Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - PEACE

 PEACE

Peace seems to be the one thing that most, if not all, people tend to strive for but few, if any, attain. No matter where one wants to look, there seems to be no peace. All over the globe nations are in some form of quarrel with each other: either psychological, commercial, or political conflict, if not open warfare. Even within nations there seems to be no peace with different factions in open dispute with one another over ideology, platforms, or the perception of freedom.

Households are not any different with all sorts of disputes between husbands and wives, parents and children, and even between siblings. These disputes may take the form of emotional, psychological, physical, or sexual abuse. 

Even individuals seem to be without peace in many instances because of feelings of depression or anxiety, or pangs of guilt from previous actions, real or imagined, in the past.

There certainly seems to be little peace in this world.

It appears the reason for at least part of the problem (perhaps all of it) stems from the fact that we, as much as we would like to think otherwise, do not really have the control that we think we have of this sphere. The Bible states that we “…walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,” (Ephesians 2:2). If this is true, then we do not have the control we think we have and are really part of a much larger conflict than that between nations, political parties, or interpersonally. We are a part of a conflict between the ruler of this world and the creator of the universe. It’s a conflict which mankind cannot possibly win.

In warfare, the winner of the struggle has the right to set the terms of peace. The reality is that we can either continue to struggle and have things continue as they are, or surrender and accept the peace terms offered by the victor. This is a large part of our continued problems; we continue to resist rather than surrender. We have to understand that we are in a war and that the victor has already been decided and that He determines the conditions of peace. Those conditions are not oppressive but we have to realize that we must surrender to them. Mankind, as a whole, however, does not want to do this as seen in Romans 8:7-8 “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” For this reason, we are called “by nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3).

If we are ever to have peace we must accept the terms imposed by God, who wants to make peace with us. By doing this, the war we are now in will be over and we will have peace - peace with God. When we have finally accepted those terms, and ended the conflict between God and man, then will we be able to have “the peace of God.” A peace “…which surpasses all understanding…” (Philippians 4:7).

In actuality, the war is already over and the winner has been decided. It happened when Christ said: “It is finished” (John 19:30) and gave up His spirit. The terms of peace were established then; the problem is that most have not yet accepted them and continue in the conflict. It is similar to those soldiers of Japan who continued in the jungles of the Philippines for up to 30 years after WW2 not knowing that the war had been determined. The war is over. If one wants the peace of God, peace with God has to be settled first. 

It is something to think about.