PRINCE OF PEACE
His Name Shall Be Called • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 4 viewsJesus is the Prince of Peace for the whole world. He is the only path to peace with God and the only ruler who will make wars cease during His reign.
Notes
Transcript
TEXT: Isaiah 9:6
REFLECTION: Psalm 117
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
There are so many people who live in a constant state of conflict.
Some people are looking for a fight because they aren’t in one.
In the Charlie Brown Christmas Special, Charlie Brown was having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit, and Linus said, “Charlie Brown, you’re the only person I know who can take a wonderful season like Christmas and turn it into a problem.”
So many bounced checks promising Inner-Peace
So many broken promises shattering Peace with others...
But the Christmas story points us to the not-so-secret answer, CHRIST ALONE GIVES THE PEACE THAT OUR SOUL AND THE WORLD NEEDS!
Advent is about waiting.
There is a peace in our waiting - NOT because WE are faithful in our waiting…but because HE IS FAITHFUL IN HIS COMING!
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Isaiah is prophesying that a child / a son will be born (700 years before): And his name shall be called: PRINCE OF PEACE.
He is proclaiming this to a people that have dug themselves into a GRAND CANYON size hole because of their rebellion and disobedience to God.
Israel is on the “receiving end” of divine correction and judgement at the hand of their earthly enemies.
Things are bad and they will get worse
They won’t know peace for centuries.
IT WILL BE DURING ROMAN OCCUPATION that this child will be born, this son will be given.
TRANSITION
TRANSITION
Let’s look at the text again, but let’s focus in on this title, this name “Prince of Peace” as we hear these words:
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
The government shall be upon th e shoulders of the PRINCE OF PEACE
His reign of peace will never end
He will establish it and uphold it from the Throne of David
This peace will come with justice and righteousness.
HIS REIGN OF PEACE WILL HAPPEN - it’s guaranteed.
There are 2 types of peace that I’m confident this text is pointing us to:
1. The peace with God that we can only have THROUGH JESUS CHRIST!
2. The everlasting Kingdom of Peace that will exist when this present history of humanity wraps up, and Christ returns to rule and reign the world without end for all eternity from a new heaven and on the new earth!
BUT BEFORE WE GET TO THAT APPLICATION, WE NEED TO PAUSE AND CONSIDER THIS INCREDIBLE TRUTH:
1. JESUS SECURED OUR PEACE
1. JESUS SECURED OUR PEACE
He Is Victorious
- Peace did not come cheaply—it came through the defeat of sin, death, and the enemy.
8 …The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
26 …But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
10 … our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
I read those verses to you to illustrate the reality that Jesus Christ has overcome SIN.
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
We were AT WAR WITH GOD while living unrepentant as sinners!
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
James hits humanity hard…
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
We lack the purity, the holiness, the perfection to go to war with our sin - APART FROM JESUS CHRIST HANDLING IT FOR US & THROUGH US!
WHEN THERE IS CONFLICT, THERE MUST BE A TOTAL VICTORY - TOTAL CONQUERING OF THE ENEMY IN ORDER TO INSURE THAT THERE WILL BE PEACE.
Jesus did that.
He is PEACE where sin brings conflict.
He is PEACE where death brings separation.
He is PEACE when the devil wages war.
He was not only NAMED THE PRINCE OF PEACE because of what WHO HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN - THE SON. BUT BECAUSE OF WHAT HE WAS BRINGING WITH HIM.
There was no cosmic war as if EVIL AND GOOD were on the same plane.
JESUS SHOWED UP THE VICTOR AND THE DELIVERER OF PEACE AS A BABY IN A MANGER!
He didn’t have to DO ANYTHING TO EARN THE TITLE…HE JUST IS.
AND YET, HE DID EVERYTHING TO PROVE THIS IS WHO HE IS! WHAT A SAVIOR!
This One is a Prince, and He seeks the greatness of His kingdom and of Himself not in war, as do ordinary rulers, but in peace. He establishes peace; He seeks it and pursues it.
Edward Joseph Young
Turn to Luke 2:10-14
10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
Jesus’s arrival for the shepherds marked the STARTING PLACE of peace to all those on whom His favor rests—to all those with whom He is present, which includes us.
The God of peace is truly with us.
Restoration of wholeness and oneness with God is the essence of peace.
Think of the shepherds at one end of the spectrum…and the magi (making their long journey) at the other. The shepherds will encounter Him as a Baby - the Magi will encounter Him as a young child.
THIS Peace is not based on class or position or occupation but on His purpose and design to bring good news that will cause great joy for all the people.
Isaiah was looking way ahead.
The angels were announcing the arrival: Glory to God in the highest! The Prince of Peace has come.
2. JESUS SUSTAINS OUR PEACE AS HE REIGNS IN OUR LIVES!
2. JESUS SUSTAINS OUR PEACE AS HE REIGNS IN OUR LIVES!
In this world, we shall have tribulation, but GOD GIVES HIS DEAR CHILDREN PEACE.
A few scrolls later, Isaiah would write…
3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Way back in history as recorded in the Old Testament, when God gave the Law to Moses and set up the roles and duties of the priests to guide the spiritual life of the ancient Jews, He gave them the ultimate blessing to speak to the people:
24 The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
The Hebrew word used in that blessing and throughout the Old Testament is shalom, and it conveys rich, powerful meaning.
So much more than just the absence of fighting, shalom reflects safety, completeness, and wholeness.
The Jews of Jesus’s day wanted a Messiah to establish political justice against their oppressors.
After all, they lived under the iron rule of the Roman Empire, and this was not by choice.
They were a conquered people, at the mercy of a powerful military empire.
But the Jews also understood and longed for shalom. The concept was foundational to their culture and spiritual life.
This completeness and wholeness with God is what Jesus BROUGHT INTO OUR WORLD…AND LEFT IN OUR WORLD!
This kind of peace is the kind that calms our souls deeply.
It is the calm acceptance that “it is well with my soul” no matter what swirls and storms around me.
This kind of peace is the kind we celebrate today.
The peace Jesus brings is not just something we feel—it is the reality of His rule in our lives.
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One day, soon...when Jesus returns, He will heal all that’s been broken and restore God’s complete kingdom of shalom.
3. JESUS WILL SURROUND US WITH PEACE WHEN HE MAKES ALL THINGS NEW!
3. JESUS WILL SURROUND US WITH PEACE WHEN HE MAKES ALL THINGS NEW!
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Isaiah is shifting around here in his prophecy
a child / a son is being given (FIRST ADVENT)
“government / kingdom / peace there will be no end”
this time forth and forevermore… (SECOND ADVENT)
The Psalmist sang about the coming reign of Christ!
7 In his days may the righteous flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more!
The Bible tells us
ONE DAY WARS WILL CEASE.
Yes, there will be the absence of war and hatred, but even that type of peace will be an extension of the wholeness that He will establish.
[[The ESV Study Bible (The New Heavens and New Earth)]]
There is coming a New Heaven & a New Earth:
17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.
This is the final phase of his redeeming work.
Creation will be restored and freed from the tragic effects of sin and the curse,
Perfect fellowship with God will be restored.
John gives us a glimpse of what’s coming:
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
Heaven and the New Earth will be joined together.
We will will work, play, eat, learn, and worship in our glorified bodies in company with Jesus Christ!
The very goodness of the original creation (Gen. 1:31) will here be restored and redeemed to perfection.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
THAT’S WHAT’S COMING…
BUT FOR TODAY, THE BIBLE MAKES IT CLEAR…
14 For he himself is our peace…
- The peace we experience now is real—but it is partial. One day, it will be complete and uncontested.
CONCLUSION:
CONCLUSION:
and A Child was Born and a Son was given…
When I can’t find my way
when I don’t understand…
when I need a friend…
when I’ve believed the lie that I am alone…
when I have lost the JOY of my salvation…
I CAN CALL OUT HIS NAME: WONDERFUL COUNSELOR!
and because this Child was Born and this Son was given…
when the enemy comes in like a flood…
or when he creeps in like a fog…
when the principalities of the air and the rulers of darkness of this present age keep on advancing the latest shades of perversion and wickedness
when the wicked seem to be taking ground right and left
when I have been overcome with my own weakness and insufficiency to the task
I CAN REMEMBER THAT THE BATTLE HAS ALREADY BEEN WON, THE BATTLE IS THE LORD’S
I CAN CALL OUT HIS NAME: MIGHTY GOD
and because Child was Born and a Son was given…
when I get distraught about timelines
when I’m prone to worry about some matters happening too slowly
when I’m disoriented because still other matters are moving so quickly
I NEED TO REMEMBER THAT FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING HE IS GOD
HE STANDS OUTSIDE OF TIME
HE IS BEFORE ALL THINGS: BEFORE THE BEGINNING, HE WAS
HE IS GOD YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER!
I CAN CALL OUT HIS NAME: EVERLASTING FATHER
and because Jesus came to this earth as this Child; this son…
when tears stain the pillows
when there is no rest for my wearied soul
when all around me my soul gives way
when I am troubled
when I am afraid
when I am afflicted
when I am perplexed
when I am persecuted
when I am struck down
in order to help me remember that I am not crushed, not driven to despair, not forsaken, not destroyed…I CAN CALL OUT HIS NAME: PRINCE OF PEACE!
Peace, peace, wonderful peace coming down from the Father above
Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray! In fathomless billows of LOVE.
CALL HIS NAME: Wonderful Counselor
CALL HIS NAME: Mighty God
CALL HIS NAME: Everlasting Father
CALL HIS NAME: Prince of Peace
CALL HIS NAME: JESUS!
KIDS:
Jesus gives peace
to our hearts (hand on heart),
our lives (arms out),
and our future (point forward).
FINAL:
Peace is not wishful thinking
Peace is doesn not originate within ones self!
Peace is a Person who has come, is reigning in His church, and is coming again!
Jesus secured our peace at the cross, He sustains our peace by His reign in our hearts, and He will one day surround us with peace when He makes all things new.
EVEN SO, COME QUICKLY, LORD JESUS!
