Christ’s Reign of Peace
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Today we continue our advent series by talking about Christ’s reign of Peace. Just like last week, we will remember that the advent season has two major aspects to it: one where we celebrate that Christ has come and accomplished our redemption, and another where we long for him to return and the blessings he will bring on that day. Today we will consider two ways Christ has brought and will bring peace to our lives:
First, we will see how Christ makes peace between man and God.
Second, we will see how Christ makes peace between men.
Both of these will have already and not yet aspects, and we will begin by seeing that Christ makes peace between us and God.
Christ makes peace between us and God
Christ makes peace between us and God
The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it,
State: The vision that Isaiah gets here shows us a world in which the Lord is exalted above everything else. It shows us a day where the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the highest of the mountains, it will be lifted up above the hills. This is a powerful picture that Isaiah paints for us, and it relates to how the world relates to God.
You see, mountains and high places in the Bible are associated with places of worship. Whenever a person wanted to worship, they would “go up” to worship. The nations surrounding Israel would place their altars and posts to Baal and the Asherah up on these high places. Eventually, even Israel began to worship false gods in these high places, and they elevated their idols above the Lord.
This was symptomatic of a serious issue in the world: there was no peace between God and man. Ever since Adam and Eve first sinned against God and elevated their love for self over their love for God, they waged war on behalf of our entire race against him. We see that mankind has consistently chosen to worship things that are not gods in direct defiance of the one true God, who is jealous for his glory.
Throughout Israel’s history, there were many points at which the people were directly opposed to God because of their sinful living, but they assumed that there was peace. The general sentiment was that God would be benevolent and look the other way, allowing us to get away with our treason. This would only increase the sin, and worsen the conflict. At one point, the priests of Israel were propogating these lies about peace, leading the prophet Jeremiah spoke into this delusion by saying,
They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they shall be overthrown, says the Lord.
The truth about the world is that our sin has put us into direct conflict with God; our race has chosen war with him.
But that’s what makes Isaiah’s prophecy so wonderful here: he envision a world in which this completely changes. He sees a world where the mountain of the Lord is lifted up above all the other high places. He sees a world where the nations flow into the house of the Lord, not to wage war against it, but to worship and to be instructed. Isaiah envisions a world where there is peace between God and man.
But how was this peace to be, with all of humanity so intent on sinning against him and his Kingdom? We find our answer in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Already: Romans 5:1
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ has made peace between us and God. He has made us sons and daughters, no longer enemies.
Not Yet: Rev 21:1-3
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
We will dwell with God as his people forever. The one who sits on the throne will bring this to be.
And as Christ makes peace between us and God, we will notice a radical transformation in our relationships with one another as people.
Christ makes peace between men
Christ makes peace between men
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.
State: The next aspect of Isaiah’s prophecy envisions a new kind of relationship between men. In the world where men worship the Lord and enjoy a restored relationship with him, we also recognize a profound change in their relationship with one another.
I’m sure I don’t need to do much explaining as to why this is such a beautiful and profound picture. We are fully aware that men do not naturally live at peace with each other, and we haven’t ever since the fall from the garden of Eden. Immediately following that fall, we saw the second generation of humans already commit themselves to murdering each other. Cain murdered his brother Abel, which then immediately spiraled into a horrible pattern of conflict between the people of the Earth. By the time Noah came around, God commented on the state of mankind by saying:
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
This was just the beginning: just about every book you read from the Old Testament is related in some capacity to brutal conflict between people.
And not much has changed in our day either: the modern era is no stranger to the brutal war-mongering found in the human hearts. The increase of technology has only served to further display the wickedness of our hearts, which seek conflict with each other. We have invented and used weapons of mass destruction, had multiple world wars, along with countless other conflicts that occur on the Earth in seemingly endless fashion.
So it makes sense then why this prophecy from Isaiah can almost bring a tear to your eye: Isaiah sees a time when the people forget war. They forget conflict. They live in perfect harmony with each other, and they are in an age of prosperity that will never end.
In this new world, there is no need for weapons. Isaiah sees them transforming their tools for harming one another into tools that will cultivate the Earth and bring forth bounty for one another. Rather than warmongers, the Earth is filled with peacemakers and peacekeepers.
Already: In some sense, Christ has already accomplished this aspect of Isaiah’s vision. When Christ came, he came to redeem a people and transform them into his image. He also came to establish a church, which would be the community of his redeemed people. In this community of his redeemed people, there would be peace that begins to take form, and the old hostility would die away.
One of the aspects of our faith in Christ that leads to this peace is just how inclusive our faith is. I don’t mean to say that God just forgives everyone, but I mean to say that God forgives everyone who repents and believes in Christ, no matter their background. Christianity is truly a universal faith and does not belong to any one people group, but all who believe may come together and live in harmony with each other.
The Apostle Paul discusses this in the book of Ephesians when he says
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
When we come to Christ in faith, he unites us to himself, thereby uniting us to his people. In him, we find a commonground which breeds peace and not hostility. That is why Paul, in the book of Romans, calls the believers to live lives like this:
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
This kind of peace between people is what the church ought to strive for, because its what Jesus makes possible for us.
Yet we recognize that in this life, sin will continue to plague the world completely and not even the church will be totally free from its corrupting touch. Because of this, we still experience conflict between each other, and we long for the “not yet” aspect of our faith.
Not Yet:
As we continue to wait expectantly for Jesus, we long for the peace he will bring with him when he comes again. When he does come again, he will gather all his people to himself and perfect them, purging any lasting corruption from their souls and bringing them to a state of glory forever. When he does, his Kingdom will finally be consummated and we will live under his direct reign as his people forever.
The book of Revelation gives us a glimpse of this, because this is actually happening right now in heaven.
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
When Jesus comes back again, all who love him and believe in him will be made to join this number of people. As we come to him with love, and as we are perfected by his love, then what Isaiah prophesied will come to its fulfillment. Then we will know peace, and forget war. Then we will have no more use for weapons of any kind, and they can be made into tools for cultivation. At that time, all people will live in perfect harmony with one another, every one of them living to worship their Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ.
