If you have been disturbed by current events, you aren’t alone.
We’ve had weeks of images difficult to forget. Wouldn’t it be so nice to turn on the TV and find the world at peace, evil conquered, calm and safety reigning? Don’t we all wish to erase forever the heartbreak of endless sorrow?
Together we mourn. We weep. We ask how can such evil exist? Into the longing for peace, debates toss us into the fray of theories, policies and solutions. They hurl innuendo and blame, hoping to hit the root and kill the spread of such carnage.
We divide even more.
True peace is much vaster, deeper and greater than an absence of violence or strife. God has a lot to say about peace in His Word. In fact, some form of the word appears about 400 times.
The Old Testament Hebrew word for peace, “shalom” means completeness, wholeness, and soundness. Its root word, “shalam” means making amends or making whole.
Peace with God shattered when sin entered God’s perfect creation. It brought destruction and grief. We became broken, splintered, cracked, and shattered.
In the New Testament “eiro,” the Greek root for peace, means to join or tie together into a whole.
“For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” Colossians 1:19-20 ESV
Literally Christ, through the shedding of His blood on the cross, brings those who put their trust in Him, back into a former state of harmony as though sin had not broken relationship with God. He is the Prince of Peace.
The peace for which we long, this unity and wholeness which we desire, has been an ideal since the first sin split creation’s harmony. For thousands of years, people have tried all sorts of things through all different ways, to mend the vile actions that destroy us. But all of it falls short of true peace.
These are days of troubled waters. Tumults fierce rock our foundations. As the body of Christ we must keep our eyes on the Master of the winds and waves.
Permanent change can only come with personal transformation.
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1 ESV
When I see the devastation of the world we live in, the pain and the anguish of suffering, I am reminded again that Jesus is both our peace with God and our peace with others.
Yes, we live in the tension of creation’s groaning under sin’s burden.
“For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now,” Romans 8:22 NKJV.
Yet, if Christ dwells in our hearts, we live in the freedom He extends. This is true peace which lasts for eternity. This is gospel shalom.
Permanent change can only come with personal transformation.
We can look for answers, improve how society functions, but let’s not remove our eyes from the heart issue. People need Jesus.
What is our part in proclaiming His name? What can we do to promote the gospel of Jesus Christ to every corner of the globe? How can our passion for Christ increase in purity and boldness?
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27 KJV
Relationship with the Savior brings overflowing peace into the brokenness around us. He is the One Who brings healing. Herein is wholeness. This is Shalom.
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