The Peace Child
There is within every human heart a longing for peace. Many search for peace but never find it. Some look for it in their job. Others look for it in a relationship. Some look for it in power, pleasure, or money. But all those things don’t bring lasting peace because they aren’t meant to.
But, there is one who can bring lasting peace: Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Hundreds of years before His birth, Isaiah prophesied the following: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6–7)
It’s that final title—Prince of Peace—that leapt out at me this Christmas season. The reason is simple: To be at peace with God is our greatest need. Sin makes us like enemies toward God, and unless that problem is dealt with, and our sins forgiven, then we can’t be reconciled to a holy God and have eternal life. The good news of the gospel is that this peace with God is given freely to those who reach out in faith and trust in Jesus.
Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
A few years ago I read a book called Peace Child. It tells the true story of Don Richardson, who in 1962, went to work among the Sawi tribe of Papua New Guinea. The Sawi were known to be cannibalistic headhunters. Nevertheless, Richardson and his family went to live with them to share the good news about how we can have peace with God through faith in Christ.
As he learned the language and lived with the people, he became more aware of the gulf that separated his Christian worldview from the worldview of the Sawi. For example, as he shared the story of Jesus, in their eyes, Judas, not Jesus, was the hero of the Gospels because in their culture, treachery was seen to be a noble virtue. Richardson struggled to explain about the birth, life, and death of Christ. Then one day something happened which brought a breakthrough.
Three tribal villages were in constant battle at this time, and because of the danger to himself and his family, Richardson was about to leave the area. The people didn’t want them to leave, so to keep them there, the Sawi people in the embattled villages came together and decided that they would make peace with their hated enemies. One man in particular went to his enemy’s camp and literally gave his son to his hated foe. The child was called a peace child. In that culture, this was the only way to make peace because the idea in their minds was that if a man would actually give his own son to his enemies, that man could be trusted! After this event, there was peace between the two warring sides.
When Richardson saw what had been done, he began to explain how Jesus is God’s peace child. Our sin makes us like enemies toward God, but God gave Jesus to make peace possible between himself and us. Jesus is God’s peace child.
Would you like to be at peace with God? Would you like to have joy and peace not just at Christmas but all year long? The key is trusting in God’s Peace Child.
