Advent Brings: Peace

We’ve come this morning to the topic of peace. Hope, Love, Joy, Peace.

Hope could be summed up as expectation. We didn’t go there, but one of my favorite passages in the Christmas narrative is the story of Simeon.

Luke 2:25–32 ESV

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

Here was a righteous man, a devout man, a faithful man. Day in, day out, in the temple, in Jerusalem, waiting, expecting, hoping. He had a great deal of hope, too, because he was privileged with a revelation from the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he saw the Messiah.

He was waiting, waiting for the Messiah, waiting for the Christ, and waiting, it said, for the “consolation” of Israel. Now, that is not a consolation as in a star, but rather consolation as in comfort. And for good reason, as there was much unrest in Israel at the time. There were wars and uprisings. There was the takeover by the Roman government, and then the counter-insurgencies of the Jewish Zealots. There was, perhaps, most notably at the time, the rule of Herod the Great. We see a glimpse of his character in the Christmas narrative concerning the wise men. When Herod gets wind of this newborn “king of the Jews,” he has every recently born boy in the region of Bethlehem killed.

Surely, there wasn’t a lot of “comfort” in Israel at the time. And that idea of comfort is closely related to another major theme in the mind of an Israelite, and another major theme in the Bible, and our theme for this morning: Peace.

In Hebrew, it is “shalom.” It is a greeting, a prayer, a hope to be well, to be complete, to be whole. It is the opposite of chaos, disorder, calamity, unrest. It is sort of an ode and a hearkening back to the original creation, where God said all was good, all dwelt in harmony with no bloodshed, death, or decay.

That peace, of course, affects as much inwardly as outward. As much as lack of peace can be seen in the physical realm, in the political world, in the world before us, it is also within us. We all know what it is to be at unrest. At lack of peace.

Back to Simeon, he knew what it was to experience unrest - in all these ways. But he was hoping, waiting, longing for the comfort of Israel. And one day, he finally saw it. That unique and glorious scene, when Joseph and Mary brought Jesus into the temple, and then this old man comes up to them, takes the child into his arms, and starts to sing!

Now, think of that! If you had a newborn baby, and you brought them to a public place, and someone you didn’t know just randomly takes your child and starts singing - you may have a surge of emotions at that time. But here Simeon has seen what his soul had been longing for, and it was wrapped up in the flesh of a little baby.

And what does he sing? “Noe you are letting your servant depart in peace.” In other words, I can die now - i can go now - my time here has come to a joyful end, because I have seen the Shalom, the peace that I have been wishing, hoping, and longing for all these years.

Peace. it is a great Christmas theme, a great advent theme, a great theme for life - because it is something that almost everyone desires in one way or another. Everyone desires for their world, their lives, their minds, their relationships, their emotions to be at rest, to be well-ordered, not chaotic, not in fear, not in dread. We do not yet know a world that is totally at peace, but what about inner peace? What about the kind of peace that Simeon had? Surely, the world had not yet changed drastically at the birth of Jesus, but Simeon found his peace?

What about that kind of peace? Can we have it, can we know it? And what would it do if we did have it and know it?

We read about the shepherds and the announcement made to them, and then after the announcement that great angelic host cried out,

Luke 2:14 ESV

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

And of course, that great prophecy in Isaiah 9 that says

Isaiah 9:6 ESV

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

So what about this peace? Well, today I want to look at peace in the sense that it is a reality that we can experience. I want to look at it in the sense that it is brought to us immediately because of the work of Jesus Christ. Once we have this peace, it will effect the rest of our lives. It will effect our relationships, it will effect our world. But we must first know that it is real, it is available, and it has come to us because of Jesus.

One of the major places we learn about this peace is in Romans 5. As we read the first five verses, look at what else we might spot in this passage that has to do with our Advent themes also.

Romans 5:1–5 (ESV)

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Did you see it there? Peace, of course, is in the first verse. But we also see Hope, love, and rejoicing.

All these great advent themes are not relegated to Christmas greetings or Christmas carols. They are part of our belonging and present reality in Christ Jesus, by faith in Him, because of His work.

Hope, love, rejoicing, peace. All by faith, all because of Christ.

Peace, along with all the other blessings of Advent, is a present reality because Christ was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

1. Peace with God - 1-2

Now, we have spoken of many kinds of peace already, inner peace, world peace, political peace, emotional peace. But there is one peace that comes through faith in Jesus Christ that is foundational to all these things, and that is peace with God.

This statement by Paul is powerful, and it can be read in two ways. Both are valid ways to understand it, and both are transformational if we really apply them to our thinking.

The first is just how it is put here.

“we have peace with God...”

That is, peace with God is a present possession. That is, we who were once enemies, as paul says later in this passage, and in other places like Colossians 1, we have peace with God.

That is, no more hostility. No more fear or repercussion. No more enmity. No more worry of our standing before the judge. It is one thing to stand before the judge innocent, and hope that you are proven innocent in the trial. It is another thing entirely to stand before the judge guilty, knowing that whatever sentencing you receive you deserve. But then to be taken from that place, and pronounced free - pronounced innocent - pronounced clean, that is a wonderful thing. And that is what Paul is declaring here. we have peace with God.

The other way that this could be read or translated, is “let us be at peace with God.” This is more experiential than it is abstract. Knowing that we have peace with God, let us live that way. Let us live before God and others as those who have a right standing, and a right relationship, before the God of all the universe.

This is peace, both in knowledge and experience, because of Christ.

Through Faith

Paul begins this chapter with a clause of causality. Or in other words, a “because of this you have that” statement. He says, “since you have been justified by faith, you have peace...”

This is where the rubber meets the road in our experience with Christs blessings. They come down to us first and foremost by faith. In the previous chapter, Paul speaks mostly of Abraham. That is where his whole argument is coming from.

Specifically speaking of the promise to Abraham that he would have a son, and become the father of many nations, we read this.

Romans 4:20–25 (ESV)

No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Do you see that? Abraham is our prime example and touchstone of “justified by faith.” As Abraham’s faith was counted to him as righteousness. And we read that it was not for his benefit alone, but for ours also. We also, who believe in the one who raised Jesus from the dead, receive the benefits of his saving work by faith, because he was delivered up for our sins, and raised for our justification.

It is by faith, by faith alone, that we are justified in the sight of God. And it is by faith that we are at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now yes, faith without works is dead - a saving faith is a living faith. But works without faith are dead also. No deed of righteousness apart from faith in God and our Lord Jesus Christ can bring this peace.

In Grace

Reading on in verse 2, we see also that by faith we receive the grace that we stand in. Now, grace means favor. Concerning salvation, it is unmerited favor. But it also means help. And with the concept of access here, we think of that idea - access into help. Access into grace. Access into this standing. That standing is our justification, our relationship with God, our peace with God.

And one of the major benefits of that peace with God, is our access to Him by way of prayer.

Hebrews 4:16 (ESV)

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

This is one of the ways where “peace with God” as an experience should shape the way we live. Because of the peace we have recieved by faith, we have access to God Himself. We can approach his throne with confidence. Not cockiness, there is always humility and meekness, just as there is in Jesus Christ. But there is confidence to go before his throne.

Our good standing with God because of Jesus Christ goes before us as we approach His throne. As we come to his feet, we are received as one of His children - one of His sons. As we speak to Him, he hears us as one of His own. There is no question of whether He will turn His face away from us. Because of Christ, and by faith, we have access into this grace in which we stand.

With Joy

All of this is cause for rejoicing. Now, in your translation you may have a different word - you may have the word “exult.” This is joy, but it is a different word for joy or rejoicing.

To rejoice in this way, or exult in this way, is to express an unusually high degree of confidence or expectation in something. And what is it here that is being rejoiced over?

It is hope of the glory of God. Now, this is one of those phrases that is a little hard to understand. What is being hoped for exactly? Is it an eternal hope, hope of eternal life? Is it hope that we will see the glory of God? Is it hope that we will receive the glory of God? It may be all those things in one sense. But maybe we can point out one thing.

Think of all this in terms of our new standing, our new relationship. As enemies of God, we had no joy or hope in God’s glory. Think of being a sworn enemy of a King or a ruler. Whenever you saw his sign, his signet, his flag, his entourage, his palace, his decree, there would be resentment, fear, the need to hide, the need to cower.

But if there was peace in that relationship, all those feelings of fear would be gone. Then, when you saw the kings flag, his signet, his palace, his decrees, his majesty, you could rejoice and hope. And so it is with our great King! We can rejoice, exult, in His glory, and we have great hope because of the peace we have with Him!

2. Peace in Life 3-5

At this point in these 5 verses, the direction changes a bit. All that follows is still based on our peace with God by justification, but the effects begin to branch out into life.

Now, over the last couple weeks, we have seen the theme of suffering come up in our passages. I haven’t specifically tried to choose passages that deal with suffering, they have sort of come naturally. And I don’t have a specific reason why.

As I studied and prepared this week, part of my prayer to the Lord was that whoever may be in a season of suffering may experience all these Advent blessings in a true sense. Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace are all seemingly fleeting in times of suffering, but the coming of Christ brings all of those things in and through suffering. They are real, and can be real for you also.

Rejoicing

We continue on in this section with this idea of rejoicing, or exulting. We can rejoice or exult in God and His glory, his person, his attributes, all that He is. But we can also rejoice and exult in life because of Him, even in our sufferings.

We read this passage last week, but it is so fitting here.

James 1:2–4 (ESV)

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James says “suffering produces steadfastness.”

Paul says “suffering produces endurance.”

Sometimes James and Paul are pit against one another in theological arguments. But they are two men with the same source, the same Savior, the same truth. And here they both make the same point. And that is, suffering is valuable, and suffering does something. It produces something.

Now, this ties directly into peace. One of the major facets of peace is order rather than chaos. Well, one way to have peace in suffering is to know that suffering is not chaotic, it is not meaningless and empty, but rather it is ordered and purposeful.

There is something else major here. Why would we rejoice in our sufferings? Well, peace with God is a major reason why we can rejoice in our sufferings. We can rejoice in our sufferings because we know they are not punishment from God’s hand because of condemnation.

Romans 8:1 ESV

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

No, suffering is not God trying to do away with us. Suffering isn’t punishment from God’s hand because of condemnation, rather suffering is a tool for our sanctification. In this sense, peace with God makes room for other kinds of peace.

It makes room in an experiential sense, because we know that all things are ordained by God. He is working all things for our Good. It makes room in a practical sense, because once we know we are at peace with God, we can undertake the work of peacemaker, seeking to live at peace with others.

We can rejoice and exult in our sufferings, and we can have peace in our sufferings, and in our whole life, because that suffering is doing something - it is going somewhere.

Enduring

In this case, it produces steadfastness or endurance, which ties back into our theme of Joy last week, when we saw that Jesus Himself endured - for the joy set before Him he endured the cross, he endured the suffering.

Suffering produces endurance, or steadfastness, or patience. And, back to James, we are told to let patience have its perfect work - or its full effect. In other words, it is a process that is still doing something.

Now, James says that purpose is that we may be complete, entire, lacking nothing. And I don’t think Paul would disagree with that, but Paul gives us a few more links on the chain.

Endurance produces character. Character is genuineness. It gives the idea of something being tried, or tested, and being proven to be real. There is an interesting word picture here. In Roman times, when coins were struck or pressed, they would not be equal weights. Often they would have extra metal around the edges, uneven faces, fragments, chips, etc.

Well, the more inventive individuals learned that they could shave little bits and pieces of precious metal off those coins, but still use them as payment. This would be done over and over again, until finally a coin would weigh far less than it was supposed to. The coins would routinely have to be “examined” or proven by weight to see if they were still valid. And that is the word Paul uses here for Character.

That is, there is a sense in which our life experience, our sufferings, our patience and our endurance through those things proves to us our faith. As we experience peace with God worked out in these day to day struggles, our faith is being weighed before our very eyes, and God is doing his proving work for us. It is odd to think that trials and hardships can be reassuring, but they can be.

If you have had the opportunity to walk with someone to the end of their life, particularly a believer, you may have had a front row seat to experience this kind of reassurance. Often the saints that are most confident and joyful in their faith are the ones that are nearing the end of their race, nearing the end of their journey. A lifetime of trials coupled with the peace of God and the grace of access by faith has strengthened them to the point of great confidence.

We often think of dying and death as something to fear. Something to avoid. Something to be hidden and out of sight. But for the believer in Christ, death is just that final trial that builds confidence and assurance in our faithful Savior. The prospect of Death is no real enemy to those who are in Christ Jesus, for it is simply the end of our race, and peace that awaits us is simply the peace with God that has championed and led us all the way.

Hoping

One way to express this kind of peace in suffering and peace in dying, is hope. Yes, we have great hope, and that is the next link on the chain that Paul speaks of. Suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope.

There is an older song that reads, “the longer I serve Him the sweeter He grows. The more that I love Him more love He bestows.”

There is a sense in which God can never be better, or sweeter, and there is a sense in which we cannot receive more of His love and blessings. But from the standpoint of experience, which is what verses 3-5 are all about, we do grow in these experiences.

We do have more hope the longer we walk with Him. Think of Old Simeon. Waiting, hoping, seeking that peace and consolation. His endurance produced character, and his character produced hope, and that hope was realized in that infant, Jesus Christ.

We, too, have this hope as we wait, walk, and serve the Lord. And it is not hope in hope, or hope against all odds. It is hope that is backed by something, something tremendous.

Our hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love is the sign and guarantee of its validity. There it is, we have seen all the Advent blessings in this passage now. Hope, Joy, Peace, Love.

Love, Paul says, is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. That is why hope does not put us to shame, because we have a “down payment” with the promise. God’s love, displayed in the person of Christ and His atoning death and resurrection, is given as a gift or a deposit in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

That is, all the while we walk by faith, through trials, through hardships, through life, we grow in endurance and character and hope, because the Holy Spirit of God is pouring God’s love into our hearts. Now, we keep going back to Simeon. But what was Simeon waiting for? The Consolation of Israel. That word for Consoloation is “paraklesis.” Comfort. Consolation. Well, what does Jesus call the Holy Spirit in John 14?

He calls Him the Helper or the “comforter” which is “Paraklete.” From the same word. The comforter. The consoler.

The Holy Spirit is our comforter and consoler, as He applies and spreads the Love of God in our hearts, which proves to us day by day that our Hope is not hopeless, that our joy is not empty, and that our Peace with God is genuine and sure.

Do you see how thee advent blessings have such wonderful meaning for our lives all the year long? Hope, Love, Joy, Peace - they are not just ideals, not just greetings, not just concepts - they are things that we have. Things that have been purchased and given to us and are applied to our lives. Things we can experience, know, grow in, walk in, all because of Jesus Christ, and all by faith.

Dear one, you can know the hope, love, joy, and peace of God in your life because of Jesus Christ. Trust Him by faith, believe on the one who was crucified for your sin, and raised for your justification. By faith, walk and live in the peace with God that we cannot experience any other way.

Peace, along with all the other blessings of Advent, is a present reality because Christ was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.