Prince of Peace
- Dec 27, 2024
- 5 min read
This is my last blog for 2024.
Thank you for journeying with me. There is no better way to complete one year and go into another than to declare we have one who is the Prince of Peace.
We had no claim on Him but God gave Him to us. Isaiah 9:6: "To us a child is born, to us a son is given! His name will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace."
This is His name!
The odds don’t seem to be in favour of much peace as we go into another New Year. In fact, a group of academics and historians discovered that since 3600 B.C., the world has known only 292 years of peace! During that same period of time, 8000 peace treaties were broken!
Isaiah’s message was that the coming of Jesus’ would bring peace.
We cannot achieve this peace by ourselves. We cannot earn this peace. God’s peace is bestowed/given.
Peace is first and foremost an attribute of God. He is “The God of Peace” (Heb 13:20). This peace is supremely personified in the person of the Lord Jesus, the “Prince of Peace” (Is 9:6); the One who himself promised, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you” (John 14:27). He is indeed the source of ultimate peace.
Prince of Peace
In Isaiah's day, the term "prince" meant... a chief, or exclusive owner. So, it wasn't unusual in that culture to have princes over armies, or princes over people groups, or princes over territories. So, when Isaiah gives the title, Prince of Peace to Jesus, he is saying that the concept of "peace" belongs exclusively to Jesus; He's literally 'Peace's Prince.'
Consequently, if any of us want peace, we have to go through Jesus to get it. In fact, the term "Prince of Peace" exclusively belongs to the baby that was born in the manger. It was so appropriate that the Angels who sang at Jesus’ birth to the shepherds were singing of “peace on earth”.
But what is peace?
The Hebrew meaning of Peace in this title refers to spiritual harmony brought about by an individual’s restoration with God. It is friendship with God, especially in a covenant relationship.
Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie once said, "Peace is the result of grace. It literally means, "To bind together." In other words, the peace which comes from unmerited, unearned love can weave and bind our fragmented lives into wholeness."
This peace comes, most importantly, through a restored relationship with God. It’s wonderful to know that through the Prince of Peace, harmony and relationship can be restored between God and us and all those who embrace Jesus as their Saviour.
Something beautiful, something good
All my confusion He understood
All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife
But he made something beautiful of my life
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).
Having been justified by faith - believing, trusting Him and all of His promises to us - we have Peace.
Jim Walton was translating the New Testament for the people of La Sabana in the jungles of Colombia. But he was having trouble with the word peace. During this time, Fernando, the village chief, was promised a 20-minute plane ride to a location that would have taken him 3 days by walking. The plane was delayed in arriving. Fernando went to Jim and launched into an angry tirade. Fortunately, Jim had taped the chief's outburst. When he listened, he discovered that the chief kept repeating the phrase, "I don't have one heart." Jim asked other villagers what having "one heart" meant, and he found that it was like saying, "There is nothing between you and the other person." That, Walton realised, was just what he needed to translate the word peace. To have peace with God means that there is nothing -no sin, no guilt, no condemnation - that separates us.
The Hebrew word for peace is “Shalom.” This means a great deal more than our English word Peace. Shalom includes peace, but also true rest, wholeness, contentment, spiritual richness, and fruitfulness. This is a Peace that does not depend on circumstances. It can exist in the midst of any storm or conflict, any trouble or pain. Jesus freely gives His Shalom to all who would receive it, in simple, childlike faith and trust.
As we move into a New Year, we need to fully receive Him and His Peace and allow ourselves to be radically changed by it, for God’s glory and the advancement of His Kingdom.
I have to confess it’s been a tough year! We have lost three family members since March. As a consequence I have been thinking back over our family so much. One such time I had a recall of my grandparents. They lived in Bonfire Hill, Crawshawbooth (that is a real place!!). Their front room was dark; dark furniture, dark doors, etc. They had stuffed birds under glass covers!! They also had "rag rugs". Whether my grandma made them I don’t know. These rugs seemed to be everywhere. The thing about rag rugs, was that any cloth or felt material that could be used was used.
Why do I share this recall? Well, perhaps not the best illustration, but it gives the idea behind the Hebrew word Shalom. Someone has defined it as "binding together fragments of life into a meaningful whole." Bringing wholeness to our lives, giving a full, harmonious and flourishing life.
To reassure the readers further, Isaiah says God's Peace never ends! ‘Increase of his government and PEACE there shall be no end’ (Is 9:7).
The Shalom, given by God through His Son Jesus Christ, is something nothing and no one can take away, because it is from everlasting to everlasting. Hallelujah!
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing” (Roms 15:13).
The secret of peace is a Person: "He is our peace." And when Christ Jesus makes peace, that peace will be a satisfying, permanent, and genuine peace. It will be a real peace that will last.
What we are saying is that in order to live at peace, you must have peace. The problem with most of us is that we want to start by clearing up only the results of conflict. God never starts there; He starts with the person. He says peace is a Person, and in order for you to live at peace, you must be at peace with the Person of Christ.
It was DL Moody that said, "A great many people are trying to make peace, but that has already been done. God has not left it for us to do; all we have to do is to enter into it."
That's the essence of the term 'Prince of Peace.'
The exclusive owner of peace is Jesus; He offers peace to us through faith in Him. We don't have to try to make it, or manufacture it, or chase after it. We simply need to enter into it.
Tim Keller says, “Shalom experienced is multidimensional, complete well-being—physical, psychological, social, and spiritual; it flows from all of one’s relationships being put right—with God, within oneself, and with others.”
May it be so as we move into a coming New Year.
Some of the lyrics of the next song have been very helpful to me:
'Peace; Holds me when I'm broken,
Sweet peace; That passes understanding,
When the whole wide world is crashing down,
I fall to my knees and breathe in Your peace.'
Listen to the song -
Pray for peace-
'Prince of Peace, I come before you with a heart burdened and restless. Grant me the inner peace that surpasses all understanding. Calm the storms within me and fill me with the assurance of your presence. Help me to cast my anxieties upon you and to trust in your perfect peace. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.'
Amen.
Harry, thank you for your heart to share more of God with us with His strength in the sadness of grief this year.
Lord, God, may your wonderful peace that transcends all human understanding guard Harry’s heart and mind through Christ Jesus. Amen.
Thank you Harry. What a wonderful blog. I'm so sorry that you have had such a tough year, but thank you that you still find time and head and heart space to bring us teaching and comfort. It is so appreciated. I wish you and your family a peaceful and healthy 2025.
Much love and thanks Jeanette