Is World Peace Even Possible?

Reflections for this date are based on the following scripture passages:
Ephesians 1	Ephesians 2	Ephesians 3	Numbers 6	Numbers 7	Psalms 54

In chapter 2 of Ephesians, Paul tells us of life and peace we can have in Jesus. Apart from Him we are dead in our trespasses and sins. People get hung up on the idea of being sinners, saying, "But I don't lie or steal and I haven't killed anyone." Sin is defined primarily in our relationship with God and whether or not we are in agreement with Him or disobedient to His will and purposes. An example of this is Adam and Eve, the first people. Of all the trees God made and placed in the Garden of Eden, God told them, "You are free to eat from any tree of the garden." But He added, "You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." (Genesis 2:16, 17) Sin entered the world when they disobeyed these instructions and ate the forbidden fruit. They didn't hurt anyone, they didn't steal or kill. They simply disobeyed God and this is called sin.

Apart from Jesus we are all dead spiritually in our disobedience to God's will in our life. We want to live our lives apart from God and do what we want to do. In that condition we interpret God's will as restricting us from all that is good and fun in life. But the Creator of the universe, and our Maker, wants to guide us to live fully the life He intended for us. But we, like little children, want to live it the way we want to which is not always for our good. In fact, it is quite often not for our good. Like the child who wants candy instead of nutritional food and ends up with a stomach ache.

But God, through His mercy, provided a way for us out of our sinful condition. Through Jesus the separation between us and God is mended enabling us to live a life in agreement with God, the life He has intended for us. When we come to Christ through faith we are given new life, but we are also given peace. Peace with God, peace within, and peace with our fellow man. The basis of our peace with our fellow man is our common relationship with Christ. It is a kindred spirit we find that we have with others who might be very different from us otherwise. It was this common bond with Christ that in Paul's day brought a bond between Jew and Gentile. This bond and the peace it brings is only possible between a people who have a common faith in Christ.

The common idea at Christmas time when we celebrate the birth of Christ who is the "Prince of Peace," and sing of "Peace on earth and good will toward men," is that this is all about world peace. But this is not the primary focus. Its primary focus is peace between God and man. From this relationship with Christ peace can flow to our fellow man. Apart from this relationship with God made possible through Christ, true and lasting peace with our fellow man is not possible. World peace is only a fantasy as long as there are those who do not recognize Jesus as Lord.