Peace with God Produces the Transformation; Looking at Shalom

 Rom 5:1 NKJV Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
 
Col 1:19-20 NKJV For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, (20) and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

I think that we can learn a lot about what God has done through Jesus Christ by understanding the meaning that God had given the Hebrews for the word Shalom. Peace is far more then an end of hostility and what we normally think of when we hear or say peace. The Strong's definition of Shalom should shed some light on the subject. Here is the definition as it is in the Strong's Lexicon,

 

H7965 shâlôm shâlôm  shaw-lome', shaw-lome' From H7999; safe, that is, (figuratively) well, happy, friendly; also (abstractly) welfare, that is, health, prosperity, peace: - X do, familiar, X fare, favour, + friend, X greet, (good) health, (X perfect, such as be at) peace (-able, -ably), prosper (-ity, -ous), rest, safe (-ly), salute, welfare, (X all is, be) well, X wholly.



Shalom has a far more holistic meaning than one would think. It includes safety, welfare, health, prosperity, peace etc. So then, one can rightly conclude that Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore having been justified by faith, we have safety, welfare, health, prosperity and peace with God." And, likewise, Col 1:20 says "and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made us safe, healthy, prosperous, at peace through the blood of His cross."

 

So then, when Paul says that Jesus *is our peace* he means that Jesus is our Shalom which is our safety, welfare, health, prosperity and peace. This precious gift and status is the source for all of the transformation that happens in the life of a saint.  However, to have this transformation really take place supernaturally, one has to understand and believe this concept. This is the source of love for God that translates into the desire to obey Him. There is more to say on this and we will develop the idea in subsequent posts.