The Advent of Peace | Forged Through Sacrifice
Jesus came to bring peace to the world. As God spoke the world into being, mankind chose to rebel against God and embrace a path of sin. Since that moment, the world has fallen to chaos and disorder. The birth of Jesus Christ meant the advent of peace into the world that would establish the dominion of God over the powers of sin and darkness itself. Now, the world wrestles with the tension between peace and chaos. Jesus’ first coming meant the advent of true peace as it became available to all who would submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. One day, Jesus will come again to finalize His Kingdom for the eternal and perfect peace. Yet, for now, we live as children of that coming second Kingdom. Like Jesus Christ, we become an incarnate peace in the lives of those we come into contact with. This is no mere submission to the ways of a world marred by sin. Nor is it subjugating the world to our will by asserting our dominance and reign. Peace comes through becoming like Jesus Christ and identifying with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. In doing so, we become the peace to the world by the power of Jesus Christ by His Spirit within us.
The Strength of Making Peace
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus provides a taste of what someone who is flourishing according to the “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9, ESV) Too many people have understood peace as passivity or simply succumbing to the desires of someone else. We trade truth for simply choosing not to offend people. Yet, we do not see this as a way that Jesus lived. Jesus said offense things, acting in strength, not as a means of being offensive but as a means of seeking to stir up one to receive the truth of Jesus Christ. He confronted the flawed ways of thinking that departed from the design of God. Jesus never abandoned the truth and fought hard to restore the peace that had been broken by mankind through our sin. Nor did Jesus cave in to the demands of the world or agree to their definition of truth and love. In peace, Jesus willfully forged paths for our return to the ultimate peace.
Peace is not a passive process that we lay down for. We do not cave in to the societal demands of acceptance or definitions for how one should or should not achieve peace. Peace making differs from peace keeping in that making peace is a much more difficulty and active process. Peace is forged in strength by standing against the currents of a world ravaged by the effects of sin. It stands firm in the truth and divine rule of Jesus Christ, having declared victory over all the world. The world will attempt to define what we should and should not do, accept, and believe. Peace comes through the understanding that our identity is built on the foundation of Jesus Christ over all the world. Yet, those who are flourishing in life will find a life of peace. The connect Jesus makes in the sermon on the mount comes with our identification with Jesus Christ.
Strength in Sacrificial Living
Yet, for all the intensity of forging peace, we cannot be drawn in by the temptation that force of might will be the victory. The path of the Christian is not one of asserting our own will or demand other follow in step with us. Peacemaking, while forged, still bears the brunt of the weight upon the one who is following Christ. As Jesus came into the world to forge peace in the hearts of mankind, He did so through the strength of self-sacrifice. While he could have fully asserted His Divinity and sovereign rule over all people, subjugating them to His will. Instead, Jesus Christ emptied Himself, becoming sin on our behalf so that we might enjoy the coming of His peace. The weight of peace making fell to Christ as He became incarnate in the lives of people for their sake. Peace is forged in strength, but on the shoulders of those who have already found the eternal source of peace in Jesus Christ.
The Christian cannot subjugate a person to relationship with Jesus Christ. Oppression is not the tool of the Christian, but bearing the weight of another’s consequences by giving up our own preferences. “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” (Romans 12:14-18, ESV) Paul’s instructions to the people of God involve letting go of our own preferences in order to live at peace with those around us. While this does not apply to the things of God which we should hold tight to, we can forge peace by peaceable living with those around us. The world apart from Christ will ultimately reject peace while simultaneously craving it. Thus, when they see one of the faith who has found true peace, they know that peace comes by the Lord. We forge peace in the same manner that Christ did, by standing firmly on the truth while extending grace to the people around us. We allow ourselves to even be slighted by the world, knowing that we are secured by the works of Jesus Christ. When Christ defines every aspect of who we are, we become that same incarnate peace that came to rescue the world.
