“Behold, church family, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:10 –11). What good news! And don’t we need some good news for a change? The message today is about peace. I thought it would be a great subject to look at for this week before Christmas day.
But can there really be peace on earth? With God, YES. With man, no.
Since the beginning of recorded history, the world has been entirely at peace only 8% of the time. In other words, in over 3,100 years of recorded history, only 286 have been without war. During that same period of time, 8,000 treatises have been broken as well.
And what about personal peace? Peace at home? Peace at work? Financial peace?
In the midst of national uncertainty brought on by terrorist attacks, and personal turmoil resulting from high unemployment and natural disasters, Covid pandemic, can the hope of Christmas still deliver peace? I’ll be using the book of Micah today 5:1-5 for our background passage of Scripture.
The prophet Micah lived between 725–610 B.C. He came from the poorer class of Israel and was aware of the injustices of the rich. Micah explained that because of the sins of Israel, God had sent the cruel armies of the Assyrians as His arm of punishment. But, the people were not to lose hope. Following God’s discipline, would come a time of tremendous blessings; blessings connected with the coming of the Messiah.
I mentioned last Sunday the verse in book of Micah (5:2) that told the people at some time in the future, he predicted, a woman will give birth to a child in Bethlehem. This child, proclaimed the prophet, “will be their peace” (v.5).
Some 700 years later, in a stable on the outskirts of Bethlehem, a virgin by the name of Mary gave birth to this promised Messiah who brought peace. But the peace He brought was peace with God, not peace between men or nations. He would break down the barrier between God and man and reconcile mankind to God by His death on a Cross.
Micah’s prophesy of peace on earth is still a prophecy that is not fulfilled for us today. But the Bible declares that the day will come when all the weapons of war will be melted into plows. That predicted time can only refer to the Second Coming of Christ and His reign over the earth for a thousand years.
It will be a time of peace, since the Lord will have put down all rebellion, all opposition and all the forces of evil that are around today. Isaiah likewise called Jesus the “Prince of Peace” (Is.9:6). “Prince of Peace” refers to a rich, harmonious life that only Jesus can give. And this peace can be yours for the asking. It’s a shame that not everyone accepts Christ, and accepts this peace.
But there can’t be true peace on earth until Jesus has come again to reign. And don’t fret. Be patient while we wait for the coming of that day. Can you even imagine a world that is devoid of evil. Security systems and locks won’t have any use because there will be no evil, or crime, only peace. Micah, in the fifth chapter of his book tells how God is going to bring peace to the world. READ Micah 5: 1-5.
Here’s the good news. Upon Jesus’ return, there will be an everlasting peace on this earth. But you know what? You don’t have to wait until Jesus returns to experience peace in your life, because you can have peace right now. You ask, “How?” Is there someone you need to forgive? If you have held a grudge in your heart against someone and need to forgive them but haven’t, guess whose internal peace is in a turmoil. YOURS.
But you can have Peace through Forgiveness. What type of peace does Jesus bring?
Jerome, an early church father, had a dream one night in which Jesus visited him.
In the dream, Jerome collected all his money and offered it to Jesus as a gift.
Jesus said, “I don’t want your money.” So, Jerome rounded up all his possessions and tried to give them to Jesus.
Jesus responded, “I don’t want your possessions.” Jerome then turned to Christ and asked, “What can I give you? What do you want?” Jesus simply replied, “Give me your sins. That’s what I came for; I came to take away your sins.”
That is the essence of the peace Christ gives. Peace as He forgives our sins.
Without that forgiveness you and I can’t experience true peace. Once we accept Christ’s forgiveness, then we can experience His peace. What’s keeping you from accepting Jesus’ forgiveness of your sins right now?
It would be a wonderful thing if, as we enter this Christmas week, that our hearts can be fully at peace, wouldn’t it? That peace is up to you.
Marjorie was struggling with some past failures in her life until she got an interesting letter from a friend. The letter told of a recent visit this woman had with her granddaughter when they went to see a plane write messages in the sky.
The young girl loved watching the words being drawn in the air, but was puzzled when the letters started disappearing. She studied the situation for a moment then suddenly blurted out, “Maybe Jesus has an eraser!”
When we find ourselves wrestling with our own fallen humanity, areas of our life where we have failed God, we can take comfort in the fact that God is able to erase all of our failures with his remarkable eraser . . . a cross.
This story has been told in a variety of ways. Eighty years ago, on the first Christmas Day of World War I, British and German troops put down their guns and celebrated peacefully together in the no-man’s land between the trenches.
The war, briefly, came to a halt.
In some places, festivities began when German troops lit candles on Christmas trees so the British sentries a few hundred yards away could see them. Elsewhere, the British acted first, starting bon fires and letting off rockets.
One of the soldiers wrote to his parents: “Just think that while you were eating your turkey, I was out talking and shaking hands with the very men I had been trying to kill a few hours before! It was astounding.”
All along the line that Christmas Day, soldiers found their enemies were much like them and began asking why they should be trying to kill each other. The generals were shocked. The soldiers, in khaki and gray, sang carols to each other, exchanged gifts of tobacco, jam, sausage, chocolate, and liquor, traded names and addresses and played soccer between the shell holes and barbed wire. They even paid mutual trench visits.
This day is called “the most famous truce in military history”. The point is that there can be peace even in the worst of circumstances, because peace isn’t determined by outside forces unless we allow it to be.
Peace is the result of Christ living in my heart. Peace is the assurance I am safe in His hands, no matter what may be going on around me. Peace is trust in the midst of turmoil.
And we need that peace right now after the year we have been through, right? Then don’t spend this beautiful time of Christmas season looking back to the terrible year we have all had. The Apostle Paul said it this way in his letter to the Philippians.
“Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, 14 I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:12-14)
The peace of Christ gives you the confidence to say, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose ...For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord ” (Rom.8:28,38 –39).
Paul searches the entire universe to see if there is anything that can possibly separate us from the eternal presence of God—from the peace that only He can give. He goes first to the realm of death and finds nothing there.
Then he turns to the realm of life and again finds nothing.
He looks to the angels and they have no power to separate us. He turns to principalities which, in this case, may refer to the demonic forces representing Satan. There is nothing there. He proceeds to examine things present and finds nothing. He explores the future, and in the things to come there is nothing which can separate us. Nothing can happen now nor in the future which can remove the love of God from us or us from His eternal security.
Paul does not stop here. Next, he searches the entire universe and nothing in the expanses of space, height, nor depth can be found to bar the presence of God from us. But just in case he has missed something, Paul then says that there is no other creature or creation of God that is able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
Nowhere can the apostle find anything in the whole universe of God which can sever the relationship that the children of God have with their Father’s love.
This great assurance is enough to bring peace to the heart of those in Christ Jesus our Lord. That’s why we can sing:
“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born, of His Spirit, washed in His blood.”
The Bible tell us that there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus (8:1). Paul is persuaded that nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And in that Love of God, there is PEACE. Do you want that kind of peace?
All these wonderful promises belong to us because we belong to Him. The Peace Christ Gives Is Above our Circumstances, and also, The Peace Christ Gives Is Beyond Understanding.
• How can a Christian lose his job and not worry?
• How can a believer look cancer in the face and not flinch?
• How can a Christian keep going after the loss of a loved one, or a child, or some other tragedy?
It is because of the peace Jesus gives when you place your faith in Him. A peace that “transcends all understanding” (Phil.4:7). In other words, it surpasses all power of human reason or comprehension (Eph 3:20).
The peace of God in the Christian will keep peace in the church, peace in the family and peace between individuals. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “You will keep the mind that is dependent on you in perfect peace, for it is trusting in you.” (Isa 26:3).
The Christian can put everything into God’s hand and let the peace of God rule in his heart (Col 3:15).
The Scripture speaks of several kinds of peace which we can understand.
There is world peace. We have the assurance that someday peace will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. And it will come through the person of Christ, the Prince of Peace.
There is the peace that comes when sins are forgiven. The Bible also speaks of the “peace of God.” This is more than peace with God (Rom 5:1); it is a peace which God has and which Christ gives (Jn 14:27). Remember when Jesus told us, “My peace I give unto you. Not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. How can you achieve this peace?
The peace of God comes to a child of God who trusts and prays. All Christians have peace with God, and all Christians may have the peace of God, that is, that inward tranquility of soul grounded in God’s presence, and in His promises, and in His power. However, one may have peace with God without having the peace of God.
Peace with God is dependent upon faith, and the peace of God is dependent upon prayer. Peace with God describes the relationship between God and the Christian, and the peace of God describes the condition of tranquility within the Christian.
That is a marvelous peace, but it is not “the peace…which passeth all understanding.”
I don’t know how to tell you this, but I do know that it is a peace that we do not have at all times. I think it is a peace that sweeps over our souls at certain times.
You want that peace that sweeps over you? Stare into a beautiful sunset on a quiet evening. Look into a tranquil waterfall. It gives you a certain peace. And you can’t really explain it. It surpasses all understanding.
I have had different ones tell me that as they laid in a hospital bed anticipating major surgery that might be life-threatening, that they gave it all to God and suddenly felt this overwhelming peace. Where did that come from? God Himself, at that moment made Himself real to them. And that peace can’t be explained.
And it’s a wonderful feeling. The peace which Christ gives is greater than our circumstances, beyond our understanding, and the wonderful thing about it is that this Peace of Christ is always available.
Before Jesus left His disciples, He promised after He was gone the Holy Spirit would come and be with them, comforting, teaching, and encouraging them.
In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit did come.
Now His comforting, teaching, and encouraging is available to all who believe in Jesus. There is never a moment in which we are away from Christ‘s peace. There is never a second when we need to worry, or need to be afraid. The peace that comes from Christ is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
A visual reminder for the source of true peace is on regular display along New York City’s Fifth Avenue. I read that at the entrance of the RCA building is a large statue of Atlas struggling to keep the world on his shoulders. On the other side of Fifth Avenue is Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. Behind the high altar of this church is a small statue of Jesus effortlessly holding the whole world in one hand.
Peace is hard to come by when we strive to balance the world on our own back, but when we heed God’s invitation to give him our concerns (1 Peter 5:7), the weight of our world becomes an effortless lift for the Prince of Peace. That’s where Peter says to cast all you cares upon Him, because He cares for you.
I close with this: During the Korean War, Billy Graham had the opportunity of ministering to American soldiers. While there, he learned of an incident that stirred his heart.
On Christmas Eve, a young Marine lay dying on Heartbreak Ridge. One of the chaplains climbed up to the young man and whispered, “May I help you, son?”
The Marine replied, “No, it’s all right.” The chaplain was amazed at the soldier’s tranquility.
When he glanced down at the man’s side he understood the source. He was clutching a small New Testament in his bloody hand and his finger was placed on the calm assurance of John 14:27, “My peace I give to you . . .”
Are you in need of this type of peace? Is your life characterized by anything but peace? Today Jesus is waiting to give you His peace. He came into the world to be your peace. He is the Prince of Peace. Accept Him today, and you, too, will experience that Peace that Surpasses all understanding. Christmas peace to you all.
