The Prince of Peace

“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” (Isaiah 9:6).

The passing of another year witnesses the world in the grip of turmoil and unrest; discontent and unhappiness affect every sphere of life. The efforts of rulers and the legislation of governments are seen to be powerless in dealing successfully with the growing dissatisfaction which abounds on every hand. In His Word, God, speaking of all men, makes the solemn pronouncement: “the way of peace have they not known” (Romans 3:17).

The Scriptures leave us in no doubt at all as to the source from which this unrest and lack of peace came. When God placed man in the garden of Eden there was an atmosphere of tranquillity. In 1 Corinthians 14:33 we read, “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.” It was by man that sin came in, with all its consequent ruin and disorder. Satan was also responsible, as he succeeded in displacing God from Adam’s affections.

To disobey the command of God was an act of unrighteousness on the part of man, and Scripture most definitely asserts that peace cannot be known and enjoyed if unrighteousness prevails: “There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked” (Isaiah 48:22 and Isaiah 57:21).

We have noticed the dual cause of the ruin—sin in man and the opposition of Satan to God. Wherein lies the remedy? All depends upon the revelation of God’s purpose made known in Christ. In Isaiah 9 one of the names given prophetically to our Lord is “Prince of Peace.” Man was the author of confusion—hence the wreckage; Christ is the Author of Salvation—the ruin and disorder will be banished forever.

This necessitated the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ as we read in Colossians 1:20, “having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself.” Thus the sin, sorrow, breakdown and distance from God has been dealt with to God’s complete satisfaction through the precious blood of Christ. In the death and resurrection of Christ, Satan has been completely defeated and the day will arrive when he himself is banished to the lake of fire forever.

This marvelous work of Jesus Christ, the complete restoration of peace, should bow our hearts in worship as we contemplate the personal greatness of the one blessed Person alone competent to effect this: One in whom all the fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell (Colossians 1:19; 2:9). How gladly we say “amen” to the Spirit’s testimony “that in all things He might have the preeminence” (Colossians 1:18).

—F.A. Hughes

The secret of peace is more than knowing that our sins are forgiven. It is having the Person of a risen Christ before our souls, having our hearts engaged with the One who has done it all, and gazing by faith upon the marks of His accomplished work. This is peace for the inner life. —C.H.M.