21. And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 22. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.
From the beginning of the world there was peace, but that was perverted through the disobedience of Adam and Eve.
God is holy. We are unholy. He is good, we are not. He is just. We seek to accomplish our own desires and revenge those who hurt us. From those days on there have been wars, stealing, covetousness, lust, lying, and cheating, for we have all been people of sin.
The legalists, in rebellion, could find no peace for they were working and toiling with all their might seeking to be good enough, but we never can be good enough. Peace comes from within. It is a gift offered those who will quiet their troubled souls and look to Jesus. Without Him, there is no lasting peace. To have peace with God is to have complete forgiveness from all that which keeps us separate from God.
The New Testament also teaches it was not just to Israel, but, praise God, this has now been opened to all peoples. Through His sacrifice we are reconciled to God – Christ made peace for us through the blood of the cross. He bore upon Himself the sins and wickedness and iniquity of the world, including mine and yours. We can rejoice with the shepherds, “Unto you is born this day a savior who is Christ the Lord.”
All we do is accept His peace. It’s paid for. There is your name on the tag from God. The gift is Jesus. J
Some of you may be familiar with the story of the “Peace Child.” by Don Richardson. There were warring native tribes where he was a missionary. He told how a man from one tribe came to live with the other tribe. When he came to trust them, they betrayed him and killed him. Betrayal was considered a value. Much killing and fighting continued. When Judas ended up being the hero of the crucifixion story, Don prayed how he might get the story across to the people in how they might believe in Jesus to saved them from their sins.
The tribes did come to peace in time. The chief of one tribe gave his little baby to the other tribe to raise. His son was the peace offering, called “the peace child”. As long as he was with the other tribe there would not be any violence or attack, for they knew the baby would be harmed.
The missionary said, “That’s it. “That’s what God did through Jesus Christ when he gave us on earth a peace child. He sent his only son as a baby to live, only we did kill him and rebelled again because of our sins. Instead of being at war with God we can have his son dwell in our heart and have the peace relationship with God.”
When they heard the story put that way. many became believers and received the new spirit of Peace.
Application: No matter what troubles you today, seek to let the peace of Christ dwell in your heart.
Prayer: Come, thou long expected Savior, come and set your people free.
