Wherever we look in the
world there seems to be violence and unrest, wars and rumors of war, and
maiming and killing. Things are not well in the world. Many people are calling for peace,
working for peace, and negotiating for peace, but peace remains elusive and far
away.
None of this is new to
the world, mind you. It's been the
history of our species dating as far back as Cain and Abel. The only difference these days seems to
be with how quickly communication is let loose and how massively destructive
are the current weapons of warfare.
So it is that when God
spoke His life into human history He became the "prince of peace"
(Isaiah 9:6). His Church became
the people of peace, and His kingdom spread throughout the planet as the reign
of peace. When God's people are
reflecting their God and the will of God is being realized, there is peace.
The prophet Isaiah
described a coming time when "the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the
leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and
the fatling together (Is. 11:6).
This is a description of peace, and it seems so foreign to reality that
it is almost unimaginable. Yet, in
a people where the Prince of peace is Lord this unimaginable peace becomes the
modus operandi.
We don't see it
worldwide just yet, and there is much work yet to do, but the true Church of
Jesus should already be modeling the peace of God which passes understanding.
In His Church race, color, socio-economic status, educational level, background
or roots fall away, and swords and spears are melted down and restructured to
be tools of community instead of weapons of war.
In Jesus we are already
beginning to see the truth of God, "They will not hurt or destroy in all
my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of God as the
waters cover the sea" (Is. 11:9).
We're not there yet, but there is a place and there is a people where
the dream is beginning to be realized.
"The Word became
flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood" (John 1:14, Msg).
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