Peace is Costly...

He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. Isa 59:16

Peace is costly. It is never procured accidentally or incidentally. Peace is always the product of the peacemaker.

To secure peace between God and man a cross had to be interposed. Man had flaunted God's good law and was in a state of rebellion against God.

Only God could make atonement. "He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him" (Isa. 59:16). On Christ, God's beloved and sinless Son, fell "the iniquity of us all. . . The chastisement of our peace was upon him."

Christ's atonement did not suppress or merely appease God's wrath. His sacrifice provided cancellation of our guilt—at God's expense—while at the same time honoring His own law. On the basis of Calvary, God can now forgive sins and be just.

Too long mankind has sought for peace without a cross. Peter tried to turn Jesus from the cross. And Jesus' own people rejected His atoning forgiveness; it was simpler to crucify Him than to turn from their sin.

It is ever easy to gain popular enthusiasm for the cause of peace. The crowd with palm branches was not unusual for that day—nor for ours.

But on that day of triumphal entry Jesus wept. Nor was it a silent sobbing. As He looked over the sacred city with its temple and traditions, all of the compassion of His infinite mercy was released in a loud cry—"Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I. . . but ye would not."

Had that generation received Jesus, Jerusalem would not have been laid waste by the Romans. But the Jews could not see that obedience to Jesus would have saved them from national ruin. They continued to infuriate Rome and busied themselves with the tithe of "mint, anise, cummin" while passing over the "weightier matters of the law."

They spurned the cross and lost the peace.

God has paid the full price of peace—by Jesus' blood—for all men and all nations. The sinner could enjoy peace by ceasing his rebellion and cherishing the cross. Racial and economic rivalry would cease if men would only seek the Calvary road to peace.

In "this [our] day," do we discern the things that belong to peace?  Can we yet change course? Can we redeem our present opportunities?  Do we want peace, or do we just say we do?

-George E. Failing