Jesus Is...Prince of Peace

Jesus Is…Prince of Peace

Introduction

When Jesus was born, there were some shepherds working the fields outside of Bethlehem. An angel of the Lord appeared to this lowly group to announce the Savior’s arrival. Then a vast group of angels appeared and declared this great truth:

- 14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

According to Heaven, one of the effects of the birth of Jesus was that peace would come to the earth. Here is the problem…one of the last words we could use to describe our world, or even our lives, is the word 'peace.' We have nations warring against nation. Kingdoms rising and falling. Military regimes change. Nations join into “peace” treaties, but they never seem to actually last.

Social issues divide us as a nation. We continue to polarize and fight about who is right and wrong. Political divisiveness threatens to cripple us as our leaders cannot get along long enough to fix the nation's problems. Individuals struggle with copious amounts of stress, high blood pressure, ulcers. Families are characterized by chaos.

Very few people I know could be described as being at peace. How many do we know who are truly content in life? Who don’t worry? Who don’t experience relational brokenness? And I think it is ironic that the Christmas season, supposedly designed to bring peace, is usually one of the most stressful and chaotic times of the year.

TS - Yet the message of Christmas is one of peace. The angel announced it as fact in . But there is even more to this peace thing at Christmas.

- 6 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

As we lead up to Christmas by looking at these four titles given for Jesus, we are seeing who He is and what He does. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. His domain is characterized by peace. Biblically, this peace is not just an absence of conflict, but the presence of wholeness. Completion. Nothing lacking. Shalom. Jesus' kingdom is marked by peace.

TS - The odd message of the New Testament is that peace is not only possible to attain, but is a dominant reality of the Christian. So what does this life of peace look like? How does the Prince of Peace establish that peace in our lives? Jesus establishes 3 types of peace:

1. PEACE WITH GOD

Something within us alerts us to the truth that we don't have peace with God. We feel this inherent need to appease him. Regardless of the religion, culture, time period - this is the story of humanity. We know something is lacking, so we try to make up for it. Whether it is sacrificing children (as some cultures/religions still do), cutting yourself, killing animals, offering incense, living morally upright, we intuitively understand we are at odds with God(s).

The bible declares this is absolutely true. It tells us we are not worthy of God and that we have set ourselves at war with Him. Then, to add insult to injury, we discover that the God of the bible, the one true God, demands absolute perfection from us. Well…I'm out. So now I need to work to get into his good favor. I need to devote my life to paying off this debt of imperfection that I owe.

And this is how a lot of religious people live out their existence, across the spectrum of the world’s religions, and in some flavors of Christianity. God demands me to be perfect. I'm not perfect. So now God is mad.

Now what? Well, some have simply given up and walked away from God. They believe he isn't worth pleasing, perhaps impossible to please, so why bother. Isn’t life more enjoyable and freeing if we don’t have to worry about making up some perceived debt to some perceived deity? Others however devote their lives to appeasing God. So they work. They serve. They steep themselves in guilt over their sin, because guilt makes us feel holy. They attend religious services. The live moral lives. All in an effort to make sure that God isn't mad at them.

But here is the problem...it is never enough. The bible says we fall short of the glory of God (that’s the standard!). The bible says our righteousness is like filthy rags to God. The bible says that even the most impressive of resumes is rubbish in God's sight. God does not accept the currency of our morality to pay the debt we owe him.

The bad news of the Old Testament is that there is nothing you can do to have peace with God. But here is this great ironic twist…The good news of the New Testament is that there is nothing you can do to have peace with God. God himself will come down to provide the peace. Mighty God will be our Prince of Peace. He will come down to personally pay the debt. To provide peace with God.

- 19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

2. PEACE REGARDING THE FUTURE

- 33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

This verse is a crescendo on a long discourse that Jesus has just given to his disciples. He says he told them "all this" so they may have peace. What is the "all this" he tells them that supposedly brings peace?

-He is leaving to prepare heaven for them.

- “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.

-He is not going to leave them alone.

- 15 “If you love me, obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. 18 No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you.

-Life is going to become difficult.

- “I have told you these things so that you won’t abandon your faith.2 For you will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God.3 This is because they have never known the Father or me. 4 Yes, I’m telling you these things now, so that when they happen, you will remember my warning. I didn’t tell you earlier because I was going to be with you for a while longer.

TS - He’s leaving…the Holy Spirit is arriving…life is about to get challenging. How could telling them “all this” bring peace?

You know, after Jesus leaves, they could feel that their last three years with him were of no purpose. Did they just waste three years traveling around, leaving jobs and spending so much time away from their families? They've slept outside because they had no place to stay. They've been so hungry they ate raw grain while walking through a field. They had no money. Was it all for nothing now that Jesus is leaving? No. It all has purpose. He is now leaving to prepare their eternal reward and dwelling place in heaven so they can be together for eternity. That would certainly give them peace.

You know, once Jesus tells them he is leaving, they could feel abandoned. After all, by their own words, the disciples had left everything to follow Jesus. And now he's just going to go away? What gives? That could create some anxiety, some friction in the relationship. But Jesus assures them...I will not leave you alone. I will come to you. The Holy Spirit is on his way to you. This is better.

Life will get difficult. How could that bring peace? Well, once Jesus is gone and they begin to live their lives in faithfulness to him, how will they react when it doesn't go well for them? When friends and family turn their backs on them. When they are stripped and beaten for their faith. When persecution leads to their deaths. They could begin to think that God had totally abandoned them. Maybe they got it wrong. Did they misunderstand Jesus? How is this life with Jesus a blessing if it’s causing so much pain? But he warns them. He tells them what faithfulness will do to their lives...and it is not all positive.

- 33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

Notice he never gives a promise that things will be easy. Only a promise for peace in the midst of anything. It is not a promise that he will change circumstances to be peaceful, but that he will change people to be peaceful in circumstances. God never promises this side of Heaven that all things are going to work out in the way we would like. That we will walk into situations and they will immediately be characterized by peace. The promise is that no matter what situation we find ourselves in, we can be characterized by peace.

- 6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

And it is not just that we can be peaceful in the present, but that no matter what may come in the future...we can have peace regarding it all as well.

This John who recorded these great words of Jesus in is the same John who was shown the great visions of Revelation. Seeing Jesus as risen and reigning over all things. Ushering us into Heaven and showing us life on the New Earth. Jesus defeating Satan and all those opposed to God. Righting all the wrongs, healing all that is broken. So no matter what today holds, or what the future holds, there is peace for us because we know how the Prince of Peace will eternally establish peace.

Intro clip – Thursday, October 27, 2011 was Game 6 of the World Series as the Cardinals were battling to stay alive against the Texas Rangers. I watched this game while I was out at a cabin on a retreat. My friend and I were there watching this and we were nervous wrecks. I was pacing. I was disappointed the Cardinals had gotten down to their last strike...again. Hope was lost. I was anxious. I could feel it in the pit of my stomach. But then this David Freese did this in the bottom of the 11th inning. [David Freese clip]

You know, I've watched that clip a couple dozen times since it first happened. I haven't paced once. I'm not anxious about it at all. Why the change? Because I know exactly what will happen. And when you know what will happen, you have peace.

3. PEACE IN RELATIONSHIPS

There is a natural progression to this. This one grows out of the first two.

If I have peace with God, I don't have to jockey for position to feel more important. I don't have to try to elevate myself by trying to demote others. I have peace with God, accepted and loved by him, so I am free to elevate others. I am now difficult to offend. I forgive quickly. I’m gracious.

If I have peace with my future, I don't have to throw others under the bus to secure my future. I don't have to step on others on my way up the corporate ladder. I don't have to completely own the outcomes of the lives around me and try to control them. Jesus has this covered.

The bible speaks often and highly of the need for relational peace:

9 God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.

- 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

How is it possible for people who are naturally at odds with one another, and naturally divided, to experience relational peace? At the cross Jesus removed any barrier to peace…peace with God or with people. When I realize that I have been forgiven by the sacrifice of Jesus, and this other person has been forgiven by the sacrifice of Jesus, the animosity fades. Any social divisions that divided are destroyed.

William Barclay - "When we have realized what Christ did for each and every one of us, it is no longer possible to regard anyone as being beneath us. The social grades are gone."

Conclusion/Invitation

The cross of Jesus brings peace. It brings peace with God as your sins are forgiven through faith in Jesus. The cross brings peace with your future as you acknowledge that Jesus is the risen and reigning Lord of all things. The cross brings peace in relationships as it destroys all the false divisions we create with people to attempt to prove ourselves as better than them.

Please understand - you cannot have peace at all without first having peace with God. You will never have peace regarding your future or peace in your relationships unless you have peace with God. Let the Prince of Peace establish peace in your life.

Believe/Repent/Confess/Baptize

PRAYER/SONG