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[Editor's Note: This is part one of a three-part article by Dr. James Barnes]
The idea of peace dominates the Bible. It opens with peace in the Garden of Eden and closes with peace in eternity. But in between that peace in the Garden and the peace that is to come in eternity, there has not been much peace, has there? There is no political peace, no economic peace, no social peace, and no domestic peace. Peace has become but those brief glorious moments in history when everyone stops to reload. After WWII, man even developed an agency for peace called the United Nations. Its motto is 'to have succeeding generation free from the scourge of war." But it was merely a pipe dream, for there is still no peace on earth.
In 3,000 years of recorded history we have had 286 years of peace. In that period of time there have been over 8,000 peace treaties broken. In fact, people seem to have no ability to get along with one another. Every relationship seems to be fragile. There has been an increase in mental and emotional illnesses as never before seen. There are family breakups and even violent disorders in our school systems. Why? Why no peace in the world? It's not that God doesn't want peace. In fact he is called 'the God of peace." And there are 400 references to peace in the Bible.
If God is a God of peace and wants peace and speaks of peace so often in the Bible, why is there no peace? It is because man has no peace in himself. The Bible tells us that man's sin interrupted peace in the Garden until at the cross, Christ became our peace. Therefore, if Christ is the provider of peace, there can be no peace in a man or woman’s heart until they come to know Christ. The chaos we see in our world is simply a projection of sinful man. I can remember when the Apollo flight landed on the moon and Buzz Armstrong planted a plague that read, "We come in peace for all mankind". He described the moon as a tranquil and peaceful scene. Do you know why? There has never been any human there to disturb the peace. In Mt. 5:9 those that know Christ are called to be peacemakers.
It is as if God has called us to restore and to experience something lost since the fall of man. We are to restore this world to the peace forfeited by sin. Each of us should be a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God. To help us understand what our Lord is saying to us, I want to look at some truths about peace.
The meaning of peace
Some believe peace means the absence of any conflict or strife. But no conflict exists in a cemetery - but that certainly isn't the model for God's peace. Peace is not the absence of something - it's the presence of something. Peace is not stopping a war. Peace is creating righteousness that brings enemies together in love. But there is a big difference between a truce and peace. A truce simply says 'don't shoot for a while." Peace comes when the truth is known, the issue is settled, and the parties embrace one another. Too often couples just stop the war and allow unresolved issues to begin to boil. Christian couples too often substitute the word truce for peace. The peace of the Bible never evades issues. The peace of the Bible is not peace at any price. The peace of the Bible is not glossing over conflict. The peace of the Bible conquers the problem and builds bridges. Sometimes this peace brings pain, sometimes it brings struggle, sometimes it brings anguish - but in the end it brings real peace.
The Bible links purity with peace
You cannot have peace without purity. James 3:17 "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable.
See, you can't divorce peace from purity. You can never have peace at the expense of purity. What does that mean? It means when there is war between a couple, they must both see the error of their way, their sin, their wrongness, their bitterness, their hatred, and then they must both resolve to take it to God and make it right. Peace only comes with purity.
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Dr. James Barnes has pastored the White Memorial Church in Milroy for 25 years. The church is located on 68 S. Main St., Milroy.