Looking Forward to Peace

Praise and Prayer

What is your favorite Christmas movie you find yourself watching every year? (I love the classic A Christmas Carrol.)

Last week we talked about looking forward to Hope this week we are going to talk about looking forward to Peace!!

The point; We can have peace when we have Jesus!!

Did you know there is a Hallmark Christmas channel and you can watch those corny Hallmark Christmas movies all year?

What’s funny is the plot is always the same. There is this handsome guy who is on a business trip and ends up in this small town, in the middle of nowhere. He meets this beautiful woman who is recently widowed, and the two of them come together to some how save the Christmas celebration for this small town, and everyone lives happily ever after!!

The only problem is that’s not real life. It is hard to find happy endings in the real world, even though we all long for it!! We long for peace! That is probably why those movies are so popular.

The Christmas story is actually very different from that!! God sent His Son into a world that was broken, and dark. He came on a rescue mission to save us from sin, hell, and death!! He was born to bring us peace in the middle of the conflict.

Isaiah 8:20–22 NASB95

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. They will pass through the land hard-pressed and famished, and it will turn out that when they are hungry, they will be enraged and curse their king and their God as they face upward. Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness.

In Vs. 21 who are we told they will be enraged at and curse? (Their king and God)

In Vs. 22 Where are they looking unto? (The earth)

In other words the people Isaiah is talking to, are angry with God and looking for help from the world!!

Isaiah is telling the people they have come to a crossroads. They could choose the Word of God, notice vs. 20 the law and the testimony, or they could choose the darkness of the world. Vs. 22

And notice when they choose the world and became hungry they cursed and blamed God!!

I can’t help but think how people today are no different than in the days of Isaiah. We choose the world and when it doesn’t work our for us we blame God!!

People today seek wisdom and understanding from fortune tellers, and podcasters. We binge watch terrible TV shows for inspiration and enjoyment and just like the children of Israel in the days of Isaiah we are looking to the world for peace, and there is no peace to be found from the world!!

What Isaiah was saying here is; people are blind, deaf, and helpless when they seek truth apart from the grace of God!! The people of Israel had forgotten the word’s of Solomon in Eccl. 2:11

“Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.”

What Isaiah is doing is setting the stage for the message of the Messiah!! He wants them to recognize that everything they have been doing is not working and it is never going to give them peace.

When there is no peace in our life we will do anything to try and get a little taste of it!! Even if it is just a cheap imitation of something that resembles peace!!

Isn’t it ironic that at a time we set aside to celebrate the arrival Christ, peace on earth and good will toward man. We have turned it into a time of chaos and confusion. It has become a time filled with shopping lists and travel plans and high expectations that can never be met. We end up so disappointed and unfulfilled.

It is only when we allow Jesus to become the center of our celebration that peace reigns!! That is the point Isaiah is making here.

How does this passage describe our world today? How are we looking to the world instead of Christ for peace?

Isaiah 9:1–5 NASB95

But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them. You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.

What does Vs. 2 tell us the people who walked in darkness have seen?

There is nothing more frustrating or dangerous than stumbling around in the darkness trying to find your way.

Several years ago I was working with a crew of guys at Ford Motor Company in Dearborn. We were working nights and it was the day before Thanksgiving. There was a power outage in the plant and all the electricity was gone. You couldn’t see anything.

We waited about a half hour but nothing changed so we decided to try and make our way out of the plant. We could barely see each other as we grouped our way through the final area before we reached the parking lot.

It was an area that was under construction and Pat, one of the guys stepped into a pipe canal, an opening in the floor allowing pipes to come through, and he fell 30 feet into the basement.

I heard him screaming on the way down and then there was nothing!! It was terrible and it was frightening. I seen a guy walking with a flashlight about 100 yards away and I yelled for help. He ran over and shinned his light into the hole and I could see Pat not moving. I thought he was dead.

We were able to call 911 and get Pat out of there, and even though he is permanently disabled. If it were not for the man with the light He would have died that night!!

Darkness makes doing anything almost impossible!! The children of Israel knew all about darkness. We saw that in chapter 8, they were playing with spiritual darkness and idolatry. But notice what Isaiah is saying in chapter 9.

In Vs. 2 a light dawns. in Vs. 3 Joy abounds. In Vs. 4 injustice is crushed and the rod of the oppressor is broken. Vs. 5 is talking about the war coming to an end.

Why is all of this taking place? because the light has appeared and Isaiah is telling them that peace is on the horizon.

From the moment Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden war has taken over the earth. Historians record that over the last 3400 years the world has only been without war for 268 years. That is amazing, we live and dwell in conflict.

We see it all around us today. War In the middle east, war between Russia and Ukrain. on a more personal level we all experience conflict in our families, churches and government. It seems that no matter what we do we can’t escape it.

So, how can we have peace in a world where there has never been peace? well, it all begins with Jesus and that was the point Isaiah was trying to make.

Jack Dawson is a man who painted a picture that describes what peace in Christ looks like. It’s called “Peace in the Midst of the Storm.” It is a picture of a violent thunderstorm with Lightning striking all around, and a battering rain coming down. And down in the corner of all of the chaos is a hollow place in a rock where a dove and her chicks are sleeping. The point is when you have Christ you can have peace no matter what is going on in the world!!

What is amazing is even though we want the world to be at peace and everyone around us to get along, we really find a deeper peace with Christ when everything seems to be falling apart. We find a peace that surpasses all understanding when all we have is Jesus. Someone once said, “when Jesus is all you have that’s when you learn that Jesus is all you need.”

How has Jesus brought peace to your life?

Isaiah 9:6–7 NASB95

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

This is the high point of Isaiah’s prophecy. He tells them and us, not only is a Messiah going to come, but He is going to come as a child, He is going to rule the world!!

Notice the change in the way he addresses the people. Before he was saying “they” should live according to His Word. “They” look to the earth. “They” shall be driven to darkness. But now he says, Unto “Us” a child is born. Unto “Us” a Son is given. All of this speaks of the providence of God!!

But there is more, notice what the Messiah is going to be called.

He is the Wonderful councilor. That means He is not some distant king who you can’t talk to. No He is an ever present friend who will council you and direct you when you don’t know what to do!! He is a companion with wisdom and understanding.

He is the Mighty God. That means He is powerful and able to lift every weight that we are under. Nothing is beyond His strength and capabilities.

He is the Everlasting Father. In other words, He is not going anywhere. He will never leave us or forsake us. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. The one who is, was, and is to come!!

He is the Prince of Peace. That means that chaos is His specialty and He is able to settle our spirit in spite of our circumstances. He is able to restore broken relationships and bring reconciliation with our enemies. He is the Prince of Peace!!

Peace is the word Shalom in Hebrew, and it means to be complete or whole. And that’s what Christ does in our lives, He makes us complete.

Which one of these names for Jesus resonate with you the most and why?

Fast forward a few centuries later to a little girl in the town of Nazareth, named Mary and the prophecy of Isaiah begins to unfold. Luke 1:31–33 ““And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.””

Notice the details!! God is in control and what He says will come about. But it is important we also notice the span of time!!

It is hard for us to see the hand of God at work in our lives when sometimes it takes so long!! We can become frustrated and even give up when God doesn’t operate on our timetable.

So, if you are praying for peace and just continue to find yourself in conflict, don’t give up!! Continue to pray!! Continue to trust God and look to Him for your peace and not the world.

Some things we can do to find peace is;

Listen. Spend some alone time with God reading and listening to a good Christmas carol that exalts Jesus. And think about the peace that God gives you in the midst of conflict.

We can meditate. John 14:27 ““Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” Take a scripture and spend some time meditating on what God says.

We can reconcile. Consider the whole concept of Shalom, and ask God to bring someone to your heart that you need to forgive or ask for forgiveness. You initiate the reconciliation and let God work out the details.

The point; We can have peace when we have Jesus!!