Advent: Christ's Gift of Peace

Welcome

Good morning and welcome. We are blessed that you have joined us here today. If it’s your first time here with us, whether its in person or online, let me just say “welcome.”

I know that you all are in the full swing of Christmas gatherings and festivities. I think we were out for this or that every night of the week this week and it doesn’t look like it’s going to let up any time soon.

It seems that with all the hustle and bustle of Christmas, that it can be difficult to maintain a sense of peace in a time where it is expected that there should be “peace and goodwill to man” during the Christmas season.

I have often commented on how traffic gets more aggressive the closer we get to Christmas. And let me tell you, it seems that Christmas traffic has already started in full force.

Let’s look at Peace this morning as we turn to our text in John 14...

John 14:27–31 CSB

27 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful. 28 You have heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens so that when it does happen you may believe. 30 I will not talk with you much longer, because the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me. 31 On the contrary, so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do as the Father commanded me. “Get up; let’s leave this place.

[pray]

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Fourteen: Heart Trouble (John 13:36–14:31)

Shalom means wholeness, completeness, health, security, even prosperity in the best sense. When you are enjoying God’s peace, there is joy and contentment. But God’s peace is not like the “peace” that the world offers.

The world finds its peace in the resources that may be gathered. Or to put it more simply, peace is found in things. But God’s peace depends on a relationship with God.

I. Peace / Shalom

John 14:27 CSB

27 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.

The word “peace” or shalom, in Hebrew, refers to a status of peace between two entities. It might also refer to the well-being or welfare of an individual or a group of people.

At Christmas-time we often hear the phrase, “Peace on Earth, goodwill toward men.” This is what the angels said to the shepherds at the birth of Jesus...

Luke 2:14 NKJV

14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

This is a hope-filled statement, isn’t it? Even so, we often get this idea wrong. Sometimes the world hears this and thinks that Jesus wants no more war for the world. This idea grew during the American Civil War and again during the great World Wars in the last century. It might be tempting to think that again as the war in Israel is heating up again and as the war in Ukraine and Russia drags on.

At least most of us do. Some of us struggle more at this time of year than any other because of lost loved ones, irrevocable changes, and general upheaval in our comfortable way of living.

As I contemplated this verse I couldn’t help but think how we fail to live up to the sentiment of this passage...

…peace on earth...

...the incongruity struck me.

We don’t live in a world that seems to have learned anything at all about peace.

NASB: And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.

CSB: …and peace on earth to people he favors!

KJV: on earth peace, good-will toward man - how many of us grew up hearing it.

We have the same problem with translations in the Spanish language.

There is some difficulty here in the way this verse is translated… That’s because the words of this heavenly song are somewhat difficult to translate into modern day English. I’ll get to that, but I was contemplating the idea of peace on earth.

We don’t seem to have found this peace that the angels sang about on that night so long ago. For all the talk about peace and love at Christmas, our world suffers from a lack of peace that Christmas just cannot seem to heal.

When we think of Luke 2:14 our collective culture points our mind to think of worldwide peace. This is why we see presidents seeking to bring peace in the Middle East. But we also see in the Bible that there will be no worldwide peace until Jesus’ return. Peace is not what the baby lying in the manger brought into the world on that silent night so long ago… or at least not on the surface. But let’s keep looking for the peace.

Faith in God brings us peace during difficult times. I am reminded of the most tragic events in my own life and in the lives of others who are close to me. Those who have faith in God turn to Him in the time of their deepest distress.

When we look to the Greek manuscripts for Luke 2:14, the original phrase is a bit cryptic and cannot be translated literally into English or Spanish...

Greek: “And on earth peace among men pleased”

Many Bible scholars take the word “peace” as a reference to the Prince of Peace, the baby born, the Christ, the long awaited Messiah of Israel...

New Testament theologian, John Noland, speaks of this moment as a beginning place for peace. He translates this phrase “on earth there is peace among the people whom God has favored.” [Nolland, John (1989). Luke 1:1–9:20 (Vol. 35A, p. 97). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.]

That phrase in the NASB is translated as “among men with whom He is pleased” ... I take issue with that translation. While it is certainly one possible meaning, I don’t think by any stretch can we determine that God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to live on earth as a human and die on a cross because He was pleased with us or even because He was pleased with Israel.

On the contrary, He sent Jesus because we were in dire straits and we needed a redeemer more than ever. God sent the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) as an act of goodwill toward man. He sent His son to save us because we could not save ourselves and were completely beyond hope.

That baby born on earth so long ago was not born to overturn governments during his lifetime. However, he was a seed of peace planted on the earth and in the hearts of men. For in that baby, we place our hope of heaven and our hope for a new earth.

In Jesus peace was born. But not necessarily peace as in a cessation of war and conflict… at least not yet.

The peace that Jesus brings is a beginning to peace with God. It’s a “starting point.”

We know from scripture that God desires an intimate relationship with His creation. But that intimacy has been rejected and scorned by man ever since Adam and Eve fell into sin.

God sent Jesus to earth in order to provide a way to set that relationship right with mankind. By sending Jesus, God is offering the olive branch of peace to mankind and it is up to mankind to accept it or reject the offer of peace.

Jesus wanted for us to have his peace, because he knew that we would need it...

John 14:27 CSB

27 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.

II. Why Do We Need Jesus’ Peace?

Jesus wanted his disciples to know where he was going, but that he would still be with them...

John 14:28–29 CSB

28 You have heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens so that when it does happen you may believe.

In fact, Jesus made a particular provision for those of us who believe in him. He knew that we need his peace. But why do we need it?

The fact is that peace can only come through reconciliation with God. Christ is the only thing that can reconcile our sin before God. If you don’t know God, you cannot have peace in your life. If you don’t have a relationship with Jesus, then you cannot have peace or expect peace to produce some result in you.

The good news is that if you DO know God and you have a relationship with Jesus, then you CAN have peace and expect it to produce a result in you.

The truth is that we are natural born sinners. We inherit this sinful nature from Adam, who was the first man and the first sinner.

Romans 3:23 CSB

23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;

I have sinned and you have sinned. We get it from our parents, who sinned, who got it from their parents, who sinned. It is for this reason that we are separated from God. Our sin nature is at war with God. There can be no peace when there is war.

Some in the world might say that God is love and wouldn’t condemn anyone to hell. But they would be wrong. At best, they are only partially right. Yes, God is love. But God is God. He is just and pure. He cannot coexist with sin. He has no choice but to judge sin or provide some solution that will satisfy His law so that He can pardon the sinner.

And still people choose to reject God. And when we reject God we are choosing hell, whether we believe in it or not.

God provided a solution by sending his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross. Jesus paid the price of death for us when he died on the cross.

John 3:16–17 CSB

16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

When we believe in Christ and we make him our Lord, he becomes our Savior and will give us his peace. In fact, as I’ve told you many times this year, we get all the characteristics of Christ when we receive his Spirit...

III. Jesus Gave Us More Than His Peace

John 14:25–26 CSB

25 “I have spoken these things to you while I remain with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.

Jesus promised us his Spirit and all the benefits found in the Spirit. That means that when we believe in Christ and take him as our Savior and Lord, that we get the benefits of the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives. That means that we can have his character, the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control beginning to take root and growing within us.

We’ve spent a lot of time this year talking about the Holy Spirit, so I won’t go into great detail again, but know that the Spirit is our source for the Peace of Christ—the same savior who is called the Prince of Peace.

Know that you can have that peace and put the work of the enemy behind you...

IV. His Peace Works For Us, Not Against Us

Jesus knew that the world was an evil place and knew that evil walked in the world. He spoke of both the world and the enemy that walks in this world...

John 14:30–31 CSB

30 I will not talk with you much longer, because the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me. 31 On the contrary, so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do as the Father commanded me. “Get up; let’s leave this place.

The ruler of this world is Satan—the Devil, the enemy—whatever you call him, know that he is real and active in this world...

1 Peter 5:8 CSB

8 Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.

The enemy is looking to destroy people and to limit the work of God through them. However, Jesus has given us authority over the work of the enemy...

Luke 10:19 CSB

19 Look, I have given you the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy; nothing at all will harm you.

Because we have his peace, we have his tranquility. But we also have his authority over the work of the enemy in our lives. That means that the enemy is powerless to devour us and he must settle for someone else.

Conclusion

[You have the gift of peace because you have the Father’s love (John 14:19-24), because you have the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-18), because you have the privilege of prayer, because you know the Father (John 14:7-11), because you are going to Heaven (John 13:36-14:6)]