Colossians 1:19-23 - The Prince of Peace
Well, church, it is good to be with you. Merry Christmas! It’s finally that season. I don’t know about you, but as I think about Advent and the coming of our Savior—His arrival—I need this pause in my life. I need a break just to remember and to be mindful of these things. If you find yourself resonating with that as we enter week two of Advent, having talked about hope last week, this week we are turning our attention to the idea of peace. It’s our hope and prayer that this season might be one where we can enter in with intentionality as we await the arrival of our King.
My name is Mike, by the way, if I haven’t had the privilege of meeting you yet. Whether you’re joining us in person or online, we are so grateful you are here. Today, I get the great privilege of opening God’s Word with you. We’re going to take a slightly different approach than we usually do. If you’ve been around The Well for a while, you know our normal rhythm is to open a book of the Bible and walk through it verse by verse. During this Advent series, we’re taking a high-level look at what the Scriptures say about this profound concept of peace.
One of the primary expectations of the Messiah was that He would bring peace to our lives and our world. As we look at Jesus, we recognize that from our perspective, there are actually two Advents. We look in the rearview mirror at the first Advent—the arrival of a baby who grew up and ultimately gave His life for us on a cross. But there is also a second Advent yet to come, when He will return as King of kings and Lord of lords. We live in the in-between, knowing the first has already taken place and the second most certainly will.
The Search for Peace in a Restless World
When we talk about peace during the Christmas season, the irony is that this time of year often feels anything but peaceful. You know what I’m talking about. We all remember those viral news videos from Black Friday over the years. We spend Thanksgiving Day sitting around tables with the people most precious to us, thanking God for His provision and celebrating the things money cannot buy. Then, twelve hours later, people are lining up outside store doors at 4:30 in the morning, trampling their neighbors just to grab a TV they simply had to have. We’re bombarded with the message that we can’t truly have peace unless we own the latest thing. Those 720p TVs we had to have years ago are now sitting in dumpsters because 1080p came along, then 4K, and now 8K is right around the corner.
Beyond consumerism, our world is marked by deep unrest. There are well over a hundred armed conflicts taking place across the globe right now. The war between Israel and Hamas continues, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine remains at the forefront of our minds, and ongoing battles persist across Africa and the Middle East. It all contributes to an overwhelming sense that peace is missing.
Even though we live in a country not currently engaged in war on our soil, that doesn’t mean we walk around with peaceful hearts. This past week in our life group, we asked everyone to give one word describing how they felt about the Christmas season. Listen to the words our group shared: Hard. Anxious. Packed. Hurried. Forced. Distracted. My own answer was right there among them. If I asked you today if that resonates, many of you would say, “Yes, I feel that lack of peace.”
Why is that? As the people of God, to whom peace has been promised, why is it so often missing in our daily lives? Why do we look so much like the world around us when it comes to anxiety and restlessness? Perhaps it’s because we don’t fully understand the depth of the peace we have been given in Christ.
Missing the Point: What the Messiah Promised
In the Old Testament, the hope of peace was tied directly to the coming Messiah. One of the most famous passages the Jewish people held onto is found in Isaiah:
Isaiah 9:6-7 (NASB)
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of [His] government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.
The people fully expected the Messiah to establish peace. In Isaiah 11, the prophet paints an astonishing picture where the wolf dwells with the lamb, the leopard lies down with the goat, and a nursing child plays near the cobra’s den. Sworn enemies will dwell together because the hostility will be completely removed.
Isaiah 11:6-8 (NASB)
And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.
This theme doesn’t stop in the Old Testament. Jesus spoke directly to His disciples about this very gift:
John 14:27 (NASB)
’Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
John 16:33 (NASB)
‘These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.’
The New Testament writers even command us to let this peace govern our lives. Paul writes:
Colossians 3:15 (NASB)
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.
If that is true, did we miss something? Did we misunderstand what Christ came to bring?
Years ago, a pastor illustrated a lesson using four glass jars, placing a living earthworm into each one. In the first jar, he added alcohol; the worm died immediately. In the second, he pumped in cigarette smoke; the worm died. In the third, he poured chocolate syrup; the worm died. In the fourth jar, he placed the worm in good, clean soil, and the worm thrived. He turned to his congregation and asked, “What did you learn from this?” A woman in the back raised her hand and said, “I learned that as long as you drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, and eat chocolate, you won’t get worms!”
It is remarkably easy to miss the truth staring us right in the face and misunderstand the entire point. That is why we must take a closer look at what Advent means regarding peace across these two comings of Christ.
When Old Testament prophets looked ahead to the Messiah, it was like looking at the Sierra Nevada mountains from Fresno. From the valley floor, the snow-capped peaks look right next to each other, but once you drive up into the mountains, you realize there is a massive valley separating them. The prophets saw the comings of Christ as one collective event. They anticipated a Messiah who would physically deliver them from political oppression—specifically from Rome. When Jesus arrived as a humble, suffering servant rather than a conquering king on a warhorse, they had no category for Him. They expected a lion; they got a Lamb. Because He didn’t immediately overthrow Roman rule, many rejected Him, failing to realize which aspects of peace belonged to His first coming versus His second.
Understanding Biblical Shalom
The word “peace” appears 91 times in the New Testament. It means undisturbed, free from dispute, and living in harmonious relationships. But the New Testament concept draws directly from the rich Old Testament word shalom.
While shalom certainly includes the absence of war—as the Psalmist writes:
Psalms 147:14 (NASB)
He makes peace in your borders; He satisfies you with the finest of the wheat.
True shalom is infinitely deeper than simply the absence of conflict. Shalom encompasses total wholeness: spiritual, physical, emotional, mental, and relational flourishing. Perhaps the best definition of shalom is: the way things ought to be.
A while back, my family and I were finishing dinner and cleaning up. I was rushing around putting dishes away, moving at my typical pace—body six steps ahead of my brain. I grabbed something off the counter, turned quickly toward the pantry, and forgot the lower cabinet door was wide open. I plowed straight into it. I heard a horrific cracking sound, and when I looked down, the entire cabinet door was lying on the kitchen floor. It hadn’t just unscrewed; it had ripped the wood completely out of the frame.
I went to the garage, grabbed the biggest bottle of Gorilla Glue I could find, clamped the broken pieces together, and prayed for a miracle. It was an awful patch job. From the outside you couldn’t tell, but every time I open that cabinet, I’m reminded of the disaster.
Shalom is not a messy patch job. It’s not slapping Gorilla Glue on a broken life. Shalom means restoring something completely to the way it was designed to be, as though the break had never occurred.
True shalom existed in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve walked in unhindered fellowship with God in the cool of the day. But when sin entered the world in Genesis 3, that shalom was shattered. The way things ought to be was broken.
The True Enemy: The Problem of Sin
When Jesus arrived at His first Advent, He came to confront humanity’s true oppressor: not human governments, but the power of sin. When the angel appeared to Joseph before Jesus was born, he made His mission unmistakably clear:
Matthew 1:20-21 (NASB)
But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ’Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ‘She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’
Sin was not an isolated disaster contained in the Garden of Eden. It spread like a spiritual disease across every generation and every human heart.
Romans 5:12 (NASB)
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned–
Romans 3:23 (NASB)
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
We inherited a nature bent away from God. Paul describes our condition apart from Christ in stark, sobering terms:
Colossians 1:21 (NASB)
And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, [engaged] in evil deeds,
Apart from Christ, we were alienated, hostile in mind, and engaged in evil deeds—living as enemies of God. That is not an easy truth to hear, but Scripture is entirely honest about the devastating wreckage of sin.
Reconciled Through the Cross
The glorious good news of the first Advent is that God did not leave us in our brokenness. Notice how Paul describes our rescue:
Romans 5:10 (NASB)
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Colossians 1:22 (NASB)
yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach–
Colossians 1:19-20 (NASB)
For it was the [Father’s] good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, [I say], whether things on earth or things in heaven.
The word reconciled means bringing something back to the way it was meant to be. God did not apply a temporary band-aid to our sin. Through the shed blood of Jesus on the cross, He made peace and restored our relationship with Him.
Jesus did not come at His first Advent to conquer political kingdoms; He came to fight a vastly more important battle. He went to war against the sin that separated us from God.
Colossians 2:13-14 (NASB)
When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Romans 5:1 (NASB)
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Through Jesus, the war between God and man is over. The certificate of debt has been canceled, nailed to the cross. We now have positional, enduring peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ.
We still eagerly await the second Advent, described in Revelation 19, when Christ will return as King of kings to put an end to all injustice, evil, and death, establishing lasting cosmic peace. But today, we live in the in-between, resting firmly in the peace secured at His first coming.
Living in the Peace of Christ Today
If you are new to faith or exploring Christianity, this is the core message of everything we believe: Jesus Christ and Him crucified. There are no gimmicks, no hidden agendas. We simply point to what God accomplished through His Son. It is the same message I heard as an eighteen-year-old college freshman, and it remains unchanged today: Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and through Him alone we find true peace with the Father.
How do we live in that peace right now? We cannot single-handedly solve the chaos of the world or eliminate the frenzy of the holiday shopping season. But we can choose to rest positionally in the peace Christ has given us. Because He faithfully fulfilled every prophecy of His first coming, we can have complete confidence that He will return for His second.
This season, what if our lives looked different? What if, instead of being hurried, we chose to slow down? Instead of being distracted, what if we chose to be present? Instead of living anxious, what if we rested in the peace of God?
May this ancient blessing, spoken over God’s people for thousands of years, be true of our lives today:
Numbers 6:24-26 (NASB)
The LORD bless you, and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’
Father, we pray that the true and real peace You offered through the sacrifice of Your Son would dwell richly in our hearts. May the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Let that peace overflow from our lives into our neighborhoods and families. We thank You for sending Your Son as a baby to live the life we could not live and die the death we deserved, so that we might have everlasting life and peace with You. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.