Prince of Peace

Isaiah prophesied about the arrival of the Messiah, preaching that a virgin would conceive. The Son of that virgin would wear many titles and names. That prophecy described Jesus.

Isaiah 7:14: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Isaiah 9:6: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

The promised Son is Immanuel, God with us, Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Jesus is the peacegiver.

Our nation is presently fighting a war on terrorism with fronts in Afghanistan and Iraq. The names al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden instantly remind us that we are living in a different world since September 11, 2001.

Wars engulf the world in an iron-clawed grip, with battles being fought in the Middle East, Africa, Asia; not only by nations against other nations, but by militants seeking to overthrow legitimate governments. The United Nations, like the League of Nations before it, seems powerless to bring peace.

Additionally, many of our urban cities regularly experience gang warfare. And if we are honest, hostilities and war-like violence invade our homes and schools. Even the Christian church is not fully exempt from some type of war.

So where is this peace that Isaiah said Jesus would bring?

Worldly peace often comes from negotiation, compromise, or militaristic victory over enemies. Sometimes it comes through relationships. In previous centuries Europe was related through arranged royal marriages. This ancient tactic of warring nations giving their children to marry into the families of their enemies was an attempt to bring lasting peace. After all, one kingdom wouldn’t attack another when the reigning monarchy included their own children! But this attempt, like others, failed to bring peace to the world. War is still with us.

Jesus said in John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Jesus promised personal peace that would precede worldwide peace. God’s program of peace is based on personal acceptance of Him and His program of personal change that brings peace of mind. This peace doesn’t come with negotiation. We cannot bargain with God or use mutual compromise, saying, “OK God, I will give up this if You will do that.”

Jesus gives us peace only as we surrender our all to Him. No negotiation, no compromise. It’s all or nothing with God. The result of this no compromising surrender is peace.

That’s why God inspired Isaiah to write: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3, NKJV).* We must first receive peace from God before we can make peace in the world.

Christ reconciles us to God by bringing our surrendered hearts into conformity to the Father as we focus the attention of our minds on Him.

Someone has called religion the “opiate of the people,” equating a spiritual experience to being drugged. What they failed to understand is that God gives His children peace in the middle of all sorts of negativity that the world produces. We are not “drugged out” by our worship and praise; we are enabled and strengthened to endure by it. God’s peace enables those who have it to make it through everything the world and the devil can throw at them.

Despite poverty, abuse, sickness, death, and loneliness people still find peace. This is the peace Paul talks about in Philippians 4:7: “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” This peace can be experienced but not explained.

It is not external but internal as Christ rules in our hearts. When the Holy Spirit takes up residence in us and rules our minds, thoughts, and desires, He produces peace and contentment in us.

That’s why Jesus said in John 16:33: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” We will find our peace of mind and heart as we seek Jesus; our peace is in Him. The world could not control Him because He was committed to the Father, and the Father gave Him peace. And the world cannot take away what God gives.

So how do we get from a personal peace to a worldwide peace? Certainly Jesus wants us to be involved peacemakers, having blessed them in Matthew 5:9.

We get there by spreading the principles of the Prince of Peace from one person to another, from one heart to another, from one house to another, and through the communities we live in. One of the enduring principles of Jesus is justice. It is written in the Bible more than 170 times. Repeatedly through history, God speaks to justice in judgment. God wants us to do the right thing, in the right way, at the right time. That is justice.

One bumper sticker I read said: “If you want peace, work for justice.” Jesus is just, and His judgments are always righteous because He is righteous. There will be no peace in the world while injustice rules.

The prophet Amos challenged people in his day to justice when he wrote: “But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream” (Amos 5:24). Justice and righteousness are partners. Where one exists, the other is found. Jesus, the only righteous Man, calls us to righteousness in Him. We can effect peace in the world by following His example in the power of the Holy Spirit to do justly.

While we live in the individual peacefulness of Christ, we are also to seek peace through justice at all levels in the world around us.

We do so, however, knowing that there is no God-granted exemption in this world from war, racism, classism, or sexism. God rules through the willing submission of His subjects. Where people refuse to follow God, there will be injustice and strife, violence, and wars. Remember, this world is the temporary domain of Satan, and multitudes of people choose to follow him. Until Jesus returns to receive the world fully into His rulership, war, violence, and their fellow travelers will be with us.

Peace through politics and military might are temporary, changing as each regime transitions into the hands of a more charismatic leader. Social movements come and go, and we still don’t have lasting worldwide peace. The Word of God teaches us that the only person who can bring permanent peace to our world and troubled souls is Jesus, “The Prince of Peace.” May He come soon to change this world into a peaceful habitation.


*Texts credited to NKJV are from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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