For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:19-20, NKJV)

In God’s providence, we find ourselves in the midst of another election season and our thoughts are directed to the future and the hopes we have — what will the future look like depending on the one elected by the people and ordained by God as President? One of the most common hopes that people express is that the world would know true and lasting peace—that nations would cease fighting, that families would let go of old hostilities, that individuals would set aside bitterness and anger. Yet, year after year, so many look for peace in all the wrong places. Appealing to the “innate goodness that lies within man” and calling everyone to “just get along” fails to take seriously that man is, by nature, at war with God and with His fellow man. Man, by nature, will only seek what advances his own agenda and goals (Romans 3:10-18). That reality seems especially true during election season when candidates say whatever is necessary to get elected. What the natural, well-wishing man and woman fails to realize is that peace among men will never be a “dream come true” until peace with God is realized in the life of the man or woman made right with God. When the Bible speaks about the “peace of God” prevailing among men and within their hearts it always assumes the “peace with God” as the fountain from which it flows. The one most assuredly comes from the other.

As we prepare this coming Lord’s Day to celebrate the Supper of our Savior, it requires us to remember Christ Who has become our peace (Ephesians 2:11-15). It is because of Christ crucified that we come together as one body, the middle wall of partition having been destroyed by His blood shed on the cross. We come knowing the One Who alone can bring peace to our hearts and the hearts of all those who look to Him by faith. We come knowing our own helplessness and hopelessness outside of Him—not celebrating our self-sufficiency and “innate moral goodness”, for we have neither. We come to the One Who loved us and gave Himself for us; the One Who is the greatest expression of the compassion of God towards us. We come to feed upon Him by faith as He is really and truly offered to us in the sacrament. And having been fed, we leave taking the message of peace with us to a world that so desperately needs to hear it.

The dream of world peace that so many seek will one day come true when all the enemies of Christ (for that is the real battle going on) are put under His feet and God’s great peace-making plan of redemption is brought to a close. Until then, it is our privilege as ambassadors of Christ to communicate this message to a lost and embattled world. May God grant each of us strength and grace to be faithful in that calling even as we come to the Table this Lord’s Day and feed upon Christ by faith. Heed the words of the Lord in 1 Corinthians 11:23-32 as you prepare yourselves for the celebration of His Supper. And come rejoicing in the One Who has become our peace! God forbid that we should glory in any other, save in Jesus Christ our Lord and King!

In the Name of Jesus, Who is our Peace,
Pastor Ted Trefsgar