The Gospel of Peace and the Death of Jesus Christ
It is into the milieu of a destruction of peace (see Part 3) that Jesus Christ was born. His birth was a declaration of peace to the world, God’s very own peace initiative. After the angel had declared to the shepherds that the Messiah was born, he who is Christ the Lord, there appeared a multitude of heavenly hosts saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased” (Luke 2:14). Glory and peace are the twin declarations at the Messiah’s birth.
His coming marked the coming of God among men. He who is the radiance of God’s glory (Heb 1:3) walked among men so that they would see the glory of God (John 11:40). He who is the Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6; Eph 2:14) came to give peace (John 14:27). Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. His work of salvation accomplishes both glory and peace. We see the glory of God as the Son of God dies on our behalf to prove his Father’s righteousness and to save us from sin and shame. We see the peace of God as the Lord of all dies in place of his Father’s enemies (Romans 5:8) in order that he might reconcile us to the Father. Glory and peace are inseparably connected to God’s king, the Messiah.
The arrival of Jesus the Christ also meant the arrival of the kingdom of God. Christ’s first words in the gospel of Mark are, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Jesus came announcing the kingdom of God, declaring that in him it had arrived. He also connected the kingdom of God to the gospel. They are inseparable. To proclaim the kingdom is to proclaim the gospel of the king, the good news that the king has arrived and has provided access to God. Likewise, to proclaim the gospel is to proclaim the kingdom because one cannot proclaim Jesus and ignore his rightful reign as King of kings.
Peace is a central aspect of the gospel of the kingdom.1 It is also central to God’s kingdom. As noted above, when the king was born the angels announced peace to the world. This peace on earth can only come when the king is reigning. This was clearly the expectation of all who welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.2 They cried out, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest” (Luke 19:38). The king brings peace. Unfortunately they rejected the king because they did not understand the path of suffering that Jesus had to endure. This rejection of the king meant that they would also lose their chance at true peace. “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace” (Luke 19:42)!
The peace that Jesus brings is salvation. It is salvation from all that would seek to destroy our peace – sin, death, and Satan. To seek to be saved on any other road other than the road to Calvary, the road of a suffering messiah, is to miss salvation completely. And without salvation there is no peace.
The coming together of gospel, peace, salvation and kingdom are seen beautifully in Isaiah 52:7, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’” There are five actions in this text: 1) bringing good news (preaching the gospel), 2) publishing peace, 3) bringing good news of happiness, 4) publishing salvation and 5) saying that God reigns (announcing his kingdom).
All of these come together in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is about peace, happiness (or good), salvation and the kingdom of God. These are the ideas that shaped Jesus’ ministry.
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1. This will be seen more clearly in future posts, but we do note that Paul even uses the phrase, “gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15).
2. Believing the Messiah would overthrow the Romans, they were dead wrong on how the king would bring peace, but their association of the king with peace was exactly right.
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
