Some time ago, the AARP Bulletin asked readers to respond to the question: What's your strategy for coping with stress? The answers ranged from “eat a chocolate chip cookie” to “have a stiff drink.” But Don Betz of Oakdale, Minnesota, offered his own unique solution. Every January 1st, Betz says, “I give my wife $1, and she worries about everything for both of us.”
But that is not the whole plan. Betz added, “If someone else wants to be worry free, they can also send her a dollar.” (“Sound Off,” AARP Bulletin, March 2005; www.PreachingToday.com)
A lot of people are looking for peace these days. In a world filled with stress, they’re looking for rest. With their days filled with worry, they’re looking for real security, but most of the time they never find it.
So where do we find real security today? Where do we find a real and lasting peace? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Isaiah 9, Isaiah 9, where we discover the source of real peace.
Isaiah 9:5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garement rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
All the garments of war will be burned up. In other words, there will be no more war! Why?
Isaiah 9:6-7a For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.
Peace is not found in any place. Peace is not found in any treaty or ban on guns. Peace is found only in a Person, that person is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Prince of Peace – literally, the captain or the ruler of peace. And when the government of the world rests on His shoulders, then and only then will there be world peace.
But you say, “Phil, I can’t wait until then. I need peace in my life right now! How can I get that peace today?” It’s very simple. Just let the government of your life rest on Jesus’ shoulders today. You don’t have to wait until Jesus comes to rule and reign on this earth. Just let the Prince of Peace rule and reign in your life right now. Just let Christ take control of your life today. If you do, then you will…
FIND THE PEACE OF GOD.
You will discover a supernatural serenity. God will give you a calmness of heart that is unexplainable.
In John 14:27, Jesus told his disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Now, Jesus spoke this the night before he died on a cross! His peace is not like the world’s peace. It is not based on the surrounding circumstances. Instead, it is based on the sure realities of heaven.
Two artists set out to paint a picture representing perfect peace. The first created a scene depicting a carefree schoolboy sitting in a boat on a quiet lake without a ripple to disturb the surface.
The second artist painted a raging waterfall spewing out its spray in every direction. But above the waterfall, on a limb overhanging the swirling water, a bird sat quietly on her nest. (M. R. Dehann)
That’s real peace, and that’s the kind of peace Jesus promises to all who follow Him – not the absence of turmoil, but tranquility in the midst of turmoil.
Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Where do we find that peace? We find it in Jesus Christ, for He is the PRINCE of peace.
An elderly woman was badly crippled by arthritis, but when asked, “Do you suffer much?” she responded, “Yes, but there is no nail here,” and she pointed to her hand. “He had the nails; I have the peace.” She pointed to her head. “There are no thorns here. He had the thorns; I have the peace.” She touched her side. “There is no spear here. He had the spear; I have the peace.” (Ralph Turnbull, If I Only Had One Sermon to Preach; Bible Illustrator #7/1996.91)
That’s why Jesus came. He came to die on a cross, to give Himself so we might have the peace.
Do you want peace in your life? Then let the government of your life rest on His shoulders today. Let the Prince of Peace reign in your life right now. Let Him have full control today. If you will do that, then you will find the peace OF God. More than that, you will…
FIND PEACE WITH GOD, as well.
When we trust Christ, He makes us right with God. He makes us friends with the Almighty.
Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The moment you put your faith in Christ, He not only declares you righteous; He welcomes us into His family!
In his book Hidden in Plain Sight, author and pastor Mark Buchanan writes about a woman named Regine. Originally from Rwanda, Regine came to Christ while reading her sister's Bible during the genocide that ravaged her country. When she fled to Canada for refuge, she met her husband, Gordon. They decided to return to Rwanda to show the love of Christ to the people who had once been her enemies. This is the story Regine told Mark Buchanan:
A woman's only son was killed. She was consumed with grief and hate and bitterness. “God,” she prayed, “reveal my son's killer.”
One night she dreamed she was going to heaven. But there was a complication: in order to get to heaven she had to pass through a certain house. She had to walk down the street, enter the house through the front door, go through its rooms, up the stairs, and exit through the back door.
She asked God whose house this was.
“It's the house,” he told her, “of your son's killer.”
The road to heaven passed through the house of her enemy.
Two nights later, there was a knock at her door. She opened it, and there stood a young man. He was about her son's age.
“Yes?”
He hesitated. Then he said, “I am the one who killed your son. Since that day, I have had no life. No peace. So here I am. I am placing my life in your hands. Kill me. I am dead already. Throw me in jail. I am in prison already. Torture me. I am in torment already. Do with me as you wish.”
The woman had prayed for this day. Now it had arrived, and she didn't know what to do. She found, to her own surprise, that she did not want to kill him. Or throw him in jail. Or torture him. In that moment of reckoning, she found she only wanted one thing: a son.
“I ask this of you. Come into my home and live with me. Eat the food I would have prepared for my son. Wear the clothes I would have made for my son. Become the son I lost.”
And so he did. (Mark Buchanan, Hidden in Plain Sight, Thomas Nelson, 2007, pp. 187-189; www.PreachingToday.com)
Now, that’s exactly what God wants to do for each and every one of us! We killed his son. It was our sin that put Him on the cross; but when we come to Him admitting our sin, instead of killing or torturing us, He gives us the right to be called His children.
The Bible says, “[Jesus] came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:11-12).
Why don’t you welcome Christ into your life? Let the government of your life rest on His shoulders and experience His peace. First, find the peace OF God. Then find peace WITH God. And finally, when you let the Prince of Peace reign in your life, you will…
FIND PEACE WITH OTHERS TOO.
God will break down the barriers, and He will make it possible for you to forgive and love your enemies.
If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Ephesians 2, Ephesians 2, where this is made very clear.
Ephesians 2:12 Remember that…you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
Without Christ we are in bad shape. We are far away from God. We are far away from God’s people, and we are far away from God’s peace.
But, Ephesians 2:13 says, now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
Christ’s cross is the bridge that brings us near. His cross is the bridge that makes a way for us to God and to His people.
Ephesians 2:14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one…
He brought together Jew and Gentile. He brought them together into one body, the church, and He caused those who once hated and despised each other to become friends. Jesus “has made the two one,” verse 14…
Ephesians 2:14b-15 And has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations.
You see, the cross of Christ is not only the bridge that brings us near; the cross is the battering ram which demolishes the walls that divide us.
So why did Jesus do it? Why did He shed His blood? Why did He die on a cross?
Ephesians 2:15b-16 His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.
Jesus died on the cross to bring us together, to reconcile us with our God AND with each other.
In the 1950’s, the world was shocked when five missionaries were killed trying to reach the Auca Indians with the Gospel. Later, the tribe welcomed the wife of one of the martyred missionaries and the sister of another into their community. That’s when translation work on the New Testament began.
Translators had difficulty putting the word “reconciled” into the Auca language. They searched and searched for an equivalent word but found none.
Then, one day, a translator was traveling through the jungle with some of the Auca Indians. They came to a narrow, deep ravine, and the missionary thought they could go no further. The Aucas, however, took out their machetes and cut down a large tree so that it fell over the ravine, permitting them all to cross safely.
The translator, listening intently to the Aucas, discovered that they had a word for “tree across the ravine.” It was the word they had been looking for to express the word “reconciled.”
Jesus’ cross, the tree upon which He died, is our “tree across the ravine.” It is our bridge across the chasm that separates us from God and each other. What the cross could not do in demanding peace and love, the cross of Christ did for those who trust Him. When we come to faith in Christ, He begins to change us from the inside out. He puts peace in our hearts, and makes it possible for us to love those we once hated.
A long time ago, Charles Schultz created a Peanuts cartoon with Lucy saying to Charlie Brown, “I hate everything. I hate everybody. I hate the whole wide world!”
To which Charlie says, “But I thought you had inner peace.”
Lucy replies: “I do have inner peace. But I still have outer obnoxiousness.” (Barbara Brokhoff, New and Improved Jesus? C.S.S., 1991, p.53)
Well, let me tell you: When Jesus gives inner peace, He also takes away the outer obnoxiousness. He takes away the bitterness and anger that plague so many of us.
12 years ago, Lebanon-born Ali Elhajj came to faith in Christ while living in America. He was a former Muslim who was troubled by the deep misunderstandings that existed between Christians, Arabs and Jews.
It came to a head in 2006, when Hezbollah attacked Israel and war broke out. Elhajj told Christianity Today, “I felt like I needed to be that glue between the East and the West.”
So after the war, Elhajj visited Israel and the West Bank. While there he met two Palestinian Christians: Salim Munayer, a full-time instructor at Bethlehem Bible College; and the president of Bethlehem Bible College, Bishara Awad. They are part of an influential nucleus of Palestinian evangelicals who are committed to Christian outreach and reconciliation between the various factions that are constantly at war with each other in the Middle East.
Elhajj wanted to be a part of that effort and include American Christians in the mix. So during the 2007 Christmas season, a small team of Palestinian, Israeli, and American believers handed out gifts to 200 children in Bethlehem. As it turned out, the greatest needs were at an orphanage and schools for children with disabilities.
Israeli volunteer Alex Voitenko, who participated in the gift distribution, first had to overcome the suspicion he felt toward Elhajj because he was an Arab. But now, Voitenko describes Elhajj as “an angel.” He says, “This war [has] already continued a long time—for generations. I don't see any solution without Christ.”
Elhajj told Christianity Today, “We have this body of Christ that is not hostile to one another, not so concerned about who gets what in terms of land and resources. We are all working toward peace.”
Abdullah Awwad, director of the Al-Basma Center for Children with Special Needs, remembers the reaction of children during their visit. He said, “[The children] don't think about who [the gifts] come from. They just see the gifts and feel happy with it. They are deprived of the simplest means of life.” (Jonathan Miles, “Reconciling Christmas,” Christianity Today magazine, December 2008, pp. 30-31; www.PreachingToday.com)
My friends, that’s why Jesus came. He came to turn enemies into friends, to bring them together so they can glorify Christ together.
If God can do that with Arabs and Israelis, He can do the same in your broken relationships. He can heal broken marriages. He can heal broken families. He can heal broken churches. He can heal any broken relationship through the power of the cross.
Let Him do it for you. Trust Christ with your life and your eternal destiny. Let the government of your life rest on His shoulders. Let the Prince of Peace reign in your life right now. Then you will find the peace OF God, peace WITH God, and peace with others, as well.
On Christmas day in 1863, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was sitting in his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The bells of a nearby church were ringing, but he found no joy in them. Early in his career, he had taken a fearless stand against slavery, but now his country was deeply divided by the Civil War, and his son – a young army lieutenant – had been wounded in battle.
As those church bells rang, he began to put his thoughts on paper:
There is no peace on earth, he wrote.
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
Yet as he continued to listen to those bells, a new and profound thought entered his head:
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
God is not dead; nor doth He sleep!
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men! (Guideposts Magazine, December 1988, pp.28-29)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow found peace in the midst of his turmoil, and so can you. Just let the government of your life rest on Christ’s shoulders.
