A Blessed People

The LORD will bless His people with peace.
Ps. 29:11

Where can the people of the world find peace? To most it is entirely elusive. Even if they can experience peace in the world, they cannot find peace of heart and mind.
Biblical peace is expressed by the Hebrew word 'shalom', it expresses the hope of a full and complete peace, i.e. the absence of all things that destroy peace: war, famine, arguments, sickness, etc., etc.
The Bible presents us with a further truth that peace is not available to those who are not in a right relationship with the Lord. Peace is God's gift to the righteous. Our fellowships ought to be places where people can find and know perfect peace.

No peace for the wicked

"I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near," says the LORD, "and I will heal him."
But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
"There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked."
Isa. 57:19-21

So, there is no peace for the wicked, and the reason is that they are not in a right relationship with a holy God, they are estranged from Him who is the giver of peace. And of course the Bible tells us that there is none righteous (Rom. 3:10), all are at enmity with God and cannot find peace until they are reconciled to God (Rom. 5:10). The good news for mankind is that God has made a way of reconciliation by sending His Son to pay the price of our redemption with His blood. We can be at peace with God through the reconciliation provided to us by the cross.

Reconciled
Reconciliation is a big and very important doctrine of the New Testament, here we just highlight a few points.
Ephesians 2:11-22:
Reconciliation is needed for Jew and Gentile.
It is the blood of Christ which secures the reconciliation.
Through the reconciliation we are "brought near", believing Jews and Gentiles together become members of God's household.
Jesus Christ is "our peace", He came and "preached peace" and through Him we have "access to the Father."

Jesus is the "Prince of Peace" (Isa. 9:6), He came to the earth to bring the Father's offer of peace and goodwill toward men (Lk. 2:14) and give His life to make it possible. He did this not for His friends but for those who "once were alienated and enemies" in their mind by wicked works (Col. 1:21). This is the great message which the church is called to take to all mankind, we who have been reconciled now have a "ministry of reconciliation" in telling this good news to the lost souls of this world (2Cor. 5:18-20).
Our churches should be places where God's enemies find peace with Him through the preaching of the gospel of peace.
(Unfortunately much modern theology has thrown disdain on the doctrine of reconciliation by refusing to acknowledge the wrath of God against sin and the subsequent plight of sinful man who stands condemned and without hope before God. Liberals and universalists have done away with the need of reconciliation by failing to accept mankind's enmity with God. The result is that many churches fail to preach the true gospel, souls are not being saved and many are given a false sense of security when in reality they remain guilty sinners, still children of wrath and in danger of eternal damnation).

Perfect Peace

You will keep Him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.
Isa. 26:3

Having been reconciled and brought into a right relationship with our God we now have His promise of a perfect peace. That peace is one that "passes all understanding" (Phil. 4:6.7) and is a great testimony to the (peaceless) people of the world. This is the peace of the kingdom of God ministered into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17) and is our guarantee of the things to come.
In this world we do not have the fullness of shalom, we still suffer the effects of war, disease, ageing and many other things which can potentially rob us of peace, but the Holy Spirit gives us a peace which keeps us calm in the storms of life, many believers give tremendous testimony by the way they maintain this deep inner peace even when all around things appear to be in chaos.
This peace is further enhanced as we wait for the full and great peace which is to be ours in the future according to the promises of Scripture.

A Future of Peace
The great expectation of the Bible is the coming of the kingdom of God and the destruction of all things that cause harm and disturb our peace. We look forward to the new heavens and earth where there are no more tears and suffering, God will have His dwelling place among men and there will be nothing to hinder our relationship with Him - there will be a full and complete shalom.
Isa. 66:12 promises peace for Jerusalem (Jerusalem means "place of peace"), something which will never be seen until the return of Jesus when he initiates a 1,000 years of peace on this earth with Jerusalem at its centre.
The disciples of Jesus have in this life a "living hope" as they wait for these things to come to pass. That hope is certain because it is built on the unshakeable promises of God's word and not on the shakeable things of earth (Heb. 12:25-28). This hope and the peace it brings us in a chaotic and peaceless world is a great testimony and something that should characterise our fellowship and preaching and teaching of truth.
The church of Christ has a message to proclaim to the nations, as we take the offer of reconciliation all creation rejoices and looks forward to that great and wonderful Day of the Lord when His peace reigns supreme throughout all creation.

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things,
Who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns." Isa. 52:7