Triumphant Peace
Christ Jesus understood peace. He said to his disciples, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you"; John 14:27 ; and again, speaking of the disturbances that would come, "Then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." Luke 21:28 ; His promise to us today is that we may have the peace he left with mankind.
What is the Master's peace? He said, "Not as the world giveth, give I unto you." John 14:27 ; The world's concept of peace as defined in the dictionaries is mainly a respite from war. Their first definitions deal with the cessation of, freedom from, or absence of, war. Such peace is negative in nature. It is without presence or power of its own. This is not true of the Master's peace.
The peace of God Jesus gave the world is the dynamic, divine force of Love acting upon and through the human consciousness. This peace does not rest merely on the absence of war but upon the operation of the law of God. Neither can it be decimated by the warfare in men's hearts and minds but must ultimately annihilate that warfare, bringing to light man's inviolable relationship with God.
We learn in Christian Science that all men, in reality, are the sons of God and consequently subject to the peace of God, which is brought forth on earth through the spiritual warfare described by the Apostle Paul. This great Christian warrior tells us, "Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." II Cor. 10:3-5 ;
Warfare between nations, wherever it has appeared, is not the warfare about which Paul is speaking—the warfare which is able to enforce God's triumphant peace in the world. Martial victory has never of itself established peace, although martial victory on the side of a people most nearly representing good has promoted peace in times of war. But only the spiritual victory of divine Love over the evil in men's minds can consummate and establish the peace the Master promised mankind.
In the light of Christian Science the triumph of God's peace on earth is the inevitable outcome of bringing men's thoughts into obedience to Christ. Prayer for this outcome is a prayer we may be sure will find an answer. Prayer for this outcome accords with the Lord's Prayer and its spiritual interpretation by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, one sentence of which reads:
"Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Enable us to know,—as in heaven, so on earth,—God is
omnipotent, supreme." Science and Health, p. 17
;
Each one of us may have this triumphant peace in his experience by winning in himself the warfare between good and evil thoughts, as Christian Science shows us how to do. Through faith in this peace as taught in Christian Science one can have the substance of it today and find the evidence of it within his consciousness, for the Bible tells us, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebr. 11:1 ;
With this faith one can be serene, secure, tranquil, and at mental rest, whatever may be going on around him in his human relationships, in his business, or in the world. Such an individual experience of peace is not a selfish withdrawal from the world. It is not a metaphysical monasticism. Rather may we see that in it we have won a vantage point for Love and gained an outpost for Truth through which the triumphant peace of God may bless mankind.
Of the eventual triumph of God's will and the coming of His peace on earth, Mrs. Eddy writes: "This material world is even now becoming the arena for conflicting forces. On one side there will be discord and dismay; on the other side there will be Science and peace." And later she continues: "During this final conflict, wicked minds will endeavor to find means by which to accomplish more evil; but those who discern Christian Science will hold crime in check. They will aid in the ejection of error. They will maintain law and order, and cheerfully await the certainty of ultimate perfection." Science and Health, p. 96 .
All this we may do—indeed, are doing—when we make the triumphant peace of God our own by bringing every thought into obedience to Christ.
