Where is the Peace on Earth?

The announcement of the birth of Jesus the Messiah included the promise of peace on earth. When the angels appeared to the shepherds and announced the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem they also declared: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased” (Luke 2:14)! The prophet Isaiah gave a prophecy that the Messiah would be called “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9.6).

In a world often torn apart by strife and violence the coming of this Prince of Peace would be good news indeed! One of the great tragedies of human history has been the hatred and violence between people and nations. Men and women long for peace, but this peace continues to elude us.

In the twentieth century the world endured two international conflicts on a scale never before seen in human history. The second world war ended with the invention of a weapon that has the potential of wiping out life on this planet.

At the center of these two world wars were the nations who had for centuries been known as Christendom – the representation of Christ’s Kingdom on earth. Christendom had failed to bring peace on earth. And so an institution known as the United Nations was created to avoid an even greater destruction. But this institution has also failed to bring an end to the strife among the nations of the world.

And even today the world always seems to hang on the very edge of chaos.

As the centuries of time have passed since Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, it would seem that this promise of peace has not been fulfilled. Where is this promised peace on earth? Have Christ and Christianity failed?

There are many who have concluded that religion, particularly the religion that bears the name of Christ, has indeed been a colossal failure. The enemies of the Christian Faith are often quick to point out that religion has actually brought more strife and conflict to the world. We are often reminded of the Crusades of the Middle Ages and Christendom’s wars against Islam in the Holy Land. If Christ came to bring peace on earth then how can Christ’s people go marching off to war in His name?

Secularists point out that religion causes more division than it does unity in the world. And division often leads to hatred and then to violence. And so we are told that the only way to have peace on earth is to do away with religion and have a completely secular society.

Since the end of the world wars this secularization has intensified, particularly in Western nations that were once considered Christendom. Christendom is all but dead now, being viewed as a failure by the cultural elites in the West. If we will have peace on earth it seems it must come from earth and not from heaven.

However, we must understand that the peace on earth promised through Christ was first peace with God. The things that separate and alienate men and nations from each are symptoms of a greater alienation of man from his Creator. The primary relationship is not the relationship of men to men, but of men to God. This relationship must be restored first. Unless men are in a right relationship with the Creator, nothing else will be right. Sin has broken the relationship of men with God. And sin also has then impacted everything else in human life, including our relationships with each other.

This is seen graphically in the very first family in human history. Cain killed his brother Abel and at the heart of this conflict was a religious matter (See Genesis 4). From the very beginning we see a division in the human race between those who are righteous like Abel and those who are wicked like Cain. This righteousness and wickedness had to do with Cain and Abel’s relationship with God. Abel was a man of God who brought an acceptable offering of worship to God. But Cain’s worship was only in pretense. Rather than repent and turn from his selfish way, Cain chose to get rid of his brother Abel whom Cain viewed as competition. Abel’s righteousness made Cain look bad. In the same way the religious leaders of the Jews were jealous of Jesus and sought to murder the Son of God. The true source of men’s hatred for each other is man’s enmity toward God.

When we are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, we are also reconciled with one another. Jesus came to bring peace between men and their Creator. This means that Jesus was not a sociopolitical Savior who was sent to fix earthly relationships. Jesus was sent to bring us back to God. So if peace on earth means nothing more to us than an earthly utopia we will soon discover that Jesus has a different agenda. Our perspective is earthly. Jesus had a much higher goal. Jesus came preaching the Kingdom of God. Jesus was not interested in the political agendas and petty kingdoms of men in the earth. Jesus was bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. Jesus was a king, but His Kingdom was not of this world. That is, the Kingdom Jesus was bringing to earth was of a different order and was not like any of the kingdoms established by men of the world. The Gospel was the preaching of this good news – that God’s Kingdom was coming to earth.

The first order of business was for men to accept this Kingdom and submit to its rule. The Divine agenda is preeminent and it is man’s duty to bow the knee to this heavenly rule and order. Jesus came as God’s representative to announce and to establish God’s Kingdom rule in the earth. All who receive King Jesus have also received the Kingdom of God and its agenda for themselves.

When men submit to the rule of Christ they also find that they are now involved in the same work and are no longer in competition with each other. As long as we keep striving to establish our own little kingdoms we will continue to be in competition with each other.

The peace that Jesus made with God must be received. There will be no peace on earth among men until men submit to the rule of God’s Kingdom and God’s King – Jesus Christ. When we receive Christ as Lord, we are reconciled to God. When we are all reconciled to God, we will then be reconciled to each other, having the same Lord and the same agenda. As long as men refuse to submit to God’s rule and seek to rule themselves there will always be strife and competition.

Unfortunately, this is exactly the situation in the earth and among the nations of the world today. The nations of the world are raging against God and His chosen King (See Psalm 2).

That religious and political entity known as Christendom, though it wore the name of Christ, was actually just another of the kingdoms of men. This false, institutional form of Christianity that has been the driving religious force behind Western culture has failed to bring peace on earth because it was itself not in submission to the authority of Christ.

It is time for men to seek the real Christ and His Kingdom and submit to it. Jesus is the Prince of Peace and the world will have no peace until it bows its knee to Him. The Day is coming when every knee will bow and every tongue will have to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (See Phil. 2.10-11).

The Lord Jesus will eventually put down all competing kingdoms. In the World to Come Christ will reign openly and visibly, without any to oppose Him, and then the redeemed nations of the world will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks and study war no more.