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. 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. (Isaiah 9.6, 7, ESV)

“Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end…” It was future when Isaiah wrote this, and it’s still future today. But God’s peace will come. Here’s a prayer taken from these verses as contained in “O Come, O Come Immanuel:”

• O come, Desire of nations, bind
  In one the hearts of all mankind;
  Bid all our sad divisions cease,
  And be Thyself our King of Peace.

“Bid all our sad divisions cease, and be Thyself our King of Peace.” That could start within the church, yes? A friend of mine wrote recently:

Western missionaries, European and American, have exported a gospel around the world that has yielded more than 45,000 Christian denominations globally and more than 200 in the U.S… – Mike Metzger, Unintended Consequences, November 13, 2023.

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. (John 17.20 – 23, ESV)

The fruit of the Spirit is…peace. (Galatians 5.22, ESV)