Prince of Peace

By Matt Watson

Isaiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

For a conquered nation, the announcement of the birth of their future dictator-king is not good news; to them, a child is born who might be just as evil as or more than his father. Israel was the special people of God, given the Promised Land and made to rule. Yet they were conquered by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans. Every time a new “god-king” was born in the empire, a birth announcement of “good news” would be sent throughout the land. 

This is is the exact language Isaiah uses in this royal birth announcement 700 years before Jesus was born. He is saying, “There is a day coming when we have a king born unto us, who will not be evil and tyrannical. He will not oppress, but liberate. He will not enslave, but emancipate.” Later Isaiah will describe this king as the suffering servant who will suffer and die instead of us (Isa 52-53). 

This is how the gospel of Jesus Christ turns this empire-wide announcement on its head. Unto us, a new king is born. This king is also a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and a Prince of Peace. Warlike kings who conquer cannot administer peace. Even David was not allowed to build the temple where sacrifices are made to God because he had shed so much blood in war (1 Chr 22:8). 

But Jesus, who waged war on our sin, on death, and against Satan, and who is coming back for a final victory (Rev 19:11-16), does. He executes his rule differently; he is the administrator of peace. His responsibility is to make sure that peace happens in his kingdom and for all of his people; this is above and beyond just being the King of kings; this is him fulfilling that office perfectly. Jesus brings us peace in three different ways: peace from our enemies, peace with God, and peace in his kingdom.

Peace from our enemies

The Psalms are full of songs of David calling out to God to rescue him from his enemies. Psalm 18, in particular, displays the awesome intensity of God’s rescuing response. But these enemies were nation-states at war with Israel; who among us has enemies like this today? 

Paul reminds us that our enemy is not flesh and blood, “but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12). Satan is our primary enemy, and the Bible describes him as a thief coming to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10), and like a roaring lion prowling around for someone to devour (1 Pet 5:8). Lastly, those who speak against Christ have the spirit of Antichrist inside them (1 John 4:2-4), and they will attack the church in every way Satan does.

Jesus goes to war for us. We cannot defeat Satan, and we cannot fight and kill those who reject Christ. Jesus commanded us to pray for our enemies, not to take the sword to them. Jesus is the one who destroys the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), not us. Jesus is the one who rescues us from Satan’s dominion (Isa 49:24; Col 1:13, 2:15), not us. Jesus is the one everybody answers to, not us.

So we have been given peace with our enemies for eternity, if not immediately. Jesus disarms this world’s rulers and powers, everyone that is against him, whether flesh or spirit. Whether Christians experience bodily persecution from the state or Satan’s spiritual attack, none of these things can remove us from Jesus because we are his (Rom 8:31-39).

Peace with God

Because of the fall of Adam, sin entered the world. We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). The Bible says because of this sin, we are far off from God, enemies of God, and deserve death (Rom 6:23). 

Ephesians 2:13 says, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Romans 5:10 says, “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” In both verses, there is hostility from God against man, but Jesus removed that hostility through his death on the cross. He took on our sin, past, present, and future, and died in our place. We received his righteous record and can now be brought near to God, not as enemies, but as children.

These are hard words to be called the enemy of God! And it is the reality for all of those who do not trust in Jesus for their salvation. Christian, you were in this same position before Christ saved you; how much more now should you pray for all of those, especially friends and family, who do not know Jesus?

Peace in his kingdom

Isaiah 9:7 says, “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.” 

Jesus is on his throne, reigning in heaven. He started his kingdom when he was here the first time, and it will be fully established when he returns. It has no end. Andrew Davis says, “This kingdom was established the moment Christ came to earth, and it will never end. And what guarantees these things will most certainly come to pass? ‘The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.’ God’s zeal for the glory of his Son will make this happen forever, and no power in heaven or earth or under the earth can stop it.”

The everlasting rule of King Jesus means we will have everlasting peace with God and man, because he makes it so. The kingdom rests on his shoulders, not ours, because he is king. He has supernatural wisdom to execute all of his duties. He is Mighty God, not just a good man or prophet. He is an everlasting father concerned for us; he will never fail us as our dad. And he is the prince of peace, the princely administrator that makes things happen for his Father. He makes peace happen. Isaiah says, “He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” 

Let us rejoice that Jesus has removed hostility between us and God, and rescues us from our enemies, because he died, rose again, and reigns forever.