "in Christ", He IS your peace. And in getting to know Him better (as Paul prays for us in Ephesians 1:17) we grow in our ability to experience peace. That will not mean that all conflict and controversy will magically disappear from your life. But it does mean that you will handle those things is a very different way. You will grow in your ability (through the Spirit of God) to handle them with love.
Remember - Christ is our peace. He has extended grace and forgiveness, inclusion and hope to us. We are called to extend that grace to others (not just the people you like!) in His name.
So ... this week ... practice with me ... living in peace, living in Christ.
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