Unexpected Gift of Peace

How the world thinks of peace

The Oxford dictionary defines peace as follows:

the, “freedom from disturbance; tranquility,” or, “a state or period in which there is no war or a war has ended.”

We all have a place or an ideal of what peace in our own lives would look like.

- Day of no crying in my house

- Nothing on the to-do list

- A hike in nature

- Going out for a walk, etc…

Throughout the story of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament Shalōm is the most prominent term for peace.

שָׁלוֹם

peace; prosperity, success; welfare, state of health; friendliness; deliverance, salvation

Peace is a gift from God

Leviticus 26:3–6 NIV

“ ‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land. “ ‘I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove wild beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country.

Tell the story of Israel Judges - Kings

Peace is an accompaniment of God’s covenant

Isaiah 48:18–19 NIV

If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like its numberless grains; their name would never be blotted out nor destroyed from before me.”

The longing for the promised messiah after the exile

The promised messiah did not bring the peace Israel expected

Zechariah 9:9–10 NIV

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.

Unexpected Gift - The story of the clamps from AJ on Christmas

Mark 2:1–5 NIV

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

John 16:33 NIV

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

The peace of Christ is the reconciliation of humanity with God

When the newborn King made His appearance, the swaddling band with which He was wrapped up was the white flag of peace. That manger was the place where the treaty was signed, whereby warfare should be stopped between man’s conscience and himself, and between man’s conscience and his God.

Charles Spurgeon

Romans 5:1–11 NIV

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

We experience peace when we submit our lives to God

A great many people are trying to make peace, but that has already been done. God has not left it for us to do; all we have to do is to enter into it.

Dwight Lyman Moody (Evangelist)

Romans 8:6 NIV

The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.

Philippians 4:6–7 NIV

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Romans 10:9 NIV

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Advent Action: Sabbath

Peace with God allows us to wait and trust and rest in Him.