A few years ago, Forbes magazine published an article titled, “The Top 8 Things People Desperately Desire But Can’t Seem to Attain.” Peace was #4 on the list. Happiness was #1.
Did you know that the Hebrew word for “peace,” shalom, conveys both of these qualities? It speaks of tranquility, well-being, wholeness, safety and security. All of these blessings are wrapped up in the word shalom.
Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah wrote,
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given … and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace [Shalom].”
- Isaiah 9:6
In our three previous blog posts, we explored the meaning of the names Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, and Everlasting Father. Today we’ll focus on the fourth title:: Prince of Peace.
The night before he died on the cross, Jesus told his disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27).
When someone is about to die, he usually writes a last will and testament in which he leaves his money and possessions to his loved ones. That’s what Jesus does here. But what he gives his followers is something that money can’t buy: peace.
He says, “Not as the world gives do I give to you.” The Pax Romana (“Roman peace”) was brought about by a brutal sword, but that peace wouldn’t last. Jesus brought peace by the blood of the cross – by suffering and dying as a sacrifice for sin – so that we could be reconciled to God and have a peace that lasts forever. “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).
Once we’re at peace with God,
we can experience the peace of God.
Inner peace is the primary quality that Jesus emphasizes in John 14:17, for he says, “Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
Our hearts have a natural bent toward worry and fear. However, Jesus says, “Don’t let your heart go there.”
Worry and fear are unauthorized areas for the Christian. We must deny our hearts access. The promises of God are protective barriers for our hearts. When we lay hold of God’s promises through prayer, God’s peace prevails. Scripture says,
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:6-7 NLT)
The disciples needed to hear this, because they were constantly preoccupied with themselves, which never brings peace. But as we focus on Christ, he gives his peace to us freely as a gift. “Ask and it will be given to you” (Matt. 7:7).
We can experience peace because Jesus has provided it for us. He has promised it to us — and God always keeps his promises! Since that is true, let us resolve to do three things:
Rejoice in God’s provisions! Through Christ, you have pardon for sin! You have the power to obey God’s Word! You have his Holy Spirit living within you — your heart is his home! You have all the promises of God at your disposal, and the peace of God that lasts forever. So rejoice!
Make Jesus’ pleasure your passion. Stop being preoccupied with yourself. That never brings peace. Instead, “find out what pleases the Lord” (Eph. 5:10) and “make it [your] aim to please him” (2 Cor. 5:9). The psalmist wrote, “Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble” (Ps. 119:165).
Choose faith over fear. Scripture says, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.” Picture that “no access” sign. Get control of your heart. Don’t let it venture into the unauthorized areas of worry and fear. “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (1 Pet. 5:7 NLT).
In her classic book, Streams in the Desert, Mrs. Charles Cowman wrote,
Two painters each painted a picture to illustrate his conception of rest. The first chose for his scene a still lake among the far-off mountains.
The second threw on his canvas a thundering waterfall, with a fragile birch tree bending over the foam; and at the fork of the branch, almost wet with the cataract’s spray, sat a robin on its nest.
The first was only stagnation; the last was rest.
Christ’s life outwardly was one of the most troubled lives that ever lived: tempest and tumult, tumult and tempest, the waves breaking over it all the time until the worn body was laid in the grave. But the inner life was a sea of glass. The great calm was always there.
Even when the human bloodhounds were dogging him in the streets of Jerusalem, He turned to His disciples and offered them as a lasting legacy, “My peace.”
Rest is not a hallowed feeling that comes over us in church; it is the repose of a heart set deep in God.