Over the past three weeks, we have gotten to know Jesus our Messiah by a few of His other names, listed in Isaiah 9:6. These names spoken by Isaiah the prophet describe the character and mission of the coming Messiah: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father. Isaiah culminates all these names with the capstone of them all: the Prince of Peace.
Peace is something we all long for. It is one of humanity’s greatest needs and desires. We struggle with fear of the future, conflicts in relationships, financial stress, health problems and so much more. In this day and age when anxiety is at an all time high, peace can seem like an impossible dream.
I’m here to remind you that God specializes in doing the impossible!
In the beginning of time, through the creation of this world, God tamed the darkness and chaos and brought peace and order. All of creation lived in peace and unity with one another and with God.
But peace in the garden was disrupted when creation was corrupted by sin and fell into animosity, war and chaos again. Disease, famine, war and death came into this world. The peace between God and His creation was replaced with conflict and fear.
God saw our chaotic and hate-filled world and longed to restore and transform it with His peace and love. In order to have peace within ourselves and with others, we first needed peace between ourselves and God. Having a restored relationship with God is the foundation for peace with all of creation. So God sent Jesus to restore our relationship with Him. Jesus came as the Prince of Peace to be the One who would finally bring peace to the world.
In order to understand the kind of peace Jesus came to bring us, we must first understand what the word “peace” means. When we usually think of the word “peace”, we think of the lack of conflict or hostility or we picture someone being free from internal and external strife.
The Biblical concept of peace is much fuller than that. The Hebrew word for peace, šālôm, or the Greek word, eirēnē, means a sense of totality or completeness, success, fulfillment, wholeness, harmony, security and well being. It is God’s perfect peace–His complete, lacking nothing type of wholeness and harmony. It is what we might experience when we say, “it is well with my soul.”
Jesus came as our Prince of Peace to bring us wholeness, perfect unity between us and God, harmony among creation and a victorious sense of well-being. Jesus Christ is the only reason we can truly live peacefully with God and others.
The peace Jesus brings is one that is beyond comprehension. It is a peace that comes from knowing that God has everything well in hand, even when it doesn’t look like it. It is a sense of well-being, knowing you are perfectly safe in the middle of the storm because you have something beyond what is visible to anchor you. It is knowing that you are part of the an unshakable Kingdom where you are safe, loved and abounding with grace. This peace comes from knowing your identity is secure in Christ and your destiny is sure.
While this world has yet to fully experience all that the Prince of Peace came to bring, His light is breaking into the darkness of this world and already making all things new. The Kingdom of God is here, bringing peace.
Writer, Alyssa J. Howard, referring to Isaiah 9:7, says:
Prior to Jesus, the world was far from peaceful. And while we don’t have perfect peace yet in terms of our world, what we do have is hope! I love how Isaiah speaks of Jesus’ ever-increasing kingdom. Because the truth is that His kingdom is always growing and expanding. God’s love and His peace are spreading throughout the entire world. Light is reaching dark places. And it’s so amazing that we get to be a part of it all!”
Jesus introduced a Kingdom of peace and love when He came down to earth so many years ago. Because of that, we have hope! We, as sons and daughters in the Kingdom of God, are called to continue this legacy of peace. (Matthew 5:9).
Let us continue His work by reflecting God’s peace and restoration to a world in desperate need of that kind of hope. With the peace of God reigning over our lives, we will see glimpses of the Kingdom as we expectantly wait for the Prince of Peace to return and complete what He has started.
