LWLC Wiki

Search this site

Summary: AI-assisted (Claude) from transcripts

Summary

Peace

Peace is one of the most cherished words in Scripture, and one of the most easily misunderstood. In ordinary speech, "peace" describes the quiet after a baby finally sleeps, the inner calm when an anxious matter is resolved, or the laying down of arms when a conflict ends. Scripture certainly uses the word in those ways, but it points to something deeper and more enduring—a peace that persists through every circumstance because it concerns the relationship between God and humankind.

The angels announced this peace on the night of our Lord's birth: "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors" Luke 2:14. Yet Jesus Himself later asked, "Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth?" and answered, "No!" Luke 12:51. These are not contradictions. The peace the angels proclaimed is not a political peace, nor the perpetual absence of difficulty. Wars have multiplied since Bethlehem; even the much-praised Pax Romana of Jesus' day was a peace bought by bloodshed. This side of heaven, perfect peace among nations, neighborhoods, and homes will not be found.

The reason is sin. Sin is what separates us from God and from one another, and it is why Jesus warned that His coming would expose division—people would be divided over His very identity as Messiah and Lord. Every human being lives out the story of the Garden in his or her own life, hiding from God after reaching for what was forbidden. Until sin is dealt with, no lasting peace is possible. See “Peace” 12-24-23.

So Christ came to deal with it. When He rode into Jerusalem to go to the cross, the multitudes proclaimed, "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven!" Luke 19:38. Notice how Scripture binds Bethlehem and Jerusalem together: at His birth He was wrapped in bands of cloth and laid in a manger; at His death He was wrapped in linen cloth and laid in a tomb. The Prince of Peace came to earth in order to make peace in heaven—by bearing the sin of the world on the cross. As Paul writes, God was pleased "to reconcile to himself all things… by making peace through the blood of his cross" Colossians 1:20, and "now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ, for he himself is our peace" Ephesians 2:13-14.

This is the substitutionary atonement: Christ in our place, bearing our sin, paying our debt, absorbing the wrath, so that we might be reconciled to God. His resurrection is the Father's declaration that the sacrifice has been accepted—and so the verdict comes back: peace. The favor of God spoken of by the angels rests on every baptized child of God, clothed in the righteousness of Christ. See “Peace” Look Here 4-13-25.

Such peace produces a life. Because Christ has died for all, "those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them" 2 Corinthians 5:15. The love of Christ urges, even pressures, the Christian outward into a whole life lived for Him—not compartmentalized to Sunday morning or to a few quiet moments of devotion, but expressed in shining shoes, in washing dishes, in a kind word at the grocery counter, in faithful labor at home and at work. We do not do these things to earn favor; favor is already ours in Christ. We do them because the cross has freed us, and because the peace God has spoken over us in the blood of His Son extends through every ordinary hour and onward into eternity.

Video citations