The Gift of Peace

What does "peace" mean to you?

In John Lennon's iconic song "Imagine," he asks us to imagine a world without heaven, hell, countries, war, religion, and possessions, so that we could live at peace. Ironically, achieving and maintaining this utopia would likely require Lennon's revolutionaries to violently overthrow anyone who resisted! It's difficult to imagine how everyone could be motivated to voluntarily abandon their countries, ultimate convictions, and belongings for the sake of others.

No matter how much progress we make, individual selfishness, damaged relationships, and nationalistic ambitions make peace impossible. In response, sometimes we diminish our hopes. So, we identify peace as merely an inner feeling or the absence of problems in a specific relationship.

But what if we could imagine a different starting point? The Biblical authors reveal that the God of peace offers us the gift of peace.

For instance, the first and last pages of the Bible show us a world at peace:

• In Genesis 1-2, God orders all of Creation to be full of goodness, wholeness, and harmony. Everything is well between everyone and everything.

• In Revelation 21-22, God provides a new heaven and a new earth as a gift. God makes all things new, right, and good (Revelation 21:5).

In between these chapters, we see a quick descent into chaos, hatred, and division. From Cain murdering Abel to Judas betraying Jesus, the Scriptures are unflinchingly honest about our inability to get along with ourselves, each other, and God.

But during Advent, we see God reveal his surprising peace plan. Isaiah had foreseen a day when the Prince of Peace would arrive. It raised a mystery: what glorious king could bring comprehensive peace when we're stumbling in the darkness (see Isaiah 9:1-7)?

So, we are shocked to see God send the angel Gabriel to the insignificant village of Nazareth to tell a peasant woman, Mary, that she will give birth to the promised Messiah (Luke 1:26-38)! God's peace arrives in a more subversive—and more comprehensive—way than we could have ever imagined.

Still, aren't we still waiting for peace?

Come, Lord Jesus!