Peace on Earth

And on earth peace, [God’s] goodwill toward men. Luke 2.14 Majority Text

Peace is a state of concord, harmony, as between persons or governments.  Peace is the opposite of conflict and division.

This peace was announced in connection with the birth of Christ. 

However,  Jesus said,  
Do not think that I came to bring  peace  on earth. I did not come to bring  peace  but a sword.  For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;  and a man's enemies will be those of his [own] household.  Matthew 10:34-36

Jesus also said with reference to how it will be on earth prior to His coming the second time:
  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all [these] [things] must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For  nation  will rise  against   nation , and kingdom  against kingdom. Matthew 24:6-7a

Thus the coming of Christ did not result in the end of conflict and hostility in man’s relationships with others.

However, Scripture does speak of a peace that exists through Christ.
and by Him [Christ] 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 1:20

There is a peace that exists through the cross of Christ by which anyone may enter into through faith in Christ for salvation from sin.

The Apostle Paul writes: Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1-2

This peace is a sphere of peace that exists in which one can enter by faith in Christ.  Christ’s death satisfied the righteous demands of God against sin so that God is free and just in justifying those who believe in Christ for salvation.
This sphere of peace is also the place where all, both Jew and Gentile who believe, have equal access to God and are united as one people of God [see note 2 below]

 For He Himself is our  peace, who has made both one [Jew and Gentile], and has broken down the middle wall of separation,   having abolished in His flesh the enmity, [that] [is], the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man [from] the two, [thus] making  peace,  and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity [see note 2 below].    And He came and preached  peace  to you who were afar off [Gentiles] and to those who were near [Jews].    For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,    having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner [stone]. Ephesians 2:14-20

God saves those who believe in Christ for salvation through the peace accomplished at the Cross: He is our peace with God on earth.

Note 1
Because of one Greek letter that is missing in the Majority text that KJV mostly follows, the word “goodwill” is translated in the nominative case (as subject), and is understood as God’s determinative will towards men:  This “peace on earth” is that sphere of peace accomplished at the cross through which “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” John 3:16.

Most newer translations follow the Alexandrian text in which the Greek word for “goodwill” has the added letter on the end which results in the word being in the genitive case, showing possession or description.   Thus, the translation places the word “of” in front of “goodwill.”  A few translations have basically “toward men of goodwill.” Most translations believe the goodwill is God’s, and so they translate it “toward (or among) men of [God’s or His] good will (or good pleasure).”  The word “God” or “His” does not appear in the Greek, but is considered implied.

Textual critics would argue the Alexandrian reading is the harder reading and should be adopted, for its more likely the letter was dropped than added in copying.  A similar reading—"men of God’s good pleasure”-- has been found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.  This reading limits the “peace on earth” to select individuals of God’s choosing.  Does it require the belief that God predetermined who will be saved and who won’t be?

The Majority Text reading supports the belief that Christ died for all, and that God desires all to be saved.  The Alexandrian Text may argue against that.  However, if it is the correct reading, it could simply be that only those who believe are those who enter into this peace that Christ accomplished.  

God chose to save those who believe.  God saves those who believe in Christ for salvation through the peace accomplished at the Cross: He is our peace with God on earth--Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Romans 5:1

Note 2
"Enmity" speaks of hostility. The enmity between God and man was removed in the same way as the one between Gentile and Jew. The Law of Moses set forth the cause of enmity. For both Jew and Gentile, it was the fact of sin, while between Jew and gentile, it was the distinction it made between the two. Christ's death satisfied the righteous demands of the Law against sin, so that man and God could be reconciled, and the distinction between Jew and Gentile no longer valid.

In the case of separation of Gentile and Jew, it was due to the special relationship God had with Israel under the Law: the Jew was God's people under the covenant of the Law of Moses. The law made the Gentile far off and the Jew near: the Law separated the Gentile from the Jew and made them far off from God. The Jew was near by the Law, and yet the veil in the Temple was a reminder that even they had a sin problem and that sacrifice had to be made to approach God’s presence.

Paul describes this (Ephesians 2.14) as a "barrier," "separation," or "partition," and it was as a "dividing wall" or "middle wall." The Greek word for the former means simply a "fence" or "railing," while the latter means a "middle wall."
Josephus used each of these terms separately with reference to the balustrade in the Jerusalem temple separating the court of the Gentiles from the temple proper. On it was an inscription that read: No foreigner may enter within the barricade which surrounds the sanctuary and enclosure. Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death.

When Jerusalem fell in A.D. 70, this partition was demolished along with the temple itself, but Paul saw it as already destroyed by Christ at the cross.

Christ is peace (on earth) because His sacrifice would satisfy the Law and God concerning sin.

That sacrifice has created a sphere of peace in which one can enter by faith.

It is in that place that one has peace with God.

It is there that Gentile and Jew are on equal footing, brought near to God; they are one new man, a new creation, with access to God.

It is in this sphere of peace that the removal of the enmity is realized between God and man and Jew and Gentile.

By faith in the promise of God of salvation from sin through the penalty-paying-death of Christ, one enters into this peace, this new reality.

The peace that Christ is and has accomplished is a reality that is to be realized in the church today (one people/ body in a right relationship with God), yet to be fully realized in the world to come. This future-realized-peace is also due to the Lordship of Christ to which all will be subdued, Acts 10.36:

The word which [God] sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ--He is Lord of all-.I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. [There] [is] one body and one Spirit , just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who [is] above all, and through all, and in you all. Ephesians 4:1-6

It is a spiritual reality that can be realized in the local church: it is our duty to strive for this unity, this spiritual reality, by the bond of peace---the absence of hostility. We do this by the character mentioned in Ephesians 4.1, recognizing who we are in Christ and functioning according to the abilities God has given us to edify one another--each doing his/her part, speaking the truth in love.


12-26-2017