I recently wrote a paper titled, “Peace Lost, Restored and Made: The Centrality of Peace in the Gospel.” I have seen that peace is a major theme in the Bible, but unfortunately it doesn’t get the attention it deserves because when we talk about it too many people think we are merely talking about war and peace/pacifism. The result is we don’t explore the richness of depth in the New Testament regarding peace. This paper is merely a beginning of examining this depth.
I will post my paper in small parts over the next couple of weeks. I hope it will encourage you to better understand the biblical concept of peace. I welcome your feedback.
Introduction
When we talk about peacemakers most people think of the UN. What they ought to think of are followers of Jesus Christ. Peacemaking is a common theme in the New Testament and a recurrent command. While it might not surprise us that Paul gives a blessing of grace at the beginning of every letter he wrote, we may not realize that he couples it with peace every time. Romans 1:7 is a good example, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” He repeats this desire for the churches to experience God’s grace and peace in every letter. Grace and peace go together.
Peace is central to the story of redemption, the story of God’s love through his Son Jesus Christ. “You cannot look into the Bible, either into the Old Testament or into the New, without discovering that peace is, so to speak, the master-blessing, the grand issue both of the Law and of the Gospel to mankind. It is the climax of the Jewish benediction, as if in those rich old times of Levitical costliness and beauty there was no higher blessedness.”*
In these posts we will look at the centrality of peace in the gospel. We will see how sin destroys peace in four areas: 1) with God, 2) within ourselves, 3) with others, 4) and within the cosmos. Then we will see how the gospel not only restores peace in each of these four areas, but also how it calls us to be peacemakers.
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*Morley Punshon, quoted in The Christian Doctrine of Peace, edited by James Hastings (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1922), 3. The Jewish benediction comes from Numbers 6:24-26, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” For an explanation of this blessing see my posts, “The Lord Bless You,” Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.
Posts in this Series:
Introduction
Peace (shalom) in the Old Testament
Created in Peace and the Consequence of Sin
The Gospel of Peace and the Death of Jesus Christ
Peace with God
Peace Within
Peace with Others
Peace in Creation and the Cosmos
Excursus – Is Peace an Attribute of God?
Called to Be Peacemakers
