TO US A CHILD IS BORN: PART FOUR – PRINCE OF PEACE

TO US A CHILD IS BORN: PART FOUR – PRINCE OF PEACE Isaiah 9:6 December 23, 2007 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction War has plagued our world as long as anyone can remember. War is the one thing humanity hates the most but has most consistently engaged in. In the words of Anne Frank: “... we often ask ourselves here despairingly: “What, oh, what is the use of the war? Why can’t people live peacefully together? Why all this destruction?” The question is very understandable, but no one has found a satisfactory answer to it so far.” We are always quick to offer a reasoned statement about how bad war is. Jimmy Carter in his Nobel Lecture five years ago: War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children. A Great sentiment indeed. But there’s always another, less humane view, such as that of Mao Zedong: War can only be abolished through war ... in order to get rid of the gun it is necessary to take up the gun. “Problems of War and Strategy" To borrow the words of the prophet Jeremiah: “Peace, Peace,” they say, when there is no peace. Isaiah promises in 9:6-7 that a child will be born who would be called the Prince of Peace and that of the increase of his government AND PEACE there will be no end. This one will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness forever. More than 7 centuries later Jesus was born, fulfilling so many precise prophecies as to leave no doubt that He was the Messiah. Angels announced his birth in this way: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth PEACE to men on whom his favor rests.” Jesus would say during His three-year ministry, “In me you may have peace.” [webmasters note: John 16:33] In His final, intimate teaching with His disciples He said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives…” [webmasters note: John 14:27]  and “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.” [webmasters note: John 16:33] The peace that the Prince of Peace brought to the world is different from our usual understanding of peace. I would suggest that it is different in at least three ways: First, it is not universal peace. The Word of God is careful to clarify this. The angels were clear: His peace would be to those on whom His favor rests. His personal promises of peace were given to His disciples, and not to the rest of the world. In fact, Jesus made it plain: “In the world you will have trouble,” but you may have peace in spite of that and in the midst of it. The second way in which God’s promised peace through Christ is different from the popular understanding of peace is that it does not come with reference to war. That is, His gift of peace was not simply the absence of strife (He actually said that precisely because of Him His followers would experience strife with family and others! [Matthew 10:34-39]). So His unique brand of peace had nothing to do with the absence of conflict. But He also said that this peace He is bringing to the world doesn’t come through war, either. In fact, worldly methods of settling conflict are exactly opposite of His purposes. At one of the most dramatic moment of Jesus’ conflict with the world’s authorities, His disciple Peter drew his sword and was ready to fight. Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back in its place….for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”  [webmasters note: Matthew 26:52]  He explained to His impetuous disciple that if the way of the kingdom had to do with this kind of violence, He could have called 12,000 angels to his side in a heartbeat. He insisted that His kingdom was not of this world, and its methods were higher than waging wars and winning with arms. The apostle Paul would echo this theme later when he said, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5) There is a third, all-important way that His peace is different from our worldly understanding of peace. Worldly ideas of peace have to do with making things easier, more comfortable in our existence in this world. Biblically speaking, that just isn’t going to happen! Essentially, we will never be without war and conflict in this world. The best we can do is try hard to minimize it, and personally learn to live above it, but we will never overcome war on our sinful planet. Even Solomon commented, “…there is a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:8) So, while we can never say that war and conflict are good things, neither can we truthfully say we will never engage in them. Ever since Adam and Eve disobeyed God and forfeited Eden, this planet has been a stage for conflict. I hasten to add, this is most certainly NOT the will of God—it is the will of rebellious humanity.     [Back to Top]