On earth, peace

"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" – Luke 2.14

Luke 1 finished up talking about walking in the way of peace. That notion of peace is one I think we all appreciate and desire. We live in a world that is crying ‘peace, peace’ but there is no peace. I am reminded of Longfellow’s words when he wrote ‘there is no peace on earth I said, for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth good will toward men.’

While we may not have a major war or conflict going on in the world at the moment we also cannot say there is anything like peace in this world. Death and destruction are all around us. Violence is everywhere. Peace and goodwill seem far from possible.

Until Jesus comes back there is never going to be real peace between. There will always be wars and fighting and contention. People are always going to want what they want and will fight for it and people are always going to fight to protect what is theirs.

But, there is an inner peace that the world can’t provide. There is the peace that exists on our hearts even when there is no peace on earth. It is the peace that Jesus offered when He said ‘My peace I leave with you.’ The message that Messiah brought was peace with God and peace in our hearts. It is the peace that passes all understanding.

That’s the peace the angels announced, but we can be assured that one day, when Christ comes to reign, there will be true peace not only in our hearts, but also among men.