Christmas Series 2025-Peace

Peace

My Bible

My Help

My Hope

There are some questions in life... that always seem to lead to an obvious answer.

Growing up in Sunday School, it didn't matter what the question was... it seemed like "JESUS" was always the answer. Who loves you? JESUS. Who's your hero? JESUS. What's the greatest gift you've ever received? JESUS. It didn't matter what the question was... in Sunday School, JESUS always seemed to be the right answer.

There are some questions in life that just have a built-in response-For instance, you can watch any beauty pageant around the world... Miss America... Miss Universe... any of them... and when a contestant is asked "what they would like to see happen during their lifetime" ... their answer always seems to be... WORLD PEACE. Go back and watch the tape: What are you hoping for? What would you like to see? They'll say... "WORLD PEACE"... just about every time.

World peace has always been an easy answer... it's something all of us want... it's something that our world needs... but the question we seem to have a difficult time answering is: "What is world peace? ... what would world peace even look like?"

Some people would answer that and say... World peace is a world without exclusion... or conflict... or war... it's where the ideas of hate and selfishness are eliminated... and where bridges are built between people groups, and nationalities... bringing everyone together, as one.

We all have an idea of what World Peace would look like... and many people have even claimed that they have the formula for manufacturing peace in the world...

World leaders have said: "If we fund this worldwide initiative... or if we finance this trade agreement... or if we pay this country a certain amount of money... THEN we'll be on the FastTrack to world peace."

But you know what I've learned over the years? PEACE isn't something we can purchase. PEACE is a gift from God.

The world we live in... is desperate for God. And it's desperate for the PEACE of God. And I say that because... it's a world that's overwhelmed with conflict.

Statistics borrowed from the book WHAT EVERY PERSON SHOULD KNOW ABOUT WAR states that our world has been at peace less than 8% of its time. This study showed that in 3,530 years of recorded history, only 286 years saw peace. And yet, over 8,000 peace treaties have been made-and broken.

This world is desperate for peace! Whether you're talking about violence happening in the streets of this city... or the war in Ukraine... or the tragedies in Taiwan... or the ongoing confrontations in Iran... that's true. When you look at the conflict in this world... it seems like peace will forever be a foreign concept.

But realize, a 'lack of peace' isn't something new in our generation. Conflict has been a defining characteristic for planet earth for thousands of years.

This has been a world filled with fighting and wartime since the very beginning... and that's why WORLD PEACE has always been the easy answer when people are asked, "What is it... that you really want?" It's because peace is something this world has been desperate for... and longed for... forever.

Over 500 years before Christ was born... the world was in a mess [much like it is today]... and yet, in the midst of the conflict and the chaos, God made His people a promise... and as He spoke through His prophet, He gave them a glimpse of a gift that He would soon send them.

In [Isaiah 9:6] He told them: For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

God told His people... I'm sending you the solution to your greatest problems... and that solution is coming in the form of My Son.... The Messiah.

And then God listed off his names... and shared with them His attributes... He told them, My Son will be named, Wonderful Counselor... Mighty God... Eternal Father... PRINCE OF PEACE.

God told them-I'm sending PEACE to the world! God the Father said... the Prince of Peace is coming.

That word PEACE-in Hebrew is the world "SHALOM." In the Bible, God's peace-or Shalom-meant much more than simply "an absence of war."

To the ancient Jews, SHALOM referred to-not only just inner peace and spiritual peace... but it referred to a certain wholeness and completeness that would one-day be experienced throughout all creation.

It meant the end of injustice. It meant the rich would no longer devour the poor. It meant all brokenness would be restored. It meant that wounds from the past would be healed and made right.

Shalom meant that people would love one another... and they would love God passionately... and they would worship God, exclusively.

Shalom was a word that pointed to a better day... where God would finally make things right... and God told His people, that a day is coming... peace is coming... and it's coming in the form of a baby boy.

The prophet Micah was one of the men that God used to reveal this coming hope to His people. Micah lived about 700 years before Jesus was born in a small town called Moresheth, about 25 miles south of Jerusalem... and God chose Him to be a prophet.

That word 'prophet' literally means, 'to see,' and that's what Micah did... he saw things everyone else wanted to ignore... and in his book, he recorded many unspeakable acts of violence and injustice that were happing in that day...

[Micah 2:9] "You force women of my people out of their comfortable homes, and you take my blessing from their children forever."

[Micah 3:1-3] "Now listen, leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Aren't you supposed to know what is just? You hate good and love evil. You tear off people's skin and strip their flesh from their bones. You eat the flesh of my people after you strip their skin from them and break their bones. You chop them up like flesh for the cooking pot, like meat in a cauldron."

Micah lived in a day... where terrible things were happening... and yet, God continued to whisper in his ear... reminding him that better days were on the way... and someone was coming who would bring peace.

He talked about him in [Micah 4:3] and said: He will settle disputes among many peoples and provide arbitration for strong nations that are far away. They will beat their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not take up the sword against nation, and they will never again train for war.

This was once again... a glimpse from God to the prophet Micah... at what real Shalom would one day look like.

Micah told them in a baby is coming... who will bring peace. And where will this baby come from? He told them in [Micah 5:2]: Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; one will come from you to be ruler over Israel for me.

He told the people: God's Son will be born in Bethlehem... and He is coming to bring you peace.

For me, it's hard to imagine... living in a time where trusting God... required that much faith. Think about it... These people didn't know what was coming next... They didn't have leather bound Bibles showing them what happened on the next page of the story...

All they knew was this: The world I'm living in is messed up... Everywhere I look, there's conflict and chaos... The people on this planet are insane and hopeless and lost... they're fighting and angry, hating one another... killing one another... and yet, God is promising that PEACE is COMING in the form of a baby? Really? Think about the faith that would have been required to believe that...

And then-to make this faith journey even more challenging... after God promised peace... 100 years went by... then 200 years... and 300 years... and still nothing? 400 years and 500 years... and still, nothing has happened? Then it was 600 years, then 700 years... I'm sure by now, people are like, "Hey God, have you forgotten about us down here? This place is messed up!" Think about the faith that was required to trust God in this season of waiting...

Maybe you're there today... Maybe you're waiting for God to prove Himself faithful... You're waiting for God to keep His word... May I remind you of something today? You're waiting on a God that always comes through... He's a God who always keeps His promises. He's never broken a single promise. Not one.

When God told His people... a baby is coming... peace is coming... my Son, the Messiah is coming... Guess what? He came! ...and the fulfilment of that promise may not have happened when the children of Israel wanted it to happen... but ultimately, God kept His promise... and that promise was fulfilled in His perfect timing.

700 years after the promise was made... [Luke chapter 2] records the angelic message to shepherds who were staying in a field in Bethlehem watching over their flock of sheep at night. The Bible says an angel of the Lord stood before them, the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified... and in [Luke2:10] the angel said:

"Don't be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger." 13 Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: 14 Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors!

God fulfilled His promise and sent Jesus-the Prince of Peace-to the earth.

Jesus is the GIFT of Peace.

Jesus didn't just come to bring peace. Jesus IS peace.

[Ephesians 2:14] says, "For he is our peace..."

Without Jesus, there is no lasting Shalom... which means- If you're searching for peace in your heart... and you don't have Jesus in your heart... you're not just looking for a solution... you're looking for a person!

[Colossians 3:15 NIV] says, "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful." That peace is only found in the person of Jesus Christ.

Some people hear a message like this and think: If Jesus is God's gift of peace... and God sent Jesus to the earth over 2,000 years ago... as peace... then why is there still so much conflict in the world? Why is there still such a lack of peace? And that's a good question.

In fact, I can take that to another level of confusion today. If you recall, there was a moment in [Matthew 10:34-35] where Jesus was speaking to His disciples... and he told them "Don't assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law and a man's enemies will be the members of his household."

I can hear you thinking as we're reading that... you're like: WHAT!?! That doesn't make any sense.

You've got the Prince of Peace... the one that God promised would come and bring Shalom... the one that Paul said, "for He is our peace," and in his own words, he said, "I didn't come to bring peace, but a sword." What are we supposed to make of that today?

In order to make sense of Jesus being our peace and giving us peace... you've got to go back to the distinction between the first and second advents of Christ... (His first coming... and His second coming)

While Jesus will usher in eternal peace for His people at His second coming... the primary purpose of His first coming was to bring peace between God and sinners.

[Romans 4:25-5:1] explains that this kind of peace is rooted in Christ's death and resurrection. It says: "He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

It was the sacrificial death and resurrection of Christ that opened the door, allowing God's enemies to become God's children. That's why the song, "O Holy Night" says: "His law is love, and His gospel is peace." The gospel is what brought peace between God and man.

But as much as the gospel brings peace between sinners and God... it also brings division and conflict between those who align themselves with Jesus... and those who reject Jesus.

The Bible says... that separation is sharp enough to cut through the closest family ties... That's the division Jesus was referring to in [Matthew chapter 10]. When He promised to bring a sword... it wasn't to cause unnecessary conflict between loved ones...

I mean, he makes it abundantly clear that Christians are supposed to live at peace with everyone (like Paul said in Romans 12:18] "as far as it depends on you."

But Jesus also made it clear that when we pursue the peace of God-our lives will be marked with tension because the kingdom of this world is at war with the kingdom of God.

This tension is why Jesus can say it the same sermon, "Blessed are the peacemakers," and "you are blessed when they insult you, persecute you, and say every kind of evil against you because of me." [Matt. 5:9-11]

"Peace with Christ" in this period of waiting... between His first coming and His second coming... will always be marked with uncomfortable conflict in the world. And yet... Jesus, in the midst of the madness... still makes His peace available to us.

[Jesus is the GIFT of Peace]

Jesus is the GIVER of Peace.

Not only did God promise peace... and not only did Jesus come to the earth as peace... But listen: Jesus gives us access to Peace.

In [John 14:27] Jesus said, "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."

In [John 20:21] Jesus said it again, "Peace be with you."

The Prince of Peace came so that you could experience peace.

What kind of peace does Jesus offer us?

Peace for ETERNITY-[Romans 5:1] says, "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Every single one of us are going to one-day step into eternity... and when we do, we will either be seen as righteous in the eyes of God... or unrighteous. We will either be justified by faith... or we won't be.

Right here, Paul shows us how the Prince of Peace came so that we may be justified... which allows us to be at PEACE with God... and not in opposition to God.

Listen-you can avoid it all you want... but there's coming a day when you're going to make the leap into eternity... and there's only ONE WAY for you to be at peace with God when that happens... THE WAY to eternal peace-is through Jesus! Jesus said in [John 14:6] "I am the WAY, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

[Peace for ETERNITY]

Peace for TODAY-[Psalm 29:11] says, "The LORD gives his people strength; the LORD blesses his people with peace."

That says that PEACE is a gift. It's a blessing from God... it's a gift and a blessing that is intended for you to experience... not only in eternity, but today.

God wants you to experience His peace today. But he also tells us-ONLY those who truly know God will experience His peace. Did you see that? "The LORD gives HIS people... The LORD blesses HIS people..." Get this today...

The peace of God is a gift of God to those who are filled with the Spirit of God.

You have access to that peace today... But may I tell you something? Just because you have access to something, doesn't mean you will experience it.

I can give you access to my car... but you'll never go anywhere until you get in that car and go for a drive.

I can buy you a plane ticket to any destination in the world... but if you don't get on that plane, you'll stay exactly where you are.

And in the same way... God gives you access to His Son... He gives you access to His peace... but unless you're willing to pursue His peace, you will never truly experience His peace.

I recently heard a story about a person that cursed Benjamin Franklin, charging that the Constitution of the United States was a sham. This man said to him, "Where is all the success that the Constitution guarantees us?"

When asked the question, Benjamin Franklin answered the man and said, "My friend, the Constitution guarantees only the right... to the pursuit of happiness. You've got to pursue it if you want to experience it."

[Psalm 34:14] tells us that seeking peace isn't enough. That verse says, "Seek peace and pursue it." Are you pursuing peace today?

You have the right to pursue peace... which means that today... you have the right to pursue Jesus. Let me ask you something today: Are you willing to pursue the peace of God in your life today? Then, pursue Jesus!

Jesus is the gift of peace. Jesus is the giver of peace.

Peace for eternity. Peace for today.

God's given you access to salvation... and access to peace... through His Son... But it's not enough that you know that... He said-you must pursue Him! In [Jeremiah 29:13] the Lord said, "You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart."

Are you willing to do that today?