Peace: Already and Not Yet
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Last Sunday (December 1, 2019) the president of the West African nation of Burkina Faso confirmed that 14 people were killed in an attack on a Protestant church in the country’s east.
Henri Yé, president of the Federation of Evangelical Churches and Missions in Burkina Faso, said this about the church and the attack:
“It is a small, new church with less than 30 members. Most of them are young men and girls between 10 and 14 years old. Only one of them is reported to be over 40 years old.
There was no pastor there, just someone who was leading the worship. Women and girls were kept inside the church. Only men were driven outside the church and killed.
Among the martyrs, some are very young: 10, 12, and 14.
We would like Christians around the world to join us in prayer. There is no need for the church in Burkina Faso to be fearful; no need to be angry nor to complain. Just pray that the Lord, the Prince of Peace, rescues Burkina Faso from terrorism—from threat and fear. The Lord will give us victory over those who oppress us.”
This attack is the fourth reported so far this year on Christians in that country—young men and women, children, missionaries, pastors. We have friends, some of our church-supported missionaries serving in Burkina Faso (and Ghana and Togo).
Austin and Amanda Ganyo (with their two children) minister there; they are there planting churches, spreading the Good News about Christ, the Prince of Peace—all this amid the terrorist-riddled landscape of West Africa.
We, along with our brothers and sisters in Burkina Faso and around the world, cling to the promise spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
6 For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
From the time Isaiah spoke these words, centuries before the first Christmas, and long before; from the moment our first parents fell and were ushered out of Eden, the longing has been for the Prince of Peace to come, for peace to overshadow the violence sin hath wrought.
“...pray the Lord, the Prince of Peace, rescues Burkina Faso...”
Immediately after Isaiah shares the promise of Messiah, we see the problem: sin is running rampant. Arrogance, oppression, and pride rule God’s people, Israel. The picture in Isaiah chapters 9-10 is bleak, sad, terrifying. The Lord is angry with His people. A repeated refrain echoes in their ears as the prophet thunders again and again:
“His anger is not turned away, His hand is still upraised.”
The Lord is judging His people. In righteous anger, the Lord’s judgment cometh. The hand that once delivered Israel from the Egyptians is now extended to strike His own people.
22 Though your people be like the sand by the sea, Israel,
only a remnant will return.
Destruction has been decreed,
overwhelming and righteous.
23 The Lord, the Lord Almighty, will carry out
the destruction decreed upon the whole land.
God will use the Assyrians to carry-out the judgment on His people; Assyria is an instrument in the hand of God. God will use them and then God will take care of Assyria. If the nations were trees, we’d see only lopped-off branches, lofty trees felled, forest-thickets plowed over, the cedars of Lebanon struck down; the ax will meet wood until all come crashing to the ground.
33 See, the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
will lop off the boughs with great power.
The lofty trees will be felled,
the tall ones will be brought low.
Israel faces judgment at the hand of God; they are, along with their enemies, laid low. The landscape is flattened and desolate, mowed-down by a Holy God. A barren, smoldering wasteland is all that remains.
Stand and gaze at the desolate scene, vast forest reduced to virtual desert, and hear the faint whisper, the voice speaking promise: “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.”
After destruction, there is hope—not a faint hope or a wishful hope; this hope is not a dream. We have here in Isaiah 11, HOPE—eternal, living, faith-filled HOPE. This is a centuries-beforehand promise of the Christ:
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
This shoot, this Branch is our HOPE and our PEACE.
So we celebrate, this Christmas season, Jesus coming to us in the flesh. The eternally existing, second person of the Trinity—Jesus was God and made Himself NOTHING for our sake.
It’s this first appearance we celebrate during this time of year; this first appearance inspired the heavenly announcement of PEACE, which the shepherds heard while tending their flocks:
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
“On earth peace...”
We celebrate the incarnation of Christ, God with us in swaddling clothes, and the peace He brought to those who would believe.
And we long for the day when Christ comes again, when He returns to set the world at rights and brings peace: final, permanent, perfect peace; the time when:
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
That’s peace. How do we experience peace? When will peace come to us, or has it already?
Tyler introduced “Advent” and its meaning to us last week. He was spot on with the Latin; Advent is Latin for “Coming” or “Arrival”. We’re going to work on his Greek pronunciation, though.
You see, Advent teaches us that peace has come and that peace is coming. It’s here, and not yet here. Where peace is concerned, it is “already and not yet.”
The incomparable Fleming Rutledge reminds us that Advent is a recognition of the already and not yet. She writes:
It can be argued that Advent, more than any other season of the church year, is immediately relevant to our concrete lives…Advent is where we live, work, play, laugh, struggle, and die. Advent is ‘the time between’—between the first coming of Christ and the second coming, between darkness and dawn, between the kingdoms of this world and the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. It is not the time of fulfillment; it is the time of waiting. It is not the time of seeing face-to-face; it is the time of seeing through a glass darkly (1 Cor 13:12). It is not the time of triumphant victory; it is the time of bearing the cross.
In a very real way, peace has come.
Peace Has Come
Peace Has Come
This is gloriously, wonderfully true. Far from the barren landscape of Isaiah’s time, we live post-Christmas. We live long, long after, rather than long before, Christ’s inaugural appearance.
We aren’t staring out across desolation, awaiting the promise. We live post fulfillment. Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, the stump of Jesse has come.
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
We know, because of our position on the other side of the cradle and the cross, that Jesus is this shoot; we have the genealogy of the Christ which makes this clear. Listen for the names of Jesse and David as my good friend, Andrew Peterson, sings for us. (Play video— “Matthew’s Begats”):
1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12 After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
Abihud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
14 Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Elihud,
15 Elihud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
It matters that Jesus is the shoot from the stump of Jesse. It matters for the fulfillment of the prophecy, sure. But the expectation of the people was that the coming king was a coming David.
Every king of Israel was compared to their father David.
Only David is the son of Jesse. So when Jesse produces a shoot, it must be David. But it’s not David again. It’s the Messiah—a new and better David.
One of the most remarkable features of this passage is the dual title of the coming King as both the shoot and the Root of Jesse.
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.
The reference to Jesse indicates that the shoot is not just another king in David’s line but rather another David.
But to call the expected king “the Root of Jesse” is altogether another matter. This means that Jesse sprang from Him. He is root support of David’s family. The Messiah is the root cause of His own family tree, pending the day when, within that family, He will shoot forth.
Jesus is the author of peace (from eternity past), the originator of peace, the source of peace, the One who brings peace.
Peace is: relational, spiritual wholeness, well-being, security.
Jesus, the fulfillment of the promise, the One on whom the Spirit of the Lord rests—Jesus is peace for us—on earth peace. Jesus’ first appearance was that which brought reconciliation between God and man.
Our ONLY shot at a relationship with God is Jesus—the shoot and root of Jesse.
God was righteously, justly, understandably, rightly angry with us. What we deserve is destruction. We have warranted only and nothing but the ax.
Our ONLY shot at a relationship was the Christ-child coming in the flesh to rob our sin and make us holy.
A relationship with God, without the birth of the baby, was more than we could ever have even dreamt about. It was a pipe dream, an impossibility. Nothing we could have ever done would have ever, in a million years, made us right with God. It could not happen.
But Christ came and brought us peace. Peace through His body and His blood. Peace came through the violence of the cross.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
His lot, for our sake, was crushing, wounding punishment, resulting in death. Our lot, in and because of Him, is peace—peace bringing life and light, peace resulting in love and relationship. Jesus is peace with God where none existed beforehand. Jesus is peace with God where none would ever exist otherwise.
J.C. Ryle: “Now is come to earth the peace of God which passes all understanding—the perfect peace between a Holy God and sinful man; peace, which Christ was to purchase with His own blood; peace which is offered freely to all mankind.”
This is not the empty promise or wishful hope of “world peace.”
This is true peace: relational, spiritual wholeness, well-being, security. And this in the most significant and meaningful way. Peace with our Creator, peace with our Judge, peace with our Lord and Savior.
Jesus is our peace. Peace has come. The reality of a relationship with God is here and now. It’s available, full and free. It’s right now.
Come to Jesus—the Promised One, the King, the new and better David; the shoot and the root, the branch—where there’s literally nothing else, where everything else has been wiped out and destroyed, we have Jesus and we need nothing else.
You will never find peace with God through do-goodedness, church attendance, generosity, piety, hard work, being a “good person” (as if there is such a thing). You will never find peace with God through anything you do—not if you had a million lifetimes.
Peace with God only comes through a relationship with Jesus. Jesus is Peace, the Peace that has come and is coming.
Peace Is Coming
Peace Is Coming
The picture of the peace to come is beautiful and mind-bending. We can’t wrap our heads around it. We can’t understand how this might work. It’s so far outside our experience, beyond our imaginations, we have to take it in faith that:
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
So secure is the coming peace that a youngster can exercise the dominion originally give to Adam and Eve. Infants playing cards with cobras, hanging out and drinking tea with Mr. and Mrs. Viper.
There will be no hostility, no fear; it’s a new kind of world. A new creation. A return to Eden. Peace.
The human family will finally be one in Christ—all those who belong to Him by faith. The very environment will breathe with the peace of God, and we will never hurt one another again.
Every revolution, political campaign, civil movement has promised us what it could never give.
But if we bow to the rule of Jesus Christ, He will lead us into everything safe and pleasant, with no dark side, no guilty consciences, no unhealed wounds.
God will not set us in the clouds to play harps and sing in massed choirs forever. The victory of Jesus will be the awakening and purifying and restoring and gladdening of all things human.
His kingdom is the only and final answer to poverty, hunger, injustice, terrorism, racism, hatred, and all the other sorrows we have ourselves created.
It sounds too good to be true—PEACE, true and lasting. Its beauty and magnitude surpass our sight.
But we have reason to believe this audacious gospel. We saw the future glory in the resurrected Jesus on that Easter Morning long ago. It is a knowable event in our past. Jesus’ immortal newness on that day was the future in advance, peace over violence, peace over death, peace over hostility, peace over broken relationship—all on public display.
PEACE is coming. And the fullness of His kingdom is only an inch away. All that stands between the present moment and the promised future is the command of God.
All he has to do is give the order. And Christ will come again and judge and save and rule because He is Himself our PEACE.
Isaiah isn’t telling us when; he is telling us WHO, and that should be enough for us.
PEACE is coming—that is, JESUS HIMSELF IS COMING.
When Christ comes (the last verses of Isaiah 11 tell us) no earthly power can prevent His followers’ joy.
Whatever happens to us in the meantime, He will bring us safely home from all over the world in a second exodus.
11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean.
12 He will raise a banner for the nations
and gather the exiles of Israel;
he will assemble the scattered people of Judah
from the four quarters of the earth.
13 Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish,
and Judah’s enemies will be destroyed;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.
14 They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west;
together they will plunder the people to the east.
They will subdue Edom and Moab,
and the Ammonites will be subject to them.
15 The Lord will dry up
the gulf of the Egyptian sea;
with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand
over the Euphrates River.
He will break it up into seven streams
so that anyone can cross over in sandals.
16 There will be a highway for the remnant of his people
that is left from Assyria,
as there was for Israel
when they came up from Egypt.
None of those who belong to Him will be missing in action. We will forget old jealousies and unite in victory behind the Victor. And we will enjoy the happiest homecoming in history. PEACE IS COMING!
10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.
Peace has come. Peace is coming.
Peace has come. Peace is coming.
For our brothers and sisters around the world who live day-to-day, not knowing if today will be their last, not knowing if the persecution they face for their faith in Jesus will cost them their lives, the PEACE that Jesus has brought and the PEACE Jesus is going to bring gives them great joy.
They are secure—not in this world, but in Jesus.
They are whole—not in this world, but in Jesus.
They are satisfied—not in this world, but in Jesus.
They long for the Kingdom—not for any of the silly, sad kingdoms of this world (which are all temporary and passing away), but they long for the Kingdom of the Lord and of His Christ.
Jesus has come. Happy Christmas!
And Jesus is Coming. Any day!
The Prince of Peace, the Author of Peace, the Source of Peace offers to you...peace. That is, Jesus offers to you Himself.
Take hold of the life and peace He offers.
Let’s tell the world: Peace has come. And Peace is coming.