Prince Of Peace
Prophecies of Advent • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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My favorite Christmas cartoon growing up has to be the Charlie Brown Christmas Special from 1965.
Do you know this television special? It’s has run, pretty much every Christmas, since it premiered in 1965. The thirty-minute animated special, based on characters created by Charles Schulz, was a bold experiment for the CBS network and for the Coca-Cola Company and its ad agency, McCann-Erickson. The network executives were nervous when they first saw the show: there was no laugh track; children’s voices exclusively voiced the characters and sang the music; a jazz soundtrack by the Vince Guaraldi trio accompanied what Charles Schulz himself called badly-drawn characters. The sound was bad (by modern standards), the animation barely matched the dialogue. It was rough and clunky. And, to top it all off, the highlight of the entire show was Linus, the anxious blanket-wielding character of the comic strip, reading this passage from Luke.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:8-14)
“That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown,” Linus says.
Charlie Brown goes home, determined not to let his Christmas be spoiled by commercialism, but he’s still thwarted by the little tree. Discouraged, he abandons it, but his friends come behind and decorate it. And suddenly there is peace and goodwill; everyone admires the tree, and the cast of characters bursts into a rendition of “Hark, the herald angels sing.”
It’s good that Charlie Brown escapes the commercialism of Christmas to find its true meaning. And believe me, the irony is not lost on me that, ultimately, the first airing of A Charlie Brown Christmas was, in effect, a big commercial--sponsored by a multinational corporation at the direction of its ad agency. Maybe it’s Vince Guaraldi’s score, maybe it is a little anxious boy speaking truth, but every time I watch it I come away with a warm, fuzzy feeling--that there can be peace on earth, and goodwill among all people--even the underdogs like Charlie Brown.
As we read our verse for today, let’s think back to that time. This once great nation was plagued with wars and kings that lead God’s people astray. Isaiah words were meant not only to give prophecy, but to give hope. It is a reminder what Christmas is all about…it is the hope and the peace we have in a baby born for us in a manger.
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.
Let’s pray!
Isaiah is very specific on his prophecy about the 1st and 2nd advent. He is describing the human and divine nature of Christ. Let’s look at this verse in sections.
For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us,
For a child will be born to us speaks to Christ’s humanity. This tells us that Jesus will be born of a woman as a child. We saw a bit of this in Linus’ speech earlier.
Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord.
The second part speaks of His deity. It tells us that He is also the preexistent Son of God who was given to us.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Born for us, Given to us. These two statements show us this simple truth, Jesus was 100% human and 100% divine.
To be born as a child meant he was born as a helpless, dependent child, but that poses a mystery. He could have been placed here as a fully grown man, the same way as Adam was made by God fully grown. But Christ wanted to identify fully with humanity, and displayed His life as a bondservant, coming in the likeness of man born of a woman.
Instead he emptied himself
by assuming the form of a servant,
taking on the likeness of humanity.
And when he had come as a man,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death—
even to death on a cross.
A son given to us. The true Christmas present for the whole world. He would be man, but oh so much more. He is also the eternal Son of God, the second part of the Trinity. We needed a perfect infinite Being to be offered as a perfect and everlasting atonement for our sins. We needed God with us. We needed Immanuel.
Something to note here, Jesus added humanity to His deity, not the other way around. He never became less God, but he added human nature to His divine nature. Thus a baby was born for us and a Son was given to us. The miracle of Christmas!
And the government will be on his shoulders
The 2nd advent prophecy. This part of Isaiah’s prophecy will be fulfilled in the Millennium Reign, when Christ will rule as King of kings and Lord of lords.
Then I saw thrones, and people seated on them who were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and who had not accepted the mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.
This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
Gayle Erwin wrote this about the coming government and Christ’s reign.
·What might such a government look like? First of all, it would look like its king. Politicians of this day look for what they can get from you. Jesus looks for what He can do for you.
·Leaders of this day surround themselves with servants. Jesus surrounds us with His servanthood.
·Leaders of this day use their power to build their empire. Jesus uses his power to wash our feet and make us clean and comfortable.
·Leaders of this day trade their influence for money. God so loved that he gave…
I do not know about you, but this is a reign I am looking forward too. A reign of selflessness, not of selfishness.
Let’s continue with the rest of our verse for today.
He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Wonderful- Our hearts and minds should be filled with His Wonder. His glory should fill us with wonder of who He is and what He has done for us.
Counselor- Jesus is the One who is fit to guide us and counsel us. It is a faithful counsel, one without self interest. He is a friend that cast no judgement. When we go to Him we get wisdom, we get love, we get sympathy. We get everything we need.
Wonderful Counselor, but also a Mighty God!
He is the God of all Creation, the One who reigns. The Lord that deserves all our praise and worship. Christ is the Almighty.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God and also our Everlasting Father.
Jesus is the source and author of all eternity, He is the Creator. To make this clear, He is not the Father in the Trinity, but He is the everlasting spiritual Father for us all.
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting father, and the Prince of Peace!
Sar-Shalom- He is the peace between God and man. He is the peace that bridges the gap between sinful man and a Holy God and eases our feelings of unworthiness because He is worthy. It is a peace that makes no sense to us. We deserve death, hell and the grave. But…But this baby born to us, this son given to us, seals a peace treaty that gives us access to glory. All you have to do is ensure your name is on that peace treaty, the Lambs book of life.
I will end with this.
John Calvin wrote these words about this verse and I can not say it any better.
“Whenever, in short, it appears to us that everything is in a ruinous condition, let us recall to our remembrance that Christ is called Wonderful, because he has inconceivable methods of assisting us, and because his power is far beyond what we are able to conceive. When we need counsel, let us remember that he is the Counselor. When we need strength, let us remember that he is Mighty and Strong. When new terrors spring up suddenly every instant, and when many deaths threaten us from various quarters, let us rely on that eternity of which he is with good reason called the Father, and by the same comfort let us learn to soothe all temporal distresses. When we are inwardly tossed by various tempests, and when Satan attempts to disturb our consciences, let us remember that Christ is The Prince of Peace, and that it is easy for him quickly to allay all our uneasy feelings. Thus will these titles confirm us more and more in the faith of Christ, and fortify us against Satan and against hell itself.”
That’s what Christmas is all bout Charlie Brown!
Let’s end our service now with our tradition of lighting the candles and praising our Lord and Savior with our voices.
