This week was marked with some conflict in the family. Yes, the same week when we remember how angels proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Some people think that means all men should be at peace now — like nations can all be at peace if we just sit down and talk it out. That’s precisely what the angels meant could not happen, on our own. We are ruled by selfish natures. So no man or nation is able to make peace with God himself, since we keep making war against him. For the same selfish reason, we refuse to make lasting peace with other people or nations. Self-centeredness leads to conflict.

What the angels meant was, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth (where selfishness made peace impossible), peace has come in the form of Christ — to those with whom God is pleased (because he made them pleasing to himself)! In the age to come, those who believe in him will also be at peace with each other.”

The conflict, it turns out, is far from localized, as the prophet Daniel discerned. It’s not just terrestrial or even extraterrestrial. It’s beyond flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12).

While many Jews were still exiles, Daniel was grieved to learn that conflict had stopped the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Daniel 9). He mourned with fasting, until an angel appeared to him. The angel explained that he was delayed in coming to Daniel by a conflict in the spirit realm. Besides encouraging Daniel with a vision of the future, the angel had helped Daniel — and us — glimpse a truth:

In this age, conflict dominates both the spiritual and physical sides of Creation. What we experience here is no different from what angels experience, when it comes to the struggle between right and wrong. We might even say our conflict flows out of the spiritual conflict.

The angels proclaimed truly Good News to the shepherds on Christmas Day: Christ has come with a permanent resolution to those conflicts. In his first coming, he made peace with God possible as he satisfied justice perfectly. In his second coming, he will bring all conflict to an end, in heaven and earth.

Godlikeness is peace. Godlikeness is justice. On Christmas Day, peace and justice begin the long march to Calvary… where the conflict between the two is crucified.

“For [Christ] is our peace, who has made us both one…” (Ephesians 2:14)
“And he [Christ] shall be their peace.” (Micah 5:5)