The Wait for Peace & The Cost of Love
Waiting on Jesus • Sermon • Submitted
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INTRODUCTION:
*Open your Bibles to Luke 2
In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.
And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;
for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
“This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”
So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.
When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child.
And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.
But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.
The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.
Pray, ask the church to be seated
*Listening Guides Out
In just a few short days, the wait will be over: Christmas will be here
Tonight we’ll have our children’s program
On Friday, we will have a Candle-light service at 6 pm
And then the Peace of Christmas will be here
For some, it will last but for a moment, as the work of unwrapping, cooking, and greeting guests will whisk it away as quickly as it came
For some, it will seem as though it never came, being robbed of peace by
a world of loss,
difficult relationships
and/or hard circumstances
But, for a blessed few, God’s peace will renew and restore them though the celebration of Christmas in a way that cannot be quantified
“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
Peace on earth…is that even truly possible?
Peace from War between nations...
Peace between political parties and rivalries...
Peace between ethnicities
Peace between those who look and think differently than you do
Peace between neighbors & friends...
Is there even peace in our own homes? How could there be peace on earth?
How could there ever be peace between men and God?
Peace is not what the shepherds expected in the presence of glory
And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.
Isn’t fear the right response of sinful man towards the glory of God?
Isn’t this the response we see from the prophet Isaiah,
In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.
Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
And one called out to another and said,
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,
The whole earth is full of His glory.”
And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.
Then I said,
“Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
In the presence of holy God, what fills man is fear, not peace
With our sin and brokenness laid bare, how can we do anything but fear?
“Peace on earth among men with whom He is pleased”-what man is God pleased with?
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there are any who understand,
Who seek after God.
They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.
How can there be peace on earth among men?
Why is it that we wait for peace that we cannot make and do not deserve?
What is it about Christmas that gives us the audacity to hope for such a glorious thing as peace?
Yet, peace is the great promise of Christmas!
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;
for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
In the birth of Christ we find peace we could not have hoped for!
But how? How is it that Jesus brings us God’s peace?
How can this child in a manger be the key to peace that all men hope for?
Let me show you three ways that He is exactly that, the first is this:
Peace betweenmen and God took the loving act of God
Peace betweenmen and God took the loving act of God
How is Jesus the key to peace? Because of the love of God.
We could not bring peace with God to ourselves-We had sinned against Him
God is holy and cannot be in the presence of sin
For man to be at peace with God, God had to act
This was true for Isaiah
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs.
He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”
Isaiah could not purify Himself; God had to act
This is true for us as well-
We were unable to do anything to pay for our sins
We stood separated from God, His enemies in defiance to His law
For us to have peace, God would have to act: but why would God act to bring us peace?
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
God loves us.
Not because He needs us
Not out of any obligation
God loves us simply because He chooses to
And because God loves us, He acted to save us from His wrath
While God is loving, He is also just:
no sin can go unpunished
Someone had to pay the penalty for our wrong doing
For there to be peace, judgment had to come first
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
This is the great proof of God’s love for us
That He acted when we hated Him
That He brought peace to children of wrath
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Yes, for us to have peace with God took the loving act of God, and secondly
God’s loving act to bring peace took the sacrifice of Jesus
God’s loving act to bring peace took the sacrifice of Jesus
It was sacrifice for the immortal, eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, always-present King of the universe to wrap Himself in human flesh
It was sacrifice for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords to take on our humility
In human form, Christ Jesus experienced the only need or want God ever felt
And yet all of these pail in comparison to the sacrifice of the cross.
In the cross, Jesus experienced the most torturous death imaginable
Yet, that wasn’t even the worst part-for He felt the wrath of the Father
For the only time in eternity, God the Father was separated from God the Son because of our sin
In the His death for your sin, Jesus experienced that separation so that you and I don’t have to.
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Our peace with God took the loving act of God, in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ
This baby born in a manger was born in the shadow of the cross
There is no greater act of love, humility, and sacrifice that could ever be made
Jesus said as much Himself, that
“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
In the peace of Christmas, we learn the true cost of love from God Himself
God loves you so much that He gave you His one and only Son
Jesus loves you so much He took on humility, sacrificed His life for your sins, and endured separation from the Father
It is this love that we are called to imitate in Christ, and it is through His sacrifice in love that Christ is exalted
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Our Peace with God takes the loving act of God in sending His Son
It takes the loving sacrifice of Jesus in becoming man to die for our sins,
And finally...
Peace between men and God takes your reception of the Savior
Peace between men and God takes your reception of the Savior
The fear of the shepherds was the right reaction at the site of heaven’s glory,
And yet the angel told them not to fear,
for the Savior had been born
God was dwelling with His people
And the separation caused by sin would end for those that seek Him
When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”
So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.
When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child.
And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.
But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.
The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.
There can be peace on earth in the hearts of those that know the Savior
For those that seek Him will find Him-
Be they shepherds or wise men
young or old
broken or shamed
Rich or poor
All that is needed is for you to come and receive your Savior and King
At Christmas, you can find the peace we’ve waited for
Find peace in God’s true act of greatest love in sending His Son
Find peace in the Child born to die as a willing sacrifice
Find peace in a world without peace in the Savior we have been waiting for
Find peace we couldn’t hope for, given freely to us, if only we will receive Him
Won’t you let this be the year, when the peace of Christmas never leaves you again
Because you seek and find the King born in a manger
Pray