When I think of peace or Shalom from a Biblical perspective, I cannot imagine a more precious commodity to be in possession of. A tranquil mind, an unburdened conscience, rest in our soul and uninterrupted, ever-increasing joy and gladness in our hearts and lives were what we were created for. Yet, because of sin, we know nothing of such peace in our present world. Sin, the rejection of God’s purpose for and rule over our lives, has literally destroyed the peace and harmony – the Shalom God intended to reign in His good creation (Genesis 1:31).
In my previous post (re-post) I referred to a book by theologian Cornelius Plantinga Jr, titled “Not the Way Its Supposed to Be – A Breviary of Sin”. It is a book that seeks to help us understand how sin has resulted in what he refers to as the vandalization of Shalom, literally corrupting, perverting, defacing Gods perfect design and order for human flourishing and happiness beyond recognition of what God intended for His glory and mankind’s eternal good (Isaiah 43:7) (Romans 3:23) (Ecclesiastes 7:20).
Peace in general is a state or condition of tranquility, quietness and contentment of mind, of safety and harmony in all relationships, the absence or cessation of conflict and enmity. It is freedom from disquieting or disturbing thoughts or emotions (fear, anxiety, anger, shame, guilt), allowing us to freely and fully enjoy the pleasures of life. It is something few if any of us know anything about. And when we begin to have glimpses of it, they are short-lived at best.
However, Shalom, the Hebrew word for peace, represents that and much more. Shalom was the natural state of humanity as birthed by God in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26). God, who exists in an eternal love relationship of Shalom between God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, creates men and women to live in peace, prosperity and perfection of being in relationship with Him, one another and with all of nature that God created and called good (Genesis 1:31).
To possess Shalom essentially means to be complete, sound or whole in mind and body, within a joyful, exciting and satisfying life in intimate relationship with the infinitely glorious God and with one another, to work and to live in harmony with all of His creation, experiencing in all things the ever increasing, ever diverse joys and pleasures of God’s loving presence and favor (Jeremiah 7:23) (Psalm 16:11). Thus, a world of Shalom is a world in which everything is the way its supposed to be as designed and ordered by God.
However, this present world is far, far from that world. The Shalom that reigned in Genesis Chapters 1 and 2 within Eden, the garden paradise that God had created for Adam and Eve to enjoy intimate fellowship with Him and one another, as well as with the natural creation was quickly shattered in Genesis 3.
Having been given one commandment to test their heartfelt allegiance to the God who created them and their trust in His love, they fail the test (Genesis 2:15-17). They are convinced by one who had already failed his test, the serpent/devil (Revelation 12:9), that equality with God is a thing to be coveted above all else, and their partaking of the fruit in disobedience to God’s one command would result in this equality (Genesis 3:1-4). They are persuaded by the devil to disregard God’s warning of death for disobedience as nothing more than an empty threat to keep them from obtaining the fullness of happiness they deserve. And they thus grasp for it, with Adam cowardly allowing Eve to take the first bite of the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:5-6).
Seeing no ill effects to Eve, Adam partakes. And immediately upon his eating of the fruit, Shalom is shattered. The beauty and excellence of God’s glory displayed in their physical bodies becomes marred and corrupted, their peace of mind and ease of conscience is disrupted by a sense of shame, guilt and fear, and their relationship with God and one another becomes one of enmity and alienation rather than of intimate love and affection and the accompanying transcendent joy (Genesis 3:7-11) (Psalm 5:4-5) (Romans 8:7).
They were cast out, cut off from the glorious presence of God in Eden, into a world where Shalom, though desired and sought after, would be an ever-elusive reality (Genesis 3:22-24) (Jeremiah 6:14). Life would be hard, laborious in man’s interaction with the natural world. Created to bless and benefit mankind, it would now be cursed, existing in opposition and hostility to man (Genesis 3:17-19). Their now mortal bodies will experience pain and progressive deterioration (aging) with the specter of physical death ever present.
God had blessed them with the glorious mandate and privilege of extending His Shalom throughout the earth by being fruitful and multiplying other image bearers to fill the earth (Genesis 1:28). However, as a result of sin, this would now result in the women experiencing great pain in childbirth, and the image of God in the offspring they would produce being marred and corrupted, so much so that their/our nature and character would image more of the one they believed over God, the devil, than that of God (John 8:42-44) (Psalm 116:110 (Romans 3:9-18) (Psalm 58:3).
This would become clear immediately in Genesis 4:1-11, with the murder of Abel by his brother Cain. Then in Genesis 6:11, which theologians estimate to be about 1600 years into human history, we are told that “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence”, violence being the antithesis of Shalom. We are told in Genesis 6:5, that this violence proceeded from man’s heart, the very core of our being in which our thoughts and intents are seen by God as “only evil continually.” (Matthew 15:19)
God’s first worldwide judgement of sin followed, with only eight survivors, Noah and his family (Genesis 6:13) (1 Peter 3:20).
We are told in Genesis 6:8, that “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” which is the only way anyone can escape God’s judgement on their sin (Ephesians 2:4-10). God extends grace, undeserved favor, to Noah and his family that through him and his posterity God will restore the earth and humanity as it had been before the judgement, with the vandalization of Shalom continuing (Genesis 9:1-17). However, God does so that He may fulfill his eternal plan and promise of the restoration of the reign of Shalom throughout His creation through the One referred to in Genesis 3:15 as the seed of the woman, whose identity will be progressively revealed throughout the Old Testament (Isaiah 9:6-7) (Zechariah 9:9-10 (Isaiah 53:5) (Psalm 29:11) until He is revealed fully in the New Testament in the person and work of God the Son, Jesus Christ (Luke 2:8-14) (John 14:27) (Ephesians 2:14-18) (Colossians 1:19-22).
And it is God’s purpose for and fulfillment of this eternal plan for the restoration of Shalom in His Son that we will begin to look at in my next post.
Grace and Peace ×