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Peace

by brother Kim

God has never promised peace to the world as it is now without him. The hope of Christmas, i.e. the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ on earth, is not about final peace among earthly human beings. With the coming of Jesus Christ it was announced peace to men, on whom God's favor rests (Luke 2:14). Christmas has for such reason become a festival, where one looks for peace with others. The birth of Jesus Christ, however, has nothing to do with Santa Clause or materialistic orgies. In old days Christmas was strictly kept as a holiday within the family, but even that concern is in fast decay, when Western youth just go and wait for the opportunity to go to a discotheque. Christmas as it is celebrated today is not suitable to become adopted as a so-called Christian holiday in the non-Christian cultures. At least it has not much to do with the birthday of Jesus Christ.

Peace with God

Peace has primarily to do with our relationship with God. In Christ we have peace with God, because God by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ forgave our sins. "Now in Christ Jesus you, who once were far away, have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace." (Ephesians 2:13-14a). In Christ we have peace with God, but also with each other – between those who seem to be near and those who seem to be far from God. Salvation came first through the Jews, but in Christ the barriers between Jews and Gentiles were broken down, so that God out of the two could create one new man (Ephesians 2:14b). It is a universal truth, which is applicable to all the peoples. For at another occasion the Apostle Paul is using a concrete example to illustrate this universal truths in concrete terms. He writes that "here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all" (Colossians 3:11). In Christ there is equal worth of all the peoples before God. Therefore, in Christ there is no space for misunderstood nationalism and racism. Since there is only one human kind, then there is no sensible reason to attempt maintaining the races pure. And cast systems could never be tolerated. How could there be peace in the world, if nations, races and casts are in conflict with each other?

Equality between the nations

Equality between the nations has everything to do with, how we understand the international mission of Jesus Christ to all the peoples. Of course his first disciples were entrusted the task to go out to all the nations with the message about the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, but reconciliation with God our Creator has to do with each single people. Martin Luther, the great reformer, understood this and preached that each person could have direct access to God the Father through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:17-18) in contrast to the Roman-Catholic church, which meant that salvation has to go through their church. But in Luther's time the Latin of the church was soon exchanged with German. It is for the same reason that the universal church of Christ on earth is decisive about seeing the holy Scriptures of the Bible translated to each and every language on earth, no matter how little an ethnic group it might concern. The Roman-Catholic church is indeed the Roman church, but all claims on universal authority is out of the question. It might be necessary for a while, but no people should in the long run have its access to our common Creator through another peoplegroup.

Equality between social layers

In his teaching about the relationships between the different layers of society, the Apostle Paul naturally had to consider the system of slavery in the Roman Empire. He wrote: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). The Roman Empire did not suddenly think about freeing the slaves. But in Christ there should be made no distinction between the social classes of society. There is equality of value among all men and woman in Christ. The slaves were though commanded to obey their earthly lords (Ephesians 6:5). However, it should be clear, that the unjust system of slavery could not be kept intact in the long run.

Fortunately, many things look quite different today, but the principle is the same. There should be shown concern for all social layers. Society should not be organized as a kind of war about, who can the get the most out of it. On the contrary, it is the common duty to care that the needs of all can be met in a proper way, particularly the weakest with poor ability of making a living. In Christ there is no class struggle. Only the right of the employers to lead and distribute the work and the workers right to organize themselves stand firm. But how can fight about the resources be avoided, when it is allowed that huge inequalities develop all around the world?

Equal worth in the home

The old Chinese principle of harmony in the home built upon two states of things: The wife should submit to her husband, and the man should care for her needs. The principle is clear. There will never be peace in a home, which is ravaged by power struggles between the sexes. The Holy Scriptures teaches exactly the same through the Apostle Paul (Ephesians 6:22-24). However, the times have offered much male abuse of authority, also within the frames of marriage and home. And while all talk about male authority has been a subject of tabu, many homes have now been subject to unconstrained feminine agendas. So because of the hardness of human hearts, it has become almost impossible to uphold the original order (Matthew 19:8). The only thing, which can readily be confirmed, is that the genders are of equal worth in Christ (Galatians 3:28), and that a home in Christ should live in mutual love. Jesus said to his disciples that they should love one another as he had loved them (John 13:34-35). This command is valid for both man and woman in the Christian marriage. And under no circumstances should any of the parts be subject to physical or psychological violence. But if a couple cannot agree about, who is leading - and how - on an enlightened ground, how can their house last? And how can a society last, if its foundation is systematicly eroded?

Human rights

There will be no justice and permanent peace, unless human rights are respected. Personally, I believe that peace is strengthened, when freedom of faith, freedom of gathering and freedom of speech is secured. Religions can not own people. Is man made for the religions? Each man and woman should be allowed to make own enlightened decisions about their religious belonging. However, I strongly discourage superficial conversion to Christianity. Its core is not a Western orientation. Such would soon become an entry for all kinds of ungodliness. It is about following Jesus, who is not a Westerner.

Next, the peace of privacy should be respected. People must be allowed to gather around their own secular or spiritual interests without surveillance or intrusion in their reasonable affairs. Of course this doesn't mean that there should be full freedom for self-declared human gods to abuse people with substandard religions. It is not about freedom of the religious leaders, but about the rights of the common man and woman. For such reason the human society has the right to have certain insight into what goes on in religious institutions. But the form should not be by direct control or by exercise of authority. The revelation from the Holy Scriptures of the Bible teaches us that there should be due separation between secular and religious authority. In Israel God installed one tribe as priests and another for the royal line. The message is clear. Total authority and power should never be on one hand, whether this hand is secular or religious. Every attempt to establish a totalitarian or fundamentalist rule, whatever religion or ideology, should be strongly discouraged.

Finally, a human society should make room for free political, commercial, labor and religious expression of thoughts and opinions in the public space with all due respect for others. It should be possible to express one's views without attacking others with unsubstantiated allegations or branding words. For freedom of expression can only function as a freedom with responsibility. Free expression of thoughts, however, is not a green card for the habit of the advertisement to abuse woman and men as sex objects, or to seduce children or youngsters to an unhealthy consumption or abuse of alcohol etc. There should indeed never be given free space for uncontrollable spreading of violence or lawlessness in the public media.

The rights of children

However, it is not a human right for women to have access to free abort for each and every reason. Free abortion has nothing to do with a woman's right to decide over her own body. The unborn child is not her body. It is a new human being with a right to live. King David said about his God: "Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be (Psalm 139:16). There is still space for new people on the planet earth. It is also not a human right for homosexuals to adopt a child, which they by nature not are able to beget themselves. It is not about equal rights for homosexuals. On the contrary, it is the right of each and every child to have a father and a mother. It is a similar case, when parents happen to divorce. Each and every child has under normal circumstances the right to have fellowship with both its father and its mother.

No peace with evil

In our search for peace, however, we should not always count on peaceful circumstances. The struggle for peace without compromise might in some cases become a costly involvement. The struggle for freedom and just peace have never been free of charge. Experience shows that evil powers seldom give up voluntarily. Oppressive conditions don't change without struggle. It might cost the loss of family belonging to confess faith in Jesus Christ (Matthew 10:34-35). In certain places of the world it might even cost one's life. In many places there are persecution of people because of their Christian faith. But those, who believe in Jesus Christ, are not treacherous against their country or asocial individuals. It will not pass unpunished if somebody without reason persecutes the Church of God on earth.

Conclusion

Peace primarily has to do with our relationship to God our Creator through Jesus Christ. In Christ there is full equality between all the peoples and equal worth of all social layers and both genders. In Christ any kind of racism is excluded. The social classes will have to live with mutual respect for each other. And for the preservation of the family there is no unconditional right for married couples to engage in powerstruggles with hidden agenda in the home. The human rights, which need to be respected for the sake of peace, are freedom of faith, freedom of gathering and freedom of expression in reasonable forms. Finally, it is the right of the unborn child to live. And it is the right of living children to have fellowship with both its father and mother.