On the wikipedia page, under the title of “Peace for our time”, it reads: “ ‘Peace for our time’ was a declaration made by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in his 30 September 1938 remarks in London concerning the Munich Agreement and the subsequent Anglo-German Declaration. The phrase is primarily remembered for its bitter ironic value since less than a year after the agreement, Hitler’s invasion of Poland began World War II.”
In a world always on the verge of conflict, we have a deep desire for peace. To most of us that means peaceful living, without the threat of world war ofrneighborhood conflict.
But God has not promised us world peace or even peaceful relations with our neighbors. Yes, we strive for those, and world peace will one day be made possible under the reign of Jesus Christ, but the peace of God promised to us on that first Christmas, was peace between hostile humanity and a holy and righteous God. Mankind was at odds with God. Maybe a better way to put it would be to say mankind was at war with God. Ever since our father Adam sinned and rebelled against God’s authority, we, that is mankind as a whole, have been at war with God. But God, in His mercy and grace, provided a way to have peace with Him. Imagine: no conflict, no antagonism, no hostility, no struggle, no schism between you and your Creator God. No guilt, no shame, no disgrace, not even a little embarrassment when approaching the presence of God. It’s possible. It’s real and it’s true, because Jesus was born a human baby boy, grew up with the intent and purpose of dying on a cross to pay the penalty for our sin.
That’s what it means when Paul writes to the believers in Colossae “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him (Jesus Christ), and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”
This peace with God is the starting point for peace between neighbors and nations. We need to be reconciled to God, have our hearts changed in order to be at peace with the world, those around us and our circumstances.
May the peace of God be firmly established in your hearts this Christmas season.
