The potentials of destruction in nuclear warfare are such that there is a crescendo of demand for some type of organization or machinery that will insure peace in our time.
But these appeals for peace on the part of political and ecclesiastical leaders involve considerations which few people are prepared to face.
Peace is not something that man can will for himself. It is a God-conferred blessing based upon obedience to God-ordained moral laws. Man cannot defy these laws and claim the blessings of peace.
Furthermore, while self-preservation may be the first law of nature, it is not so for the Christian. His chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, regardless of the consequences on earth. Once a man makes peace the prime goal of human existence, other things of infinitely greater worth are sacrificed in the process.
Someone has said: “When for truth man should die, it is his perdition to be safe.” The demand for peace at any price, so much the part of certain current philosophies, is a far cry from the righteousness that should be man’s highest goal.
Part of man’s confusion today is due to his failure to understand what peace really means. The average person of the world desires peace only so he may continue, unharmed and uninterrupted, in serving the devil.
Our Lord made it plain that the peace of which he spoke had little in common with that concept of peace held by the world. He affirmed that he had come not to bring peace but a sword and that the peace he gives is foreign to, cannot be understood by, nor conferred at the behest of the world. And an understanding of this is possible only to those who are taught by the Holy Spirit.
Peace is an inclusive term. There is peace with God which is the foundation of all true peace, and is acquired solely by faith through the merits of the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The immediate corollary of this peace with God is the peace of God which dwells in the hearts of believers. This is a peace of conscience which stems from our knowing that all is right between us and our Creator because of the finished work of Christ. It is an inner sense of peace emanating from the fact that all is well, not because of anything we have done but through that which our Lord has done for us.
Finally there comes to our hearts a peace with our fellow men. This is twofold. We share an abiding love and consideration for those who love Christ with us. And then we have a peace of compassion for those who do not believe—peace which is a love for their temporal and eternal good.
This is what the Bible means when it speaks of peacemakers. Paradoxical as it may seem, however, this peace may involve strife on our part against evil. In fact it is this paradox that can cause us to misconceive the character of true peace.
In the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord said: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
However, when struck by one of the officers of Pilate’s court, Jesus did not turn the other cheek but rather said: “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou me?”
Had our Lord changed his attitude? Assuredly not. How then do we explain his injunction—“turn the other cheek,” and his refusal to do so in protest against unlawful and unjust action?
Is not the answer to be found in the implications of two unrelated matters? The Christian ought to suffer in silence when the matter is one of personal affront. But where the question is one of basic righteousness, he should protest.
Christianity must bring conflict into the world, for it is antagonistic to the world order. Because the principles of right, freedom, and justice flow from it, there are times when forces, encroaching on these principles, must be resisted. Our Lord’s action in cleansing the Temple is an example.
We see a robber attack a woman on the street. We hasten to her aid and do not hesitate in using force to drive off or capture the criminal. Police are employed for the very purpose of enforcing our protection.
If our homes are invaded, our loved ones attacked, we use every force at our command to protect and deliver them.
On the international scene, there have been times when we have engaged in wars with the only consideration of delivering weaker nations from the oppression of stronger powers. No one would affirm that all wars are justified; but to deny there is ever any justification for war is to deny the reality of righteousness itself, and to play directly into the hands of the most evil force in the world.
It is significant that our Lord said we can have peace in the midst of tribulation, and that the Apostle Paul tells of a time when men will boast of a peace and safety of their own devising only to have sudden destruction fall upon them.
James tells us that wars come from the lust to have, which lurks in every human heart. Men fight and war to obtain power and things, but such wars can only generate more strife.
Much of the agitation for world peace today stems from a deep but misplaced concern. We see loss of life, property, and moral and spiritual values on every hand and conclude that there surely must be a better way. And there is, but it is a way that the world has rejected—the way of Jesus Christ and his Cross of redemption. The unbelieving world continues to fight and strive for the things which satisfy not, that they may consume them on their own lusts.
Paul gives a perfect description of the peace which belongs to the Christian: “And God’s peace (be yours, that tranquil state of soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot of whatsoever sort that is, that peace) which transcends all understanding, shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7, Amp. N. T.).
