The angel in Luke 2 addressed a group of shepherds with the message that their Savior was born. He also declared, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
This verse is frequently misquoted and misunderstood, leading to this idea that the main idea behind Christianity is to bring peace to the earth and that peace can be universal even now, without the return of Jesus, without God, or at least without the God of the Bible. What is this peace?
What Peace Isn’t
Blogger Carin Kiphart wrote about how she sought to get away from the bustle of everyday life so she could reconnect with the peace she knew as a child, “In order to find true quiet, I ventured to the ends of the earth. The answer for me to find this peace was to become an explorer, seeking peace over the edges of the world, the literal edge of human existence. My soul sought the extreme.”
Kiphart believes that the peace she seeks for her inner self, her soul, can only be found “out there.” She travels to certain countries and explores mountains and seas. They are beautiful places that give her a genuine respect for the natural world.
Do you think that way? Is peace “out there” available for download only in particular locations under ideal circumstances?
This is not the peace of God. If you are “putting off” peace for your next holiday, or for when visitors leave, or for the day when your toddler stops having tantrums in the supermarket, you’re not seeking the peace of God — you don’t have to go looking for that.
The Peace of God
Eiréné: “properly, wholeness, i.e., when all essential parts are joined together; peace (God's gift of wholeness).” Strong’s concordance supplies a fuller understanding of “peace” than we usually attribute to the word. Peace in our world is mostly about the cessation of war or about tranquility.
The angel’s word, however — eiréné — indicates that the men to whom God will impart his peace are seeking wholeness with him. Their greatest desire is to be united in a mutual love of the Lord and also united with him.
But that was precisely what they could not attain. Every time they tried to be “good” Jews, sin got in the way. They couldn’t stay on the straight and narrow.
God hates sin, but he loves us, so he made a way for us to be reconciled to him once and for all by sending his Son to provide a means by which we could enjoy wholeness in the Lord.
This peace is a kind of rest, which comes not from ourselves, but not from “out there” on a sandy beach away from daily strife either. The Lord provides it, and we cannot earn it and do not need to seek it out.
That peace is right in front of us, offered on the basis of Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection. We recognize that we lost our union with God due to sin and that Christ alone provides the way to God. Believe. Call on his name.
Yes, you will find him if you go to the furthest reaches of the earth, but not because he is waiting for you there — he goes with you all the way and comes back with you to your ordinary home, your ordinary life.
Among Those with Whom He Is Well Pleased
There is this idea that Buddhists, Pantheists, Hindus, Christians, and various other groups only differ in that one group is monotheistic (Christians), and the others believe in multiple gods.
Many people (including lots of Christians) look forward to a day when peace on earth will be realized, even without the return of Christ.
But peace on earth is not a universal promise. Eiréné is offered to all but received only by believers. “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Luke 7:50).
If you are tempted to believe that all roads lead to God and all perceptions of God are ultimately the same, you are in dangerous territory. This is a deception, which Satan loves. You cannot get to God by any means other than through Jesus, his crucified and resurrected Son, our Savior, and King.
And while the world continues to be populated by individuals and societies, which reject the Triune God, there is no way there can be peace because our peace starts with him. Our wholeness, our ability to love one another: it all begins with resting in Christ.
Only his sufficiency, bequeathed to us through the Holy Spirit even now, enables us to grow more peaceful; as Paul puts it in Philippians 2:3, to “in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (I look forward to a day when this is easy!).
With whom is God well pleased? With those who love his Son.
How Do You Know?
I can hear my seeker friend asking me, “How do you know that’s what God means to tell the shepherds? You weren’t there!” He would be correct. I was not there, but how do we know anything about God and his message when none of us were there?
We know it by what he said to us through his Word. No special revelation is required, and one should always be suspicious of someone saying he or she has received a special Word from God which says anything contrary to his complete letter to us — the Bible.
Paul tells us this: “Rejoice in the Lord always [...] Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-8).
Let’s break it down. Here is a man who suffered greatly and was in prison as he wrote this letter. Yet his peace starts with rejoicing because Christians are Christ-imitators. We seek to be like him, who “for the joy set before him endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2).
Next, we are reasonable. Our pursuit of peace has to make sense. We go about telling people that Christ is our Rock, our Friend, our Rescuer. He goes with us everywhere, and he knows everything about us.
Why would we then argue that we have to take a holiday in Hawaii to find peace with God? I think holidays in Hawaii or Disneyland, or Mexico are great, but what if you can’t get to any of these places? What if you can’t afford a holiday?
How about if you are facing homelessness, bankruptcy, terminal illness, divorce, or the loss of a child: is Christ’s peace unavailable to you? By all means — take your holiday and get some rest if you can; grateful for what has been provided for you.
Simply remember that your peace is not found strictly on that beach towel, and you don’t leave it there when you return home. He is guarding your mind so you don’t make choices based on what merely feels good. Faith is not the same as wishful thinking.
Furthermore, remember that Christ is at hand — he is with us right now. Paul’s letter suggests that the opposite of peace is the anxiety we feel when we forget that Christ is with us by his Spirit. We do not have to feel anxious even though — naturally — we experience distress when hard times arise.
Doubt and fear are normal, but our reasonableness leads us to Christ, where this is victory over sin and hope for an end to all pain.
Finally, believers pray. They go to God with their concerns and their desires. If you are feeling disconnected or anxious right now, set your sights on the One who holds your life together.
Only God provides wholeness through the wholeness of the Trinity into which we are invited as believers. Only the Christian, saved by faith through grace (Ephesians 2:8), can participate in this wholeness. Come into the presence of God with your prayers.
Focus on the one to whom you are praying. Keeping our eyes on Jesus takes us out of the turmoil so that we can find purchase for our spiritual feet when the terrain is slippery and uneven. Even if circumstances don’t change, find comfort in knowing that neither does he.
Peace Is Costly
I get the feeling that a lot of Christians and unbelievers connect Christmas peace with the niceness of Jesus. If we could lay down our weapons on this holy day, we could also learn to be peaceful all year.
But there is no peace for those who do not love God. Their objectives begin with their own priorities (which aren’t always bad objectives, just that they aren’t the same as their neighbors’ or their co-workers’).
Priorities come into conflict. And Christians are rejected because their priority is peace with God. The way we love our neighbors makes them mad because we love them by sharing Christ crucified. Unbelievers want Jesus to be nice, clean, and free from all traces of blood.
But “nice” is weak and unloving compared with lovingly sharing the gospel and standing behind that truth. Christ is interceding with God for our restoration to him for eternity, but he has not promised that we would experience peace with those who do not follow him.
Only that he bestows his peace upon those, who love his Son. “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
For further reading:
What Was the Significance of the Angels at Christmas?
The Significance of Angelic Echoes and the Nativity
Why Did an Angel Speak to Joseph about Mary and Jesus?
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/lei liu
