Advent Week 2: Jesus Our Peace

Well, we are celebrating the second week of / / Advent as we wait with great anticipation for the arrival of our savior, Jesus Christ!

No, Advent isn’t the 24 bottle of wine countdown calendar. It’s not the chocolate or lego or there’s even a Chanel #5 fragrance calendar. I kid you not. And not to be outdone by them, you can pick up your Dior advent calendar, or maybe you are more inclined to go for the Tiffany & Co calendar with a cool price of $150,000. You can’t make this stuff up folks...

I noticed this week, as I opened my cheese calendar, that in the top corner it says that it pairs well with their wine calendar… Of course it does.

Well, we put some things straight last week as we went through what Advent actually is, why we would want to participate in this long standing Christian tradition, and that the first week is all about / / Jesus our Hope.

And I truly HOPE that was your experience this past week, that you encountered Jesus your Hope.

/ / Advent means the arrival of a notable person, thing or event! Originally from the latin word adventus, and it has been used within the Christian church for somewhere around 1600 years as this beautiful celebration and dedicated time to anticipating the arrival of Christmas, where we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

So, / / advent by definition is the arrival of something or someone important, by Christian understanding it is the arrival of Jesus Christ, both as baby born in a manger, and soon coming King when he will one day return, but also the Christian tradition and part of the Christian calendar of the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas day.

As we continue our journey through these 4 weeks of advent, we are going to start reading some of the Christmas story this morning from the book of Luke.

Starting in Luke 1:26, / / During the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, the angel Gabriel was sent from God’s presence to an unmarried girl named Mary, living in Nazareth, a village in Galilee. She was engaged to a man named Joseph, a true descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Grace to you, young woman, for the Lord is with you and so you are anointed with great favor.”

Mary was deeply troubled over the words of the angel and bewildered over what this may mean for her. But the angel reassured her, saying, “Do not yield to your fear, Mary, for the Lord has found delight in you and has chosen to surprise you with a wonderful gift. You will become pregnant with a baby boy, and you are to name him Jesus. He will be supreme and will be known as the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God will enthrone him as King on his ancestor David’s throne. He will reign as King of Israel forever, and his reign will have no limit.”

Mary said, “But how could this happen? I am still a virgin!”

Gabriel answered, “The Spirit of Holiness will fall upon you and almighty God will spread his shadow of power over you in a cloud of glory! This is why the child born to you will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What’s more, your aged aunt, Elizabeth, has also become pregnant with a son. The ‘barren one’ is now in her sixth month. Not one promise from God is empty of power, for nothing is impossible with God!”

The Mary responded, saying, “This is amazing! I will be a mother for the Lord! As his servant, I accept whatever he has for me. May everything you have told me come to pass.”

Advent - the arrival of a notable person, thing or event!

Who is this child? Who is this baby to be born? A true descendent of King David, the rightful heir to the throne of David, King of Kings, the very Son of God, God himself, the Son of the Most High! If that’s not the arrival of a notable person, I don’t know what is.

This is why we started with Hope. / / Jesus our Hope, it’s not some wishy-washy, half baked hope we have in Christ, but Romans 15:13, is a prayer that Paul prays over the church in Rome and he says, / / May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

He is THE God of Hope and by HIS Holy Spirit WE can not just have a bit of hope, but ABOUND in Hope… or have an abundance of it. AND, / / Hope itself is a confident expectation in a positive outcome.

So, we are in the second week of Advent, and the focus this week is on / / Jesus our Peace! And of course, we’re not just giving him that title, but we’re asking the same questions we asked last week, what does that mean for us? How do we experience Jesus our Peace? How is He our peace? What does that look like?

I want to start with an Old Testament prophecy about the coming of Jesus from the book of Isaiah. The book of Isaiah was written around 700 BC, so roughly 700 years before Jesus was born. I don’t think we can even fully comprehend how important and how impressive it is that the Old Testament is full of prophecy about Jesus Christ written hundreds and thousands of years before his birth. The probability that someone actually fulfills the prophecies in the bible as much as Jesus does is staggering.

So, Isaiah 9:6-7 says this, / / 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. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!

Two things we need to draw from this scripture about the peace found in Jesus Christ.

/ / His NAME is Peace

vs 6 says that he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

We have a term for these types of names. It’s called / / Epithet. When someone is given a title like this that explains, or defines the way this person ruled or governed, or a quality of something they did. Think of names like Catherine the Great. Richard the Lion-Heart. Abraham Lincoln was called the Great Emancipator. And likewise in the other way we have Ivan the Terrible, of Vlad the Impaler, given that name because he literally was impaling people after he would take them captive. I know, what’s that got to do with Christmas?

These names, these epithets are expressions of the persons characteristic. So, when we say Jesus, the Prince of Peace, we are saying that his rule and his reign are defined by this quality and characteristic that he embodies.... Peace!

Where He goes, there is peace.

Where He rules, there is peace.

Where He is invited, peace follows him into that time and space.

This is a characteristic of who he is, inseparable. It’s how he rules and what happens when he arrives. He is the Prince of Peace. The Ruler who brings his peace to the people he rules.

/ / His peace will never end

vs 7 says, His government and its peace will never end.

I like how the ESV translates it, it says, / / Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.

The word Increase there means increasing and also abundance. So, / / the government of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, is ever increasing, ever expanding in its abundance.

This is the very nature of God’s Kingdom. He doesn’t take control of us. He doesn’t force us to follow Him. He is ever inviting us to follow him and be changed by His love as we allow him to love us. So in that sense the expansion of Jesus’ government, his kingdom of peace, is ongoing every time someone says yes to the free gift of salvation and relationship with Him.

We talked about this earlier in the year when we looked at the Kingdom of God, when we choose follow after Jesus we come UNDER HIS rule and reign, and at that moment we are then protected in His kingdom, provided for in His kingdom, looked after and no longer trying to build our own kingdom, but secure in His.

The kingdom expands with every heart that that chooses to let God be its ruler.

And maybe there is a natural element to this as well. The bible says that / / the heavens proclaim the glory of the Lord. The skies display his craftsmanship. (Psalm 19:1)

Our best understanding is that the universe itself is expanding, constantly. NASA’s website states, “The Universe is getting bigger every second. The space between galaxies is stretching...”

And my belief, and what I’ve seen is that science is always just catching up to God’s truth, and as we slowly catch up, as understanding unfolds, it continues to prove the supremacy of God.

So, of the increase of His government, which he is the God of the Universe, will never end.

So it’s ever increasing, but it’s also abundant. And if where Jesus goes, his peace follows, then his peace is this abundant gift to us just like his hope is. When we receive him, we receive his peace.

1 Corinthians 14:33 says, / / For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

He doesn’t want you to be confused, he wants you to have peace.

So, what is this / / peace of Jesus, and what does it mean for him to be our prince of peace, or to have the prince of peace rule over us?

Let’s define biblical peace...

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and the New Testament was written in Greek, so the english word peace is translated as such from two different words, one in Hebrew, and one in Greek.

The OT Hebrew word is / / Shalom and it means safe, well, happy, friendly, health, prosperity, peace and good welfare. It means completeness, soundness of body, quiet, tranquility and contentment. It also means to be at peace with God, meaning, to be in a covenant relationship with God.

The bible says in a few different places that because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ we are no longer at odds with, or enemies of God because of our sin, but we are in right standing, or right relationship, we are at peace with God.

Now, the New Testament, greek word, is / / Eirene, and it means peace, prosperity: quietness, rest. It means peace between individuals, or nations, which makes sense, we find as individuals and nations security, safety and prosperity because peace and harmony make and keep things safe and prosperous. It means the way that leads to peace (salvation); / / the tranquil state of soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, whatever that may be.

These are not just two words with similar themes, but they really mean the same thing. So, let’s look at what that means for us.

/ / 1. Peace is about our Salvation

Both of those words talk about having peace with God, meaning salvation. There is no longer a separation between us and God.

The book of Romans is all about this peace we find with God through our faith in Christ. There’s nothing we could do in our own works, to justify ourselves, but that it is ONLY by our faith in Jesus and the free gift of grace that we are saved, or made right, brought to a place of peace with God.

Romans 5:1 says, / / Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

We have peace WITH God because of our faith in Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 2:3-7 says, / / …God our savior wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity - the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time… I’m not exaggerating - just telling the truth!

I love that. Twice in that one section of scripture. God our savior wants EVERYONE to be saved and to understand the truth… Jesus gave his life to purchase freedom for EVERYONE.

This is the gift God gives us, all of us, every one of us, It’s his desire that we find freedom and truth!

Which is echoed throughout the bible over and over again, and probably the most popular verse that explains that is John 3:16, / / For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life… God loves the WHOLE world and EVERYONE has the same opportunity to step into that love!

This is God’s greatest desire, that all people, every single one of us, find Peace with him, through the salvation of Jesus Christ.

/ / 2. Peace is about our Prosperity

This takes a bit of defining and explaining because we have a bit of a warped sense of prosperity. If you’ve been around the church long enough, or you’ve seen preachers on TV or the internet you’ve probably heard the term “Prosperity Gospel” or “Prosperity Preachers”, and might have even heard someone telling you to give money to their ministry or church or organization and that when you do God will bless you with all the things.

Not what I’m talking about.

/ / Prosperity means to be prosperous, and to prosper simply means to be successful, to flourish, physically, to grow strong and healthy.

Now, of course we have Kaylee, who is 8 years old, and one of my concerns, or goals in this life as her father is that I want her to be what…SUCCESSFUL. Of course I do. That’s one of my responsibilities as a parent is to set her up for success. Why would we think God is any different?

Here’s where we tend to get things a bit wrong, when we look at the word prosperity and think it only has to deal with money or possessions. Because when it comes to God & money, or especially the church and money, and REALLY when the preacher gets up and starts talking about being blessed because of our generosity, we can get a bit bent out of shape.

I’ll be honest with you. This is a tension many pastors and church leaders have in their lives, that the reality is, we wholeheartedly believe, not just because of reading it, but because of experiencing it, that generosity, giving, and yes, the biblical practice of tithing, giving 10% of our income to God through making intentional donations to the church, we’ve seen financial benefit in our lives from it. We’ve also seen psychological and emotional benefit in our lives. When you freely give, and when you make it a priority in your life, you are constantly putting on the alter of sacrifice the hold that money can have on your life. It’s just the reality. Money is a powerful thing, and generosity keeps it in check.

There are things we must learn when it comes to money that aid us in being successful, and there are things about success that have absolutely nothing to do with money.

So, speaking specifically about money or possessions:

/ / God blesses people

It’s just what He does. God is a Good God, He likes to bless, it’s in his nature. His entire motivation is to bless people. First and foremost through the peace we find with Him through Jesus Christ, but also through transformed hearts, minds, relationships, lives. Jesus said that his purpose was that we would find life and have it abundantly, or to have a rich and satisfying life. And yes, we know that can be with or without money, but it doesn’t exclude money.

This is true regardless of who the person is. Whether they are good or bad, christian or not, doesn’t matter. Jesus said in Matthew 5:45, / / For he [God] gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.

What that says to me is that God’s blessing is available to all, and what we do to accept or reject that will make significant differences.

/ / God blesses action

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9, which is what I often quote about giving because it’s where he says don’t be hoodwinked. He says we should never give out of compulsion or coercion, which I absolutely 100% agree on. He also says in that scripture, / / Each one must give as he has decided in his heart. Meaning, how we handle our money is all up to us. It’s our choice. How we decide.

However, in that passage of scripture he also says, and he is talking very specifically about giving finances to the ministry of God’s work, he says, / / Remember this - a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop... God loves a person who gives cheerfully. And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

God blesses action. He blesses generosity. He blesses the heart and action of giving, providing for others, and giving into the work of His kingdom. It is what it is and I think it’s the greatest investment someone can make. The returns far outweigh the stock market in my opinion.

Another clear example is from Malachi, after giving a bit of correction about the fact that people had stopped giving, and specifically tithing, that 10%, Malachi 3:10 says, / / Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!

Proverbs 11:24-25 says, / / Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed!

And the last thing I’ll say on this one is:

/ / God provides for blessing out of HIS abundance

I think this is the greatest expression of prosperity. If we can keep working towards, and asking God to give us the understanding and transform our mind to truly get that our prosperity is not individual, or because of us, but that God’s heart is always to be connected to us, walking with us as a good Father, then we truly begin to understand prosperity.

We talked about being under the rule and reign, the authority of the Prince of Peace, right? Well if part of peace is prosperity, then we are under HIS prosperity, not seeking our own! Yes, we find success because of His goodness, but really, we’re learning to live in HIS success!

Think of it this way. Your child wants to buy someone a christmas gift, but they don’t have the money to do so. You don’t say, “No, you don’t have any money. Go get a job.” you are probably moved by their desire to be generous, and provide FOR them what they need to do what THEY want.

I know that if I get a present under the tree that cost something, but it says Kaylee’s name on it, I paid for it…ultimately, right? I mean, that was my money that got me that gift. Do I act any differently towards her or the gift? Of course not!

That scripture we were reading from 2 Corinthians 9, Paul says in vs 10, / / For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous.

God provides the seed, AND the bread. We get the seed and we work the seed, but ultimately God is responsible for the growth in our lives.

God provides for us in the first place, we get to be generous with what He provides, and then we find blessing because we’ve been generous. It’s a win win win kind of situation.

A lot of these things we look at are much like the physical laws we see in nature. We have the law of gravity, right? You jump, you come down. It’s just what it is. Well, scripturally we call giving or generosity the law of sowing and reaping. The bible uses these farming / harvesting type terms to talk about it. Sowing, reaping, providing seed, harvest time etc... And I’ve seen this active in people’s lives that were not anywhere near intentionally honoring God with their finances, they were simply generous people, experiencing the benefit of a spiritual law that God has put in place to bless humanity.

Remember where we started with this - God doesn’t NEED you to give to bless you, but by looking at these scriptures we realize that he’s created OPPORTUNITY to walk in blessing by living a certain way.

Now, like I said, provision and having what we need is ONE aspect of prosperity, but the true place of prosperity I desire to get to in my life is what Paul experienced when he wrote Philippians 4:11, / / …I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

Being content. One of the definitions of the word used there is independent of external circumstances.

/ / Peace is about our Prosperity, true contentment and peace in our situation, no matter what our situation or circumstance. It’s not even a place of knowing we WILL be ok, because that’s being effected by our external circumstances and waiting for something to change, but it’s truly understanding whether we have or have not, we are at peace with God and we can have peace IN that moment. Not effected by riches. Not effected by lack.

There’s a saying, / / Money isn’t the issue, it’s just an enhancer of your character. If you’re not nice, and you become rich, you’ll just be a not nice rich person. If you become poor, you’ll be a not nice poor person. But if you’ve learned to be content, at peace, and kind and generous, whether you have or have not, those qualities and characteristics will be the expression of your life.

And our last point on peace today:

/ / 3. Peace is about your Mind & Heart

Jesus says to his disciples in John 14:27, / / I am leaving you with a gift - peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

Our heart… the core of who we are, our inner being. that word troubled means to cause someone inward commotion, take away his calmness, to disquiet, to make restless.

And fear is caused by focusing on the wrong thing, that’s a very mental thing. Our mind loses focus on God’s goodness, sees the troubles of this world, and causes fear to come up, we get in this cycle of asking will it be ok, what if it goes bad, what if we lose, what if we don’t have enough what if what if what if...

But Jesus here is giving the gift of peace. I am leaving you with a gift.... peace of mind and heart.

This was a common theme in the ministry of Jesus, to talk about how we don’t need to worry, or be afraid, and yet, how often do we see people struggle with stress, anxiety and fear?

We’re going to bring this full circle here.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:25, 32-33 / / That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life - whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Seek first the kingdom… that word kingdom is the royal power, the kingship, or the dominion and rule. It’s not saying to seek a physical place, like the kingdom of God is somewhere to be found, but it is saying seek first the rulership of God in your life. Submit to the power and authority of Jesus Christ.

Why? Because when we submit to the rule of Jesus Christ we are submitting, or putting ourselves under the authority of the Prince of Peace, and where the Prince of Peace goes, his peace goes. This is how He governs, with Peace. This is why Jesus was able to say to his disciples, I am giving you my peace so that you don’t need to be troubled, or afraid but you will have peace of mind and heart.

So, in this second week of Advent we are celebrating the coming of the Prince of Peace. We celebrate God’s peace. We celebrate His peace that is not something far away, or in some kingdom we need to find, but that Jesus is the Prince of Peace NOW, and He wants to rule in our hearts and minds to remove all trouble and fear, worry and stress, anxiety and nervousness, and replace them with peace, comfort, assurance and hope.

I think at this time of year, a lot of these things can come front and center in peoples lives. The stress of not having enough, of financial burden, of christmas gifts, of family gatherings, of work / time off tension, of relationships. It can cause stress, anxiety, discomfort and trouble and fear...

I want you to picture something for a moment. We’ve all seen a movie or tv show that has depicted this well. Picture an old run down, poorly run, has a bad king, kingdom. The people are left broken and hurting. Those who have been ruling over them have overtaxed them, overworked them, crushed their spirits and hearts. There seems to be no hope.

But then word starts to spread. They have found the rightful king, and he’s coming, he’s on his way. Not just any king, but this one’s name is the Prince of Peace, because everywhere he goes the people find peace and prosperity. Where he goes sorrow turns to joy, regret turns to hope, fear turns to confidence and hopelessness turns to a confident expectation that everything is gonna be alright!

And word is that he’s not far off, he’s just around the corner. The city begins to change. Hope begins to return. In fact, even those who have ruled begin to get nervous, and begin to scurry. They know their time is coming to an end. The city streets start to fill again, people are coming out of hiding, out of the shadows, the holes, the darkness, because a new king, a good king, is coming.

Some called it advent, the expectancy of a person coming to set them free. Shepherds come running into the city telling everyone that they had seen these angels, heavenly beings that had told them, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” and they told them that they needed to go find this king who had been sent from heaven itself!

Could he be pleased with us? This God, this king? Could this peace be for us?

And then the time came. The Prince of Peace, came riding into the city, he wasn’t just there to visit, he was there to rule over our lives. He came bringing peace, quietness of heart and soul, rest, tranquility, health, prosperity, success, safety, security and salvation. The city was not and could not every be the same again. Joy filled the streets. People were filled with hope again. Peace had come.

Good story.... but can you see this for your life?

Because this is your story. It’s my story. We were under the heavy hand of stress, anxiety, brokenness… separated from God, and yet, in our darkest moment, salvation came to us. The Prince of Peace came and rescued us, entirely. Body, Soul & Spirit. And this is his desire, to rule in every area of your life and make you whole.

Question is, Will you yield to the Prince of Peace in your life? Will you honestly and humbly ask this God King to become the ruler in your life?

His peace is about your salvation

His peace is about your prosperity

His peace is about your heart & mind.

If you want His peace in your life, pray with me this morning. This is my prayer for my life as much as I want this to be a prayer for your life:

Jesus, I recognize you as the Prince of Peace. I honor you as the king who brings peace. And I thank you this morning for your sacrifice that gives me peace with God. I ask that you would rule in my heart, mind and body. Bring your peace to my heart. Show me how to live in your peace, every day, so I can have your success, and your peace in my heart and mind.