Christmas-Week 4-'Prince of Peace'

Turn our conflict into ‘shalom’.

Isaiah 9:6–7 NIV

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

‘Prince of Peace’

So it’s this portrait of a king, with the greatest, most powerful, eternal kingdom.

And he’ll be the ‘wonderful counselor’ (charges), mighty God (power), everlasting father (belonging and discipline).

But he’ll also be this ‘prince of peace’.

To understand - we have to know what peace IS.

The SHALOM of God

OT Shalom could mean lots of things

Could mean wholeness, health, security, well-being, salvation

Could apply to us individually, our relationships to people, nation to nation, or the relationship between God and us

The core idea of peace is COMPLETENESS

You can say, you’re bringing shalom (peace) when you bring something back to wholeness and completeness

It’s beyond simply ‘stop fighting’. TWO Nations - Shalom = working together

OT Shalom was not a product of human effort, but a gift or blessing from God

Psalm 29:11 NIV

The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.

Bible’s idea of peace was tied closely to the OT notion of the covenant between God and Israel

Not ‘God only cares about one people’

it’s ‘God’s peace and blessing depends on being in submission to his will and plan’.

This peace from God was conditional on obedience

WE believe Peace is an absence of conflict - the bible teaches that:

peace is God’s total authority executed over all humanity

We can’t really have God’s peace unless obedience to God is involved.

God wouldn’t be creating peace by simply letting everyone do whatever they wanted at any point, and just remove consequences. That’s not peace - that’s anarchy.

the point isn’t simply lack of conflict or consequence. The point is - actual, honest to goodness…goodness.

the history of israel was SUPPOSED to be one of such supernatural peace, stemming from Israel’s obedience to the covenant.

Moses, israel , mount ebal and gerizim. Blessings and curses.

Instead it was a time of judgment, exile and punishment

Even when Israel experienced this total failure, God’s Shalom also had a future oriented perspective - the coming of the future messiah and God’s salvation for His people

Jesus finally brought about God’s kind of peace

Zecharias in a prophecy over his unborn son John:

Luke 1:76–79 NIV

And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

So this coming messiah would bring about salvation, the forgiveness of sin, light in the darkness - and guidance to be able to follow the path of peace.

Peace was the ‘parting gift’ that Jesus left his disciples

John 14:27 NIV

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

And this is a peace that goes beyond anything we can understand or justify

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.

However, Jesus’ peace wasn’t simply the immediate end of all conflict and tension.

Luke 12:51 NIV

Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.

Jesus knew that this gospel would CREATE division and tension

Jesus came to provide the way for man to be reconciled to God through faith - and to ‘guide us to the path’ of God’s final execution of His plan for humanity

So two big dynamics - our individual relationship with God (which can be repaired), and the collective state of humanity (Where God is still working towards the garden of eden, erasing sin and bringing us back to perfection)

The OT covenant was God’s way of drawing Israel into a relationship with Him, where they lived out the truth that God intended for the world. And they failed at it.

This prince of peace came not just to bring forgiveness - he came to lead the path for whoever would follow back to this perfect paradise without sin that God created in the first place

So

Jesus brings both a ‘now and not yet’ peace

A ‘now’ peace, in that we can NOW experience relationship with God again

The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross made it so that we could stand before God again, and with confidence

Romans 3:21–22 (NIV)

But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

So this means, if we confess faith in Jesus - God gives us a righteousness, not based on our efforts, and we can stand before God.

But it’s also a ‘not yet’ peace

Matthew 13:41 NIV

The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.

One day, God will remove from the world both the causes sin and all those who do evil

This is that time of God’s will being totally executed in the world.

All those questions of ‘What is God doing? Where is he in this injustice?’ This is what he’s working the whole world towards.

As believers,

We are called to model this peace between each other

In the beatitudes, Jesus says this:

Matthew 5:9 NIV

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

And remember, this is God’s peace - the people who are willing to bring the completeness, the wholeness, the restoration that God is working through humanity.

James tells us that peacemaking is the path to righteousness:

James 3:18 NIV

Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

Paul reminds us that we have the power to make this peace because of Jesus

Ephesians 2:14 NIV

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,