Untitled Sermon

Title: Peace On Earth

Text: Isaiah 9:1-7; Luke 2:14; Colossians 3:15

Why is peace so foundational to our faith?. 3

1. Because the scriptures have prophesied of peace in the coming Kingdom... 3

2. Because Messiah has paved the way for peace between God and sinners. 5

3. Because believers are to portray this peace in our relationships with one another. 7

INTRO –

Luke 2:8–14 – And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

On earth…peace.

· Maybe this December all is at least for you.

· Or, perhaps, you find yourself like most of us all too aware of the turmoil of this fallen world.

· And perhaps there is in your own spirit an angst, an inner turmoil instead of the peace that we sing about so regularly this time of year.

ILL: The same was the case one December morning many years ago for a man by the name of Henry.

Henry was a hurting family man in the time of the American Civil War. He and his wife had six children. Tragically, his wife, Fanny died in a tragic fire. Her husband, Henry, awakened from a nap, tried to extinguish the flames as best he could, leaving him severely scarred the rest of his life. At times Henry feared that he would be sent to an asylum on account of his grief.

One morning during the middle of the war, his 18-year-old son, Charley, quietly left home, traveling over 400 miles down the eastern seaboard in order to join President Lincoln’s Union army.

Charley saw little combat those first few months since he enlisted with the Union, but on the first day of that December, while Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was dining alone at his home, a telegram arrived with the news that his son had been severely wounded—inaccurately stating that he had been shot in the face—four days earlier. Charley had been shot through the left shoulder, having nicked his spine.

Alarmed at the news, Henry headed to see his son and was informed by the army surgeon that his son’s wound “was very serious” and that “paralysis might ensue.” Ultimately, Charley avoided being paralyzed by less than an inch.

Several days later, on Friday, December 25, 1863, Longfellow—as a 57-year-old widowed father of six children, the oldest of which had been nearly paralyzed as his country fought a war against itself—wrote a poem seeking to capture the dissonance in his own heart and the world he observes around him that Christmas Day.

He heard the Christmas bells ringing in Cambridge and the singing of “peace on earth, good-will to men” (Luke 2:14, KJV), but he observed the world of injustice and violence that seemed to mock the truthfulness of this optimistic outlook.

Within a decade (1872), the poem was put to music.

I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old, familiar carols play, and wild and sweet The words repeat Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

The 6th stanza: And in despair I bowed my head; “There is no peace on earth,” I said; “For hate is strong, And mocks the song Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

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.”

· Maybe this morning you echo Longfellow’s ache and longing for peace.

· Or maybe, for you, the hope for peace seems lost.

o Your life circumstances have given you heartache or seemingly unending stress.

o Your relationships have left you fraught with division.

o Financially, you’re not at peace.

o You turn on the news and see more wars now than even a year ago.

o And then some of the very ones calling for “peace” do so from the flawed vantage point of a worldview that mistakes a cease fire for harmonious agreement, confusing reconciliation with mere coexistence.

You might feel somewhat optimistic or deeply pessimistic this morning, but regardless I want to highlight the fundamental importance Peace on Earth holds—not only to Christmas, but to your faith.

Why is peace so foundational to our faith?

1. Because the scriptures have prophesied of peace in the coming Kingdom

The scriptures are replete with prophecies heralding a time of ultimate peace when Christ returns again. The prophets envisioned a day when the Messiah would bring peace to a world torn by strife and conflict.

ILL: The prophets spoke of a broken world mended. Think of a skilled artisan, who takes shattered pieces and creates a beautiful mosaic. Christ's return will transform our fragmented world into a masterpiece of peace.

Isaiah 2:4 – He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

· This promise assures us that there will be a time when every weapon of war will be transformed into tools of peace.

Isaiah 9:6–7 – For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Micah 5:2–5a – But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. 3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. 4 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. 5 And he shall be their peace…

Zechariah 9:9–10 – Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

Isaiah 11:6–9 – The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. 7The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. 9 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

· He will establish peace at every level of the creation.

Arg: But Messiah came and went. This world has never experienced any of that peace—not at least since the Garden of Eden until the Fall in Genesis 3.

· Yes, Messiah did come—for the first time.

· The NT continues to give prophesies of this coming peace that Jesus will usher into the created order.

· But quickly we come to find that the “not yet” peace that awaits Messiah’s second coming is preceded by an “already” peace that holds massive implications for every single soul!

Why…?

2. Because Messiah has paved the way for peace between God and sinners

The fact is, friend, that scripture describes humans—every one of them—as at war with God.

Colossians 1:21 – And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,

ILL: Israel and Hamas are in the news every day right now. There has been an obvious, even egregious contradiction that goes overlooked by some in our society, even some in our city—and that is the horrible misconception that Israel and Hamas are equal combatants who mutually need to lay down their arms.

· But one group has levied an unjust attack against the other.

· One group has initiated the hostility while the other is left with no choice but to defend herself.

· Peace can only come either through the utter destruction of the hostile party or by complete and humble surrender of that party.

In our sin, we have made ourselves enemy combatants against God, and He has no alternative but ultimately to justly condemn us.

But by His grace, He made another way!

· The already-present spiritual peace, accessible to all who believe, is found in Christ's sacrificial work on the cross. Through His death and resurrection, Christ reconciled us to God, offering a profound peace that truly surpasses our understanding.

· This peace is not contingent on our goodness or behavior, but is a gift freely given to all who embrace Christ as their Savior.

To his disciples, Jesus said these words:

John 14:27 – Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

ILL: I think of the illustration of Jesus calming the Sea of Galilee. Consider a turbulent sea suddenly stilled. Now consider the turbulence of a life apart form the grace of God. We were hopeless, but then Jesus anchors us securely in Himself and IN HIM we find what we could never have procured for ourselves—peace with our Maker.

Romans 5:1 – Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

How did he do this? What dealt that death blow to sin’s condemnation over us?

In a word—atonement. One that was substitutionary.

Isaiah 53:5 – he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

Colossians 1:19–22 – For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

Ephesians 2:12–14 – remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility

(Three verses later…)

Ephesians 2:17–20 – And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,

Friend, you are either at war with God or you have peace with God through salvation in Jesus.

· There is no other way!

· Your sin is a daily reminder that God doesn’t need you but you need His mercy!

· Ever since the curse of sin in the Garden, we’ve known that sin results in death—total and unrelenting condemnation, damnation—a torment that you will undergo unless you surrender to Him.

· You don’t make peace with God. He has made a way of peace for you. Repent of your rebellion. Relinquish your grip on the reigns of your life. Put your full trust in Jesus to save you!

3. Because believers are to portray this peace in our relationships with one another.

Those who have been granted peace on the cosmic level can so readily and freely champion relational peace in their lives on the human level—especially among those who have likewise been redeemed.

· As believers, we are called not only to experience the peace of God but also to exemplify it in our interactions with one another.

· We show that we know the peace of God when we show that we can share His peace with others.

o No, it’s not easy.

o It doesn’t come naturally to our human nature.

o Peace, after all, is not a “work of the flesh” but instead “fruit of the Spirit.”

Galatians 5:22–23 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

o Practicing peace in your relationships is evidence of God’s sanctifying work in your life.

o In other words, we show our lack of spiritual growth when we struggle to live at peace with others.

App: But it’s so hard. You don’t know what it’s like…

· You don’t know how hard it is to live with that person.

· You don’t know how difficult this person is to talk with.

· You don’t realize what they did or said or didn’t do.

· I’ll live at peace with people when they change.

So easily we excuse divisions and discord in our own lives. But we do so while hoping to still embrace the peace that God initiated with us.

He wants us to initiate and to champion that same peace in our everyday lives and relationships.

The Beatitudes:

Matthew 5:3–9 – “Blessed are the poor in spirit…Blessed are those who mourn…Blessed are the meek…Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…Blessed are the merciful…Blessed are the pure in heart…Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

Ephesians 4:1–3 – I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Romans 12:17–18 – Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

1 Peter 3:11 – let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.

James 3:18 – And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Hebrews 12:14–15 – Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

Why is peace so foundational to our faith?

1. Because the scriptures have prophesied of peace in the coming Kingdom

2. Because Messiah has paved the way for peace between God and sinners

3. Because believers are to portray this peace in our relationships with one another

Conclusion:

The promise of "peace on earth" encompasses more than a temporary absence of conflict. It embodies the holistic restoration and reconciliation offered through Christ.

Peace matters to our faith, and so it should matter to our daily lives!

1) We await the final fulfillment of prophetic peace that awaits Christ’s return.

2) But we also can already be at peace with our Creator through faith in Jesus.

3) And for those of us who have that peace, we must not only know God’s peace but show God’s peace.

· Worship the Prince of Peace this Christmas by being People of Peace.

· So go to that person that God has placed on your mind. Reach out to them, making that next step toward reconciliation.

· Don’t avoid that family member this Christmas Season if there is a way to show him or her the peace that God has caused you to know.

· Maybe you find yourself between friends or loved ones at odds with one another. Remember, blessed are the peacemakers for they are called children of God.

As we celebrate this season, may we remember the profound peace promised in prophecy, experienced through Christ's work, and demonstrated in our everyday lives.

May we be ambassadors of this peace, shining the light of Christ's love and reconciliation to a world yearning for true and lasting peace.