The Gospel of peace brings peace where there is strife, extends love where there is hatred, and offers a message of acceptance in the face of rejection. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the gospel of peace (Romans 10:15), a light in the darkness of sin that guides us into the way of peace. The gospel of peace is a light in the world. The gospel is the Good News of love, hope and peace. Christ is our peace and makes peace in order to bring unity.


The Gospel of Peace brings Unity

The world we live in is a beautiful place, yet there is much the strife and suffering, too. The world needs more peace and love. There is a message that comes to each one of us in a very personal way with the words, 'you are accepted.' That message is the Gospel of peace that comes from the God of peace. In Christ we are accepted as an expression of God's grace (Ephesians 1:6-7). It is a message of peace in the midst of strife; a message of love in the face of hatred; a message of acceptance despite all the rejection we face. And it is a message of reconciliation in response to all the alienation in the world. The essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is summarised in that God so loved the world (sinful humanity) that He gave His Son (Jesus) to save the world (John 3:16). He did not come to condemn, but to save (v 17). The love of God is expressed in that Christ died for us while we were still sinners, alienated from God yet reconciled by God in Christ (Romans 5:6-11). This is the Gospel of salvation (A4). It is the redeeming love of Christ. Hence, salvation is not a reward for the 'good guys,' but rather a gift for the 'bad guys.' Christ came to bring salvation by His death and resurrection and this salvation gives us peace. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the gospel of peace, the good news of good things to come (Romans 10:15; Isaiah 52:7). 

The Bible presents Jesus as the 'Prince of peace.' Isaiah predicted the Messiah as the Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6), and Zechariah spoke of a humble King that would speak peace to the nations (Zechariah 9:9-10), fulfilled in Christ (cf., Matthew 21:4-11). Ezekiel announced a covenant of peace as an everlasting covenant (Ezekiel 37:26), fulfilled in Christ and expressed by Paul's emphasis on God's grace and peace in the gospel (Ephesians, 70). Christ Himself is our peace (Ephesians 2:14). He brings peace with God and peace between human beings. By faith in Christ, we find peace with God (Romans 5:1-2). When we find peace with God, we can experience peace with others, too. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the word of reconciliation, in that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself by the atoning death of the One who knew no sin, yet died for ours (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). Once we find peace with God, we become bearers of peace and can bring reconciliation and peace into a world full of strife and rejection. We love God because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). As children of God, beloved of the Father, we walk in love (Ephesians 5:1-2; 1 John 3:1). 

The Gospel of peace is that Christ came to make peace between an alienated humanity suffering in sin and a holy God who seeks to rescue and redeem a people for Himself. Not only is there a separation between sinful human beings and a holy God, people and groups of people are also alienated from each other. The Gospel of peace brings those alienated together in unity. This was the message of Paul to the believers in Christ, the Prince of peace. Those who were saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:4-9), though formerly dead in sin (vv 1-3), are brought together in Christ, our peace. Sinful people were 'separated from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel,' the people with whom God first made a covenant to be His people (Exodus 19). Salvation is within the covenant of God, yet sinful Gentiles were 'strangers to the covenants of promise,' without hope in this world because we were without God (vv 11-12). But through Jesus, those who were far off are 'brought near by the blood of Christ' (v 13). God's prophets had already cried out, 'peace, peace to the far and to the near' with a promise of healing (Isaiah 57:19). The blood is the means of forgiveness that leads to redemption (Ephesians 1:7). By His stripes we are healed; in Christ we are accepted (v 6). This is the blood that forgives sin and reconciles an alienated people back to God. This is the message of peace to all. The message of peace brings unity. 

Through the forgiveness and reconciliation by Christ, He establishes peace between alienated people groups. Dividing walls are being broken down and people can be united by Christ, 'our peace' (Ephesians 2:14). The Prince of peace came to bring peace and make people to be at peace. His forgiveness is the basis for the forgiveness we extend to others and reunite in peace. Those who believe in Him are united 'in one body' as 'one new man' (i.e., entity), a reconciliation that centres around the cross by which He put enmity to death (vv 14-16). All of humanity falls short of the glory of God because of sin and is in need of salvation (Romans 3:23), be they Jews (those who were near because they had a covenant with God) or Gentiles (those who were far off because they worshiped false gods and had no covenant with God). The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for both Jews and Gentiles: those who believe, no matter what their background is, are forgiven and saved. The Gospel is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16). Paul testified to both Jews and Gentiles 'repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ' as 'the gospel of the grace of God' to all of humanity (Acts 20:21, 24). Whoever believes in His Name will receive the forgiveness of sin (10:43) and with it salvation (Ephesians 1:7) as God's gift of grace (2:8).

Jesus 'our peace' (2:14) came and 'preached peace' to all of humanity, those near and those far off (v 17), so that through Him in one Spirit we might have access to God the Father (v 18). In that way, all believers in Christ the Messiah of peace can be part of God's family and are no longer strangers or aliens (v 19). This is the Apostolic Gospel and foundation on which the Church is built, Christ as 'cornerstone' being the main part of the foundation of the apostolic-prophetic witness (v 20). The Church is, figuratively speaking, a 'holy temple in the Lord' and as such 'a dwelling of God in the Spirit' (vv 21-22). The believers are now part of a body of believers, the Church. We are saved individually, but are part of His people. Together we can strive to spread peace in the name of the Messiah. Jesus came as the Light of the world into our world overshadowed by sin and its darkness. He was God's mercy to bring salvation through the remission of sins (Luke 1:77), which is a light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. He came 'to guide our feet into the way of peace' (vv 78-79), peace with God and peace with our fellow human beings. He came, as the angels proclaimed, to bring 'peace on earth' (2:14). Through His peace we can become instruments of peace on earth. The believers are united through the Messiah of peace to be instruments of peace in a world of strife and enmity.