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December 11, 2022

Peace?

By: John Poundstone

World peace. Fundamentally, who does not want it? Miss Congeniality, old as the movie is, does a great job of weaving this throughout the screenplay. It was a strong sub-theme. See a summary here.

Much of the church world sees the path to “world peace” is to hold and exalt a “biblical world view”, especially for elected officials. There are problems. Both terms—world peace and biblical world view (as 'churchianity' defines them)—are oxymorons in the eyes of God. Both are self-contradictions; both mutually exclude themselves. To explain…

How Scripture defines Peace

Your enemy the devil, manipulating mankind, rules the world and all its systems and has since the great fall. God’s peace is not of this world. The holy scriptures clearly define a biblical world view as something wholly different and utterly unlike mankind’s. (Genesis 3, John 12:31-33, John 14:30, John 16:11, Matthew 4:1-10, Ephesians 2:1-3, Ephesians 6:12-13, Hebrews 2:14, 1 Peter 5:8-10, James 4:4-7, 2 Corinthians 4:4, Matthew Chapters 5-7, et al.)

God's peace is vastly superior

Cessation of war, violence and hostility? No adversity? Everyone just get along? John Lennon’s song, Imagine? Sure, those describe various peaceful conditions, even are legitimate desires. However, those and any construct of man pale in comparison to how God defines peace. God’s peace is far beyond and vastly superior. (See notes at the end of the article)

God’s peace came to Earth 2000 years ago, just like all the ancient prophets predicted. (Luke 2). 30 years later Jesus invoked an entirely new, replacement government and system. That happened the very moment He spoke, “Time’s up! God’s kingdom is here. Change the way you think, change your life and believe the Message” (Matthew 3:2, Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:15, Romans 12:1-2)

Peace I leave you with

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.” ~ Jesus, to his disciples and us just a couple hours before He would be betrayed (John 14:27a) “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” ~ Jesus, to his disciples and us just a few minutes before He would be betrayed (John 16:33)

The very next morning He was crucified, died and was buried. On the third day he resurrected. He suddenly appeared to His disciples. The very first words out of His mouth? “Peace to you!” (John 20:19)

Waiting for God's Peace

I can’t even count how many times in my life I have heard others, or my own internal voice, say, “Don’t just stand there, do something!” How about you? Christ followers are different and do differently. We build habits, then a lifestyle, to seek first God’s leading and His intimacy (Matthew 6:33). Many(!) times God will indicate, “Don’t just do something, stand there.”

God’s subtext might be, “You don’t know the end from the beginning. I do” or, “I’ve got this; I’ll let you know when I need your help”, or “I love you. You’re interfering; please step out of My way”. Foremost, God says, “My wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will make the answers known to you through Jesus Christ. (Philippians 4:7)

Peace through intimacy with God

Accepting and acting upon Christ’s desire for facetime with us is the key. Expectantly waiting, pulling on God’s presence, kindling the flame of His love and radiance within, investing time with Him and others doing so too. Advent is exactly for that: Intimacy with the Living God, Jesus the Christ. Cooperate with Him. Let Him. Pursue Him. Pause. Anticipate Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. Wait expectantly.

Peace to you

This Christmas Season and ever after, may God, the inspiration and fountain of hope, [peace, joy and love], fill you to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as you trust in Him. And may the power of the Holy Spirit continually surround your life with His super-abundance until you radiate with [all your promises in Him this Advent]! (Romans 15:13) Merry Christmas. We love you. Yes, you.


[Notes] Theology is not the aim of this post. Some other time we’ll explore that. Want to explore on your own? Do a bible word search on the term (peace). Maybe look up the word on Google or Wikipedia in its original bible languages—shalom (Hebrew), shlama (Aramaic) and iréné (Greek- eiréné, εἰρήνη).

Article written by John Poundstone

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