All is Calm, All is Bright (Matthew 1-2)

Joseph Mohr was a young Austrian priest in the mid to late 1800’s. One winter night he was walking on a snow laden path in the woods. It was unusually quiet. Napoleon’s war effort had taken a toll on much of Europe. As he was walking he looked over a knoll and saw a little town lit up in the distance. He was struck by how peaceful it appeared. For the first time in a long time he felt at peace with the world that had been at war. It moved him to reflect on God’s everlasting peace on earth through His Son Jesus the Christ. He was so moved by the moment he wrote , ‘Silent Night, Holy Night, All is calm all is bright.”

Most of you have grown up with a world in conflict. Many of you were born as the United States was at the beginning of an almost twenty year conflict in the Middle East. From the time you could walk until now, you have suffered political and social unrest at the hands of a massive culture war. You’ve lived through one economic recession in 2008 and you are now entering the job market with inflation at the highest and another recession on hits heals.

The result of living this way has taken its toll on you. Your generation suffers the most from anxiety and depression, more than any other generation that has every existed in the United States. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among your age group. Much of your life has been riddled with uncertainty. It’s not far fetched to say that your generation has never known peace.

Like Joseph Mohr, you know war. You know conflict. You know your heart longs for peace. Just as Joseph Mohr did over two hundred years ago, this I want to reflect on how what the birth of Christ reveals about God’s commitment to giving your everlasting peace. There are four revelations in the birth of Christ that reveals God’s commitment to bring you peace.

The birth of Christ reveals that God’s plan for peace is protected by His sovereignty (Matthew 2:1-23).

The word sovereignty means that God is free and able to do whatever he wants whenever he wants. The Psalmist says,

Psalm 115:3 HCSB

Our God is in heaven and does whatever He pleases.

There are three ways God tells the world that he is sovereign with the birth of Jesus.

God is sovereign over the womb. (Matthew 2:1-6)

God is free and able to use the womb for His good purpose. The angel told Mary that she would conceive and bear a child. Mary asks, “How can this be? I am a virgin. I do not have a husband.” The angel says the Holy Spirit will come upon her and she will have a son. How? The psalmist says God is in control of every pregnancy.

Psalm 139:13–16 HCSB

For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise You because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and I know this very well. My bones were not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began.

God has shown his sovereignty over the womb many times. Sarah, Abraham’s wife was barren. God gave her Isaac when she was ninety years old. Elizabeth, Zechariah’s wife, was barren. God gave her John (the Baptist), the forerunner to Jesus. God promised the virgin Mary she would have a son, a special Son conceived by the Holy Spirit. Mary says, “How can this be?” God responds, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” Every child ever born is a work of God’s sovereign goodness. God chose to send His Son down to earth as a baby. God ensured the baby would b born and grow to be the promised Prince of Peace.

God is sovereign over ancestry. (Matthew 1:2-14)

God is free and able to use anyone for his good pleasure. Matthew opens his gospel with a long list of genealogies. He is proving to the Jews that Jesus is of the line of David. He is the long awaited Messiah. You will notice in Jesus’s ancestry, there are all kinds of broken people. There is Ruth the Moabite. Moabites were Lot’s grandchildren and were often in conflict with Israel. Then there is Rehab the prostitute. She is the young lady who believed God was with Israel in the battle of Jericho. Then there is King David, a man after God’s own heart. A good man, however, very flawed. He commits adultery and then murders to hide that fact.

Jesus’ ancestral line is made up of all kinds of broken people from all walks of life; misfits to kings. How does a Moabite find herself in the family line of Israels Messiah? How is a Canaanite prostitute be connected to one of Israel's greatest kings and in the genealogy of the Christ? Only a sovereign God who saves a prostitute from Jericho and gives her a son named Boaz, who marries Ruth the Moabite and has a son named Jesse, who bears a son named David who God called to be king of Israel, and promised him his family line will bring Jesus, the Messiah into the world.

God is sovereign over the decisions of men. (Matthew 1:15-16; 2:1-23)

God is free and able to intervene and use the thoughts, intentions and decision of men whenever he wants to do it. When Joseph was contemplating leaving Mary because he thought she had committed adultery, God sent an angel to set the record straight (Matthew 1:16-15). When Herod tried to have Jesus killed, God ensured the child would be safe until his hour would come (Matthew 2:1-18). God sent an angel to warn Joseph and Mary to leave fulfilling prophecy that the Messiah would come out of Nazareth (2:13-23). God is sovereign over the will of mankind.

Proverbs 21:1 HCSB

A king’s heart is like streams of water in the Lord’s hand: He directs it wherever He chooses.

The birth of Jesus reveals that God is in complete and absolute control of everything. Christmas is a time to remember how God is working all things toward everlasting peace on earth. There is no power on earth or in hell that can stop God from His mission of peace on earth. Your peace is secure in God’s sovereignty.

The birth of Christ reveals that God’s plan for peace on earth is full of mercy (Matthew 1:21).

The reason why your life is filled with war, conflict, and anxiety is because of the effect of sin in the world. The angel told Joseph that “he will save his people from their sins.” Sin is lawlessness against God. Adam and Eve acted lawlessly against God when they disobeyed him. As a result, the earth was cursed with sin and death. War and conflict come from sins rule in your heart. Why do you rebel against your parents? Why do you rage against your siblings? Why do fin dit so easy to covet your neighbors possession and hate your neighbors life? Is it not the war inside of you? James says your sinful desires rage inside of you (James 4:1-3). For this sin you deserve God’s condemnation.

God’s word says that all of have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). That is, all of Adam’s children are born with sinful natures.

Romans 5:12 HCSB

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned.

The death Paul is speaking of is both physical death and spiritual death. The bibles says it is appointed from man to die once (physical death) and then face God’s judgement (spiritual death). The reality is you are not at peace with God. Romans 8:7-8 says you are hostile to God. You will not submit to his law and you cannot please him with your unbelieving works. God has every right to judge us all to hell. However, Christmas reveals God’s plan is to make peace with sinners by being merciful.

The gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ(Romans 6:23). The child born on Christmas day would one day offer himself up on a cross t take your sin and its wages, and give you his righteousness so that you can be at peace with God forever. If you will confess your sin, repent of it, and ask Jesus to come into your heart, he will forgive your sin and give you new life, and a peace that surpasses all understanding.

The birth of Christ is about celebrating the mercy of God. God knew you could not come to Him, so he came to you. He knew if He had not intervened, you would perish forever. He poured out his mercy on you by providing a way, sending his best-loved Son into the world. This is the greatest gift you can receive for Christmas. It is free for you to take tonight.

The birth of Christ reveals that God’s plan for peace on earth is proven by His humility (Luke 2:7; John 1:14-15)

They will call this child “Immanuel” which means “God with us.”

What did it mean for God to dwell with us?

The Almighty, Majestic, Sovereign God of all the universe subjected himself to live inside the womb of a teenage girl. He took on flesh becoming fully human. But he didn't do it in a flash or a laboratory like you would see in the Marvel Universe. He started at conception. He then grew into a 6-8-pound baby. When Mary's water broke, He made his way through a birth canal, and he chose to do it in antiquity. There was no St. John’s Children’s Hospital. There were no doctors or nurses or heart monitors or NIC Units. There were donkeys and cattle and lots of hay. The stable was not sanitary. He was wrapped in dirty cloth not sterile warm blankets. His first bed was a feeding trough. The Almighty, Majestic, Sovereign God came down to earth not in pompous and pageantry like we would expect from our president or the Queen of England. He came as a peasant, humble, vulnerable, dependent, and weak. He came as a human baby and grew in a human body, just like you, in conflict and instability and poverty, so he could completely sympathize with our weaknesses (Hebrews 2:14-17). Jesus knows your anxiety. He knows your darkness.

2 Corinthians 8:9 HCSB

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though He was rich, for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich.

The birth of Jesus is about recognizing the commitment to humility God took upon himself in order to ensure you can have everlasting peace.

The birth of Christ reveals that God’s plan for peace is fortified in his promise-keeping faithfulness (Luke 2:1-12; Revelation 21:3-4)

It does not take long to realize we live in an already/not yet time. When Jesus was born, the angels sang “peace on earth to all whom God favors.” How can the entire world have peace? Jesus is your peace now. His life, death, resurrection, and ascension ensure you can have peace that surpasses all understanding today. Those whom God favors are those who by faith place their trust in Jesus for eternal life. If you have not done that then you are still at war with God. Surrender tonight and be at peace with your Creator.

However, The birth of Christ reveals to us that God always keeps his promises. He promised one day he would send his son into the world to die for sinners and redeem them as his people. Jesus birth and death are fulfillments of that promsie. God made another promsie. One day he will return to earth, not as a humble baby, but as a warrior king who will administer justice and bring everlasting peace earth. Satan and everyone who rejected God’s gift of salvation will perish in the lake of fire. He will rid the earth of wickedness and will make a new heavens and new earth for his people. He describes what it will be like when God and his children live at peace with him and each other forever.

Revelation 21:3–4 HCSB

Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look! God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away.

Joseph Mohr wrote six verses to Silent Night. The fifth verse sings,

Silent Night, Holy Night Mindful of mankind's plight The Lord in Heav'n on high decreed From earthly woes we would be freed Jesus, God's promise for peace. Jesus, God's promise for peace.

Mindful of the war within you and the conflict around you, the Lord of Heaven decreed, From earthly woes you would be freed by Jesus, your Prince of Peace. God’s peace for you is protected by his sovereignty, filled with his mercy, proven to you by his humility, and fortified by his faithfulness to keep his promises. Jesus is your Prince of Peace, your Everlasting peace. I commend you to come in from the night. Come into Jesus’ light. In him your heart will see, all is clam and all is bright.