War: Baby Jesus... Prince of Peace?

I love the stories recounting what happened on the 25th December 1914 on the battle fields of France. Truce was called (temporarily) and so German and British Soldiers sung carols, shared rations, shook hands, exchanged presents and even enjoyed a peaceful game of footie! Amazing! Where there has been war, peace and goodwill set in amongst people who had been trying to kill each other!

The world does seem to pause for Christmas, people searching for a time of peace... Is this what the bible means when we read that the baby born at Christmas is to be the Prince of Peace? That as we celebrate the birth of Jesus we all enjoy a day of 'peace on earth and good will to all men'?

During the last week before Christmas I looked at the names given to Jesus with my year 7s.  We looked at what the angel told Mary; What does 'Jesus' mean? (Matt 1:21). We looked at Isaiah 9 and talked about how God's people in the C8th were desperate for good news and how Hebrew names were supposed to sum up what the child will be like. We talked about how the names given to Jesus were a bit like job descriptions, they were titles or nick names telling people what Jesus was going to be like... many years before he was born! Suddenly hands were raised... you could see cogs turning and getting stuck...

• "But Miss, you can't do that with a baby, you don't know what the baby will turn out to be like!"
• "Miss, Jesus can't be the Prince of Peace we still have wars"

With 15 minutes left of the lesson i had a job on my hands!! They were spot on, Jesus had quite some names to live up to! And... the world is and has been full of wars been since... not long after the world began. I'm told that statistics show that roughly in over the past 4000 years, roughly 8000 peace treaties have been signed and broken. God does allow wars and there are wars in the Bible...

We did a quick bible overview...

Genesis 1 - God made a perfect world.

Genesis 3 - People turn their backs on God and disobey him. People and the world face the consequences of this. And from this point on we see broken relationships and a few pages on, the worlds first murder. So, its us who makes wars not God.

Jesus - Very loving, brings people back into relationship with God, God offers the truce if we accept it, because Jesus has paid for the punishment we deserve on the cross, so we can be at peace with God, "It is finished". (Isaiah 53:4-6 pinpoints that it is Jesus who brings reconciliation with God through his death on the cross, Isaiah 2:4 highlights that it is Jesus who enables reconciliation between people. See Romans 5 also)

Revelation 21 - God promises that for those who trust in Jesus, there is a world to come free from all bad things, including death and war. So not only can peace with God be made, there is the promise of a world where there will be peace forever. This means there will be no world peace until Jesus returns!

• "So... that's why Jesus is called Prince of Peace!"
• "Miss, is war right or wrong?" 

I was thankful that we didn't have time to get into the ins and outs of war. However, knowing this class, I've a feeling they will ask again... just like the repeated questions of, "Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons?" "Are hairy women proof for evolution?" "Why did God let the snake come into the garden?"

I left that lesson, reminded afresh about the reality of the world we live in. A world where everyone wants to be ruler and where most people think they are right. We have a world where we often don't recognise how sinful we are. Genesis 6:5 highlights: "the LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time" James 4:1-2 reinforces that war is the result of our sinful hearts, and so shouldn't be blamed on God; "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. " 

The suffering and threats of more suffering that lead to decisions to go to war are horrendous. Suffering during war is horrible.  Suffering from the consequences of war many years on is horrific. This sums up how awful our sin is, and should make us cry out for a solution. The Bible tells us that Jesus offers this solution as he sacrifices himself securing eternal peace. Without Jesus the life we choose is a life of war, war with one another and war with God. What we see now in war, due to sin breaks lives... yet this is nothing in comparison to the suffering we deserve due to the way we treat God which the Bible calls hell.

Prince of Peace... it might not look like it now, but... the bible explains that Jesus is bringing about true and deep peace. So... does this mean we should all be pacifists?

Pacifism? No

The pacifist argument is very persuasive, we are called to be loving even to those who do evil against us (which isn't easy!). However, I don't think that the pacifist argument is biblical. Firstly the pacifist view of the reality of what people are like seems wrong, so its its view of justice. I also think we have to hold together both the Old Testament and the New Testament, and not conclude that the God of the Old Testament was angry and violent and the New Testament God is loving. Having said this the Bible is clear we shouldn't judge others, so I don't want to sit here and condemn pacifists!

God engages in war as judgment on sin

God does engage in war; On occasion forbids war, calls war, helps his people in war and even ensures his people get defeated in war... However, God never takes war lightly and his justice, holiness and judgment against sin are always involved. It's important that we understand that we cannot understand how and why God does everything, but we hold onto the truths we do know about God. He is the ultimate judge, and allowing bad things now is part of the consequences of sin. We might not understand morally why God allows war as a form of judgment, but we need to trust that God is right in all he does. 

Romans 1:18-32 explains that its not that God isn't loving, its not that God doesn't have the power, it's not that God doesn't know how... to stop all the wars and pain. Actually God is giving us what we ask for. Verse 18 tells us that God is lettings us have what we want and this is his wrath revealed against all godlessness and wickedness. God's judgment now, his wrath against our sin, is (v21-32) giving us up to our sinful minds, shameful lusts, depraved minds. But this doesn't mean that God has given up on us, he is simply, giving us what we want. The problem is, what we want have terrible consequences! Reading Romans 1 is immensely humbling!

Exodus 14:4 and the events of the Exodus show us that in judging and allowing evil to come upon people, God does so with eternity in mind. God wants people to know that he alone is God and wants people to be drawn into relationship with him in order for them to avert everlasting punishment. Therefore, what may appear to be evil is actually graceful and loving.  

It is good to punish wrong and part of being a good and perfect God is to punish evil. In Deuteronomy 32:35, God says, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay".  

Ezekiel 18:32, "For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!" Although God allows war and uses war, it doesn't mean that he delights in it. When God engages in war, it is due to the severity of sin and the need for people to repent.  

God is not quick to anger and not keen to engage in violence, nor should we be. “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” God is not like some of the soldiers we hear about on the news who take part in unlawful torture! 2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." God could have brought about the end of the world now, but he is being gracious to us, allowing time for more people to accept his offer of reconciliation. God is patient!

In God's sovereignty, God allows those in government to make decisions about war; "For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer." (Romans 13:4) Its easy to moan about governments, especially the decisions they make about war.  However, we also need to remember they are God's servants, given authority by God and will punish people, and may even decide to go to war. Isaiah 45 and Amos 9, highlight that God's complete sovereignty includes war. Romans 8:28 tells us that God is working for the good of those who love him, and that will include war.

Is war murder? 

Interestingly the word for killing in the Old Testament is not the same as murder. Does this mean war is right? The Bible is clear that ending a life is wrong as people are made in the image of God. This highlights to us the severity of sin, that on occasion God engages in war, that sin must be punished and God is willing for human life, made in his image to be ended early.  

Murder is one of the reasons that abortion and euthanasia are wrong, why does this not apply to war in war? I suppose the answer is, because God says so. Can the rules for war be used for abortion and euthanasia? I think if you use the Bibles justification for war and apply it elsewhere that is misapplying God's word, especially as God uses a different word when it comes to war for the ending of someones life. I think this also highlights that war is not something to be jumped into, as human life is precious. God's engagement with war was always perfect, however do all soldiers act perfectly? No and they will be held responsible for that.

Jesus and war? 

It's true, Jesus did tell one of the disciples off for cutting the soldiers ear off and he rebuked those who came to arrest Jesus questioning why they came with swords as he wasn't leading a rebellion. He didn't tell them to find a different job. This doesn't tell us we should never use swords. Note what Jesus didn't do: He didn't rebuke the soldiers for being soldiers! He didn't tell them off for having swords but for trying to use swords in this situation. Jesus was respectful of the soldiers, also see Luke 3:14 and 7:9. Jesus here was making a point regarding fulfilling the scriptures and he knew that he had to be arrested to die, and so he wasn't going to fight being arrested. 

In Matthew 5:21-25, Jesus urges people to do their best to be reconciled with one another and live at peace where possible. We are not told to go looking for war, we are told to be peace makers. However, in politics one of the difficult decisions that has to be made is whether in extreme circumstances whether war can bring about the greater good.  

Jesus states that war will be inevitable, it has to happen and so we shouldn't be alarmed or surprised by it (Matthew 24:6-8). "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains." Jesus tells us that war is a sign that this world is coming to an end and that a perfect new creation is in sight.   

Our responsibility 

• We need do do our best to prayerfully live godly lives and with God's help aim for peace at all times. This will involve mourning our sinfulness. It is good to pray for world peace, that prayer is praying that Jesus would return.
• We need remember that the government are God's servants and pray that they would make good and godly decisions. We need to hold love and justice tightly together and pray for godly motives. We need to pray for those in power to make godly decisions. We also need to pray for the victims and sufferers of war.
  
• We could write to MPs gently and lovingly encouraging them to act in a godly manner.
  
• Discernment for Christians to decide whether they could be godly witnesses in politics and the armed force. In Acts 10:2 we find a godly soldier, a soldier seen in God's word positively. This soldier is not told to get a new job. He helps God's people, gave generously to God and prayed a great deal. He wouldn't have been found torturing captives!
  

God will ultimately bring justice into our broken world. God may use war as a form of bringing about justice now, showing He is supreme. War now is judgment upon our rebellion against God. 
Let's thank God for Jesus, who is the Prince of Peace born at Christmas, enabling peace with Himself and finally a perfectly peaceful world to come due to his death on the cross. War is inevitable now and should make us wake up to the seriousness of our sin and our need for the Prince of Peace in everyone's lives and in our world.