Peace is from Jesus Christ
By His Person and Work (Eph. 2:14)
Peace is harmony with God and with one another. Peace is a right relationship based upon righteousness. Peace exists when we think well about one another, relate to the other with justice, and practice love. Christ’s peace can rule us in the midst of suffering and loss, death and pain, and conflict for the gospel. Peace is here called “the peace of Christ” because he alone is the “Prince of peace” – the ruler who accomplishes peace and gives peace. At the foundation of peace is a person, our Savior. He is “our peace” (Eph. 2:14) because in his person as the appointed Mediator of the covenant, he is perfectly one with his Father. There is never a ruffle in their relationship but always equality of essence and unity of will between them. In the flesh, our Lord always pleased and submitted to his Father, and therefore lived in perfect harmony with his Father. As “the peace,” Jesus Christ alone makes peace between God and us. Nothing we say, do, or feel can reconcile God to us, us to God or to one another. We are “alienated in our minds by wicked works” (Col. 1:21). If we are to have peace and to be ruled by peace, Jesus Christ must give peace to us. It is his gracious, sovereign gift.
By the Blood of His Cross (1:19)
Higher yet, Christ’s peace is built upon Christ’s blood. The world’s uneasy peace is often achieved by blood: unjust wars, wicked men killing other wicked men, imposing their will upon the defeated, to satisfy their greed and vengeance, as James wrote (James 4:1-2). Our Savior’s peace is as different from the world’s peace as heaven is from hell. Our Lord made peace “by the blood of his cross” (1:19). By shedding his blood on the cross, the Just for the unjust, he brought us to God (1 Pet. 3:18). His blood removed the curse that lay upon us due to our lawbreaking. His blood satisfied the justice of his Father against sin. The holy and righteous God has no more claims against us to satisfy. He is reconciled to us; the holy God and righteous Judge is at peace with us. And we can now be reconciled to him. We once hated him; our sin and guilt drove us to make war against God and to despise his mercy. Now, we are cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ and brought near to God our Father. The world does not trust the blood of Jesus Christ for peace. It lies under Cain’s curse and shadow – alienated, hating God and hating men, stealing and killing, wanting peace, but by dominating others to gets its way.
By His Gracious Gift (John 14:27)
The command to let Christ’s peace rule in our hearts is not a moralism. “Be nice.” Or “stop arguing.” It is part of the new man. It is a command specifically given to new men and women in Christ. It is a duty that is possible only if the One who accomplished peace gives us peace. This is exactly what he said in John 14:27. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.” Two things stand out in his gracious gift of peace. First, peace is our Lord’s to give. Second, he owns peace; it is specifically his peace. There will never be peace in our hearts or in our relationships unless he gives it to us. His command to make peace assumes the reign of his peace from heaven and over our hearts. It also assumes that we are seeking peace from Jesus Christ alone – not from our own hearts, not waiting upon others to make peace with us, but seeking Jesus Christ to give his peace to us. Regardless of how bleak the hour, like that hour in the Upper Room when he said these words, his peace will prevail. His peace is destined to transform our lives, the world, and the entire universe. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the great Peacegiver. And where you are lacking peace with God, seek it in Jesus Christ. If you lack peace with others, at the least, begin seeking this peace also from Jesus Christ also.
Peace Must Rules Our Heart and Relationships
God Reconciled – Heart Calmed and Confident
The word for “rule” here is “to umpire.” The heart can be very unruly at times – doubtful of God’s grace, insistent upon its own rights, and then determined to find its own way of atonement and peace. Our sinful hearts want to argue about everything. When we sin, we often say or think to ourselves – “well, I’ll make this right with God later.” This is to make our ideas and agendas the umpire of peace. Instead, we must stop listening to our own voice and preach the gospel to ourselves. Christ’s peace must umpire the soul. When we sin, there is only one way back to peace – confession and trusting in the advocacy of Jesus Christ (1 John 1:8-2:2). When the heart rolls like the ocean, topsy-turvy by the trials of life, Christ’s perfect peace must be the umpire. In him, the heart can be calm and confident before God – confident in his love and good will toward us. Whatever we suffer, whatever men say about us, whatever the flesh insinuates, God is reconciled to us through the blood and mediation of Jesus Christ. When we need assurance of forgiveness, then, we must turn not to our own works and efforts at reformation, but to the Peacemaker and Peacegiver, Jesus Christ. The foundation of peace in our souls, for our relationships, for all of life, even for the world, is God reconciled to us through his Son. By him, we have peace with God and have access to God with the confidence of children to their Father (Rom. 5:1-2; Eph. 3:12). Without faith in Him, the world destroys itself with inward unrest and wars.
Like an Umpire – Unity of Spirit in Bond of Peace
Peace is prominent in a closely related passage – Ephesians 4:1-3. Most of the words here are found there, and the conclusion is similar: “endeavoring to keep the bond of unity in the bond of peace.” “Endeavor” is a word meaning to make haste – to hurry to make peace. Peace is not always possible, but it should always be pursued. Here, the added idea is that Christ’s peace is to umpire our relationships with one another. Whatever makes for peace – harmony in union with Christ – is to rule our relationships. This unity is specifically related to the person and work of the Holy Spirit, for “there is one body, and one Spirit” (Eph. 4:4). Peace is one of his beautiful fruits. He applies Christ’s peace to us so that we believe and feel ourselves to be God’s reconciled children. He works peaceableness in us, so that we grow in the ability to forgive, forebear, and love – all necessary ingredients of peace.
Peace is also God’s calling upon our lives in the body of Christ – “to be at peace among ourselves” (1 Thess. 5:13). “You have been called to peace” (1 Cor. 7:15). It is a remarkable calling to us – not to warfare, turmoil, drama, argumentativeness, conceitedness, or manipulation – all the enemies of peace. As with God’s love and mercy, we must remember that he has made peace with us through his Son. Therefore, “as much as lies in us,” we are to live in peace with one another. Our Father calls us his children to be peaceable – a person others want to be around, can easily listen to, find approachable, cheerful. This is the heavenly wisdom that makes for peace (James 3:15-18). It is Christ’s peace applied to our relationships. In him, we must seek to address personal issues and to be reconciled to one another. We must extend mercy to cover the many sins that disrupt and attack our peace. We must speak edifying words that build up one another. Christ’s peace requires not only the efforts that the Lord might use to bring peace, but also the personal sanctification that encourages others to try to make and keep peace. If we are proud or demanding, overbearing or twofaced, sullen, smug, or easily offended, we cannot blame others for not being at peace with us! Behind the scenes, as Christ is praying for us, his peace ruling in us means that we are praying for one another, confessing our sins before the Lord, and specifically seeking grace to overcome areas of relational difficulties and personal sins that make it difficult to be at peace.
Peace God’s Calling in One Body of Christ
Avoid What Disturbs Peace
In another place, the Holy Spirit directs us to “follow after the things that make for peace” (Rom. 14:19). There are two sides to this “following.” On the “negative side,” we should avoid what disturbs peace. Pride is at the top of this list: “only by pride comes contention” (Prov. 13:10). Pride is the insistence that one’s personal views dominate or that one’s person be preeminent. John rebuked Diotrephes for “loving to have the preeminence” (3 John 9) – the first place, the highest honor, the final word. He was the opposite of a man who is content with the lowest seat, to serve without being recognized. We disturb the peace when we view the church as a debate society, especially about secondary matters; this is the “vain jangling” against which the Spirit warns (1 Tim. 1:6). Christ’s peace cannot rule if the church is embroiled in debate about current events, or acts like a political action committee, or when concerns about our temporal lives and earthly affiliations take precedence over prayer, love, and pursuit of God’s eternal kingdom. Christ’s peace umpires when his word decides what is important to us, what we discuss most when we are together, and how we relate to a brother or sister who takes a different view of things. Christ’s peace rules us when we are turning from our personal sins, character traits, and attitudes that turn attention from him to ourselves. Christ’s peace alone must umpire our relationships in the body of Christ: his peace is through the blood of the cross, the path of humility, preferring others, meekness before God and man.
Pursue What Makes Peace
Christ’s peace means that we are quick to forgive, as we have been forgiven. His peace umpires when we seek to edify one another with our words, refuse to speak evil of one another, honor those in authority over us, and endeavor to build up others in knowing and serving him. Our basis for peace is very different from the world’s peace, and therefore the way we keep Christ’s peace is different. Since the peace is his, he defines it. Christians enjoy less peace than they would because they speak too little of the things that make for peace – the beauty and loveliness of Jesus Christ; the glory of the inheritance he has purchased for us; the privilege of serving him in our families and callings. Speaking too little of these, what fills the vacuum of our worldly hearts is too much disputing about world events – as if any of us possesses infallible judgment or knows anything but the faintest shadows of what the Lord is doing in the world. But we do know what our Savior is doing for us at the Father’s right hand – ruling, interceding, advocating for us, shepherding us, preserving us, sanctifying us, sympathizing with us in our personal trials and circumstances, and unifying us in his truth. We should pursue these glorious truths, comfort one another with them (1 Thess. 4:18; 1 Thess. 5:11) and speak often of them. Then, the peaceful fruits of righteousness will follow in our Savior’s footsteps (James 3:17).
We cannot keep the Spirit’s unity in the bond of peace unless we are ruled by Christ’s peace. This means that we must be governed by his priorities. Real comfort in Christ’s person and work is one goal of his peace. Each one of us should ask – in the body of Christ, are we comforters or agitators? Do we create unrest by our words, attitudes, and agendas, or do we edify and motivate to faithfulness? Are others more encouraged to follow Christ after spending time with us? In marriage, Christ’s priority is that the husband nurtures and cherishes his wife. Figure out the way to do this with the Spirit’s help, and your marriage will enjoy more of Christ’s peace. Christ’s priorities for the wife is for her to submit to her husband, love him, and serve her family in every way she can. It is not to please herself. The more, Christian wife, you are at peace with Christ’s priorities and submitting to them, the more peace and fulfillment you will have in your marriage. He will give it to you. Your husband will never satisfy you in your marriage, but Jesus Christ will. He is the Prince of Peace.
And imagine, Christian young person, the peace you might have during these years if you will be ruled by Christ’s peace – not by what you want to do, or your feelings, or the opinions of your friends. If you are ruled by Christ’s peace, you will do what he did – submit to his parents. He trusted that his Father would work through his parents, despite their frailties. Our Lord’s peace must prevail over our desire to be right or that others relate to us as we think they should. Christ’s peace, however, does not negate the need for confrontation of sin. Peace without righteousness is impossible. His peace also depends upon common submission to God’s truth. His truth sometimes introduces a sword, for his peace confronts error, unbelief, and pride. There can be no peace with these. His peace does not mean that we shall always see eye to eye with every believer. Paul and Barnabas did not. This is not to say that one of them was right and the other wrong – they simply did not see the situation the same. It is not always possible to do so in this life. Sometimes a wise peace simply backs off and waits for the Lord to work. It remains ready to forgive and to embrace. Peace can afford to be patient. It is Christ’s peace. His peace must prevail.
Peace Bears Fruit in Thankfulness
Coming near the end of the description of the new man, “be thankful” is a command that ignites peace. Why should we be thankful? For God’s mercy in Christ, for his steadfast love, that we are justified by faith and have objective peace with God based upon the person and finished work of Jesus Christ. The most persecuted believer will find these truths a fire in his soul that fuels thankfulness. And being thankful will enable us to live at peace. Ingratitude is a sure sign of a grasping and discontented person, a soul unmindful of the wondrous love of God. We complain only because we forget how good the Lord has been to us. When we preach his gospel of grace to ourselves, thankfulness must soon blossom. And then, we shall be peaceable men and women – quiet in our hearts before the Lord, calm in his loving providence, satisfied in his love as he rests in his love for us (Zeph. 3:17). Since we must pursue the things that make for peace, we must pursue thankful hearts. Otherwise, we shall think more of ourselves than others. And living for oneself is the most disturbing, ungrateful, and peace-destroying way a man can live.
Are we personally ruled by Christ’s peace? His blood, mediation, and Lordship?
Can others be ruled by peace toward us? Are we peace-encouraging people? James 3:15-18
Are we thankful for our Father’s peace with us through His Son? Is gratitude fueling peacemaking?
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