If I ask you what the angels said to the shepherds, it is almost a certainty that you'd be able to tell me they said, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14). Interestingly, that's the King James Version and almost no other translation says that. They all agree with "Glory to God in the highest." That's fine. They all agree, with minor variations, with "peace on earth." (You know, like "on earth, peace.") But that last phrase ... it's not the same. The King James suggests God's "good will toward men." Most of them say something like "among men with whom He is pleased." Do you see the conditional there? The Contemporary English Version (CEV) says, "to everyone who pleases God." That is, the peace that God is bringing is limited to those with whom God is pleased and not extended to all. British theologian John Gill (1697-1771) understands it to mean that the peace He is bringing is "to the free favour, good will, and pleasure of God towards chosen men in Christ Jesus." Now that's not quite we've heard, is it?
Of course, this has always been a bit of a problem, hasn't it? Regardless of which translation you read, they all say that Christ was bringing "peace on earth." To which many say, "Where's the peace?" According to one link I found, historians estimate that over the past 3,400 years or so, humans have enjoyed 268 scattered years without war. That's 8%. Where's the peace? Did we misunderstand that? No. Jesus said, "I give you peace, the kind of peace that only I can give" (John 14:27). Fine ... where is it? Wait! He went on to say, "It isn't like the peace that this world can give. So don't be worried or afraid" (John 14:27). So, we're not talking about "world peace" in the sense that we like to think of it. We're not talking about a universal "ceasefire." In fact, Scripture warns about making such claims. "While people are saying, 'There is peace and security,' then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape" (1 Thess 5:3). God condemned those who "have healed the wound of My people lightly, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace" (Jer 6:14). No, the world is at war until the end.
What, then? Where's the promised peace? Where's the peace Jesus said He was leaving? It's not, explicitly, the peace that this world can give. What then? In the John 14 text, Jesus was promising them His Holy Spirit (John 14:26). That's peace. And Paul is clear. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Php 4:6-7). Believers can find peace in the middle of unrest in their relationship with God. With the Spirit within us and with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, we can know a peace that is not normal, not human. It is beyond normal comprehension. And it's available ... to all those who are in Christ. So, I guess we know now what the angels meant, eh?
3 comments:
He also brought peace between God and believers, the main place that we were really at war and had no means of making peace. There are people that can experience some peace on earth in their own efforts, but none of us has the capacity to produce peace with God.
Excellent post. I've never made this connection.
Seeing how unsettled life on earth has been for so many centuries--before and after the Incarnation--God’s peace certainly can’t be a worldly, temporal kind. Since this world will pass away, that kind of peace won’t last anyway. It is clear to me--from all that Scripture reveals--that the angels were heralding the wonderful truth that sinful man--in terrific need of rescuing from a pitiful state--would at last find peace with God through the Savior’s work. The “peace on earth” of Luke 2:14 would then finally reflect the glory of Heaven that is to come for all “chosen men [and women] in Christ Jesus” at last. Praise God!
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