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We did not get to cover the 4th Sunday of advent last Sunday so I wanted to continue this week.
We have seen hope, love, and joy so far.
Christmas Eve we lit the candle at the center, the Christ candle which represents Jesus coming to earth.
The 4th candle is the candle of peace.
In reality, it is just as fitting to speak of peace following Christmas as in preparation leading to as we will see through our time this morning.
As with the other themes, biblical peace is often misunderstood because of our cultural understanding of the world.
Beginning with our English definition of peace.
1: a state of tranquillity or quiet: as
a: freedom from civil disturbance
b: a state of security or order within a community provided for by law or custom 〈a breach of the peace〉
2: freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions
3: harmony in personal relations
4 a: a state or period of mutual concord between governments
b: a pact or agreement to end hostilities between those who have been at war or in a state of enmity
5 —used interjectionally to ask for silence or calm or as a greeting or farewell—at peace: in a state of concord or tranquillity
We most frequently understand peace to be an absence from conflict.
When we think of peace,
when we desire peace.
What we really want is all of the hard and difficult things to leave us.
People everywhere are searching for peace.
Songs are sung about it.
Wars are fought to obtain it.
Wealthy and powerful people will go to great lengths for one moment of peace.
Jesus reflected this idea.
He would frequently escape to to a quiet, peaceful place to pray and spend time with the Father.
In speaking to the disciples in Jn
This was spoken as Jesus was preparing to go to the cross.
There is a difference between peace offered by the world and peace offered by God.
An extremely wealthy person feels as peace perhaps when they sit inside their fortified home with security outside.
When we expand on these differences we can see that the world’s peace is fleeting and changes with circumstances, but biblical peace holds true.
During times of prosperity, nations experience temporary peace.
But when economies struggle, countries find themselves on the brink of civil war as well as war with their neighbors.
The peace of the world is a fickle thing.
Conflict erupts when people are hungry;
peace disappears when circumstances turn ugly:
This has not changed
The peace offered by the world though is an empty promise and can only bring temporary comfort.
God’s peace is a permanent peace offered by the only One who can be trusted to keep his Word and heal our sin.
Biblical peace is more than a feeling or desire for ease though.
That is what we see when we look to the words biblical words for peace in scripture.
There is primarily one Hebrew and one Greek word that is translated peace in the Bible.
Shalom
In the Hebrew word there is the idea of an absence of hostility, but more than that there is an idea of wholeness, prosperity, welfare which are at the root of the word.
It could apply equally to the state of a person, the relationship between people, between nations, and man’s relationship with God.
The presence of shalōm in any of these contexts was not considered ultimately as the outcome of human endeavor, but as a gift or blessing of God
This peace is tied with the promises of God.
In OT times, the presence of peace signified God;s blessing.
In Israel it showed God’s blessing on their relationship with God.
The absence of peace showed when Israel was disobedient and not in a right relationship with God.
God alone is the source of peace,
In Judges 6, Gideon built and altar to the Lord and called it The Lord Is Peace.
The Lord came to sinful humankind, historically first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles, desiring to enter into a relationship with them.
He established with them a covenant of peace, which was sealed with his presence
All the people were blessed in Num 6 when God to Moses to say
Num.
6:24–27
Peace was free to be had, so long as people maintained a right relationship with God.
Through this understanding, OT peace, shalom became a pivotal part of the prophets writing.
It was the “false” prophets who, forgetting the conditions for national well-being within the covenant relationship,
assumed God’s loyalty to Israel (Ps 89) would guarantee political peace forever (Jer 6:14; 8:15; Ez 13:10, 16; Mi 3:5).
This was waht the true prophets spoke against before Israels exile from their land.
That judgment will come because of persistent disobedience and unrighteousness.
Which is why the coming messiah is described as
Isaiah 9:6 (ESV)
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
The end time expectation of peace proclaimed in the OT is directly associated with the Messiah to come.
He will be a prince of peace.
His reign will be one of peace, not only for Israel, but for the whole earth.
The OT ends with this hope of peace still unrealized in its full sense.
It is the NT that announces the realization of this peace.
Peace with God has come through the Messiah.
Peace with God came through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Rom.
5:1; Eph.
2:14–17; Col. 1:19–20; see Heb. 13:20).
Peter declared to Cornelius: “You now the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all” (Acts 10:36).
The word used in the Greek word
ereine
It describes (a) harmonious relationships between men, Matt.
10:34; Rom.
14:19;
(b) between nations, Luke 14:32; Acts 12:20; Rev. 6:4;
(c) friendliness, Acts 15:33; 1 Cor.
16:11; Heb.
11:31;
(e) order, in the State, Acts 24:2 (RV, ‘peace,’ KJV, ‘quietness’); in the churches, 1 Cor.
14:33;
(f) harmony between God and man, accomplished through the gospel, Acts 10:36; Eph.
2:17;
(g) the sense of rest and contentment
PEACE (eirene from eiro = to join together) is not just the absence of hostility and strife (which it is!)
It describes a situations where two are brought together and there is no longer anything between them to cause friction or create a barrier.
One great illustration of peace comes from a missionary named Jim Walton.
He was in Columbia translating the NT.
However, Jim was having trouble translating the word PEACE.
About this same time, Fernando, the village chief, was promised a 20-minute plane ride to a location that would have taken him 3 days to travel by walking.
The plane was delayed in arriving so Fernando departed on foot.
When the plane finally came, a runner took off to bring Fernando back.
But by the time he had returned, the plane had left.
Fernando was furious because of the mix-up.
He lost his peace.
He went to Jim and launched into an angry tirade.
Fortunately, Walton taped the chief’s diatribe and later when he translated it, he discovered that the chief kept repeating the phrase,
“I don’t have ONE HEART.”
Jim asked other villagers what having “ONE HEART” meant,
and he found that it was like saying, “There is nothing between you and the other person.”
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