Searching for the missing peace

When the angels proclaimed “peace on earth” on that first Christmas night 2000 years ago, it was not just because another little baby had been born – as any parent knows, that event and the experiences that follow are not exactly peaceful! The joyous news was that this newborn baby would be the one to meet the deepest need of every mother, every father, every child – every person who ever lived.

Are you searching for the missing peace? It is because you were made for peace. It seems all is right with the world when a newborn baby clings to its parents for dear life, offering complete trust for pure love in return. Never mind the sleepless nights to come, there is a glimpse there of a right relationship, of peace. This relationship is what God our father desires for us. This is what he described as “very good” when he created the world and breathed life in to the first humans. All was right with the world. Absolute trust in a creator offering perfect love, peace with God and unity with each other – this is what we were made for.

And yet this is not the reality in which we live. Somewhere, somehow, that peace was lost. The tragedy of broken relationships, leading to heartbreak, sorrow, conflict and war around the world, finds its beginning in the shattered relationship between God and his creation. Just like a rebellious child turning its back on its devastated parents, we pretend we can live without the God who made us and loves us. We want all the benefits and blessings of being God’s creation, heaven on earth would do, but we scorn the relationship that God made us for. And without it, there can be no peace. Without trusting God, without loving him, the truth is that we are lost. This is what the Bible calls sin. It is not a list of rules you have broken, black marks against your name in God’s record book. It is in turning our backs on the love of God that we are separated from him and lose the peace we were made for. The penalty for our rebellion against God is the natural consequence of separation from the giver of life: it is death.

If this is the situation then, how can there be peace on earth? That baby, born on Christmas day, announced by angels, worshipped by shepherds and kings, was the perfect child of God. As he grew, there was no break in the relationship, no separation from the father, no trace of sin. His was a life of complete peace with God. But this Son of God came not only to show what peace with God looks like, but to bring peace on earth for us who have separated ourselves from God. What can heal a broken relationship? Only love. And in the words of Jesus, there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15:13). He had no guilt, no penalty to pay; he did not have to die. But he did die. He died for you and for me. He was tortured, nailed by his hands and feet to a cross of wood and executed, paying the penalty for wrongs he did not commit. 700 years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah wrote about the coming Saviour: He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:13).

So how do you come to the place where peace is found? It is only in Jesus that we find the missing peace that will complete the puzzle of our lives. He calls us to admit our sin, turn away from it, and to come to him for forgiveness. He calls us to believe in his death and resurrection, their power to save us, and to come to him for eternal life. God is calling us to come to him for the relationship we were made for – where we trust him completely and live in his perfect love – finding peace with God that overflows with peace in our own hearts and peace with those around us.

If you have any questions, if you want more information, if you believe in Jesus or if you are trusting him for the first time, we would love to hear from you. We will pray for you and do all we can to introduce you to the one who alone can bring real peace.

carols@citytabernacle.com.au