A COMING, ENDURING PEACE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called...Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

This Christmas season, maybe as much or more as any other before, I am remembering these words from a classic Christmas carol, I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day:

And in despair I bowed my head:
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor does He sleep,
For Christ is here; His Spirit near
Brings peace on earth, good will to men.”

In so many places today as we approach Christmas 2023, it seems like things are upside down in our world.

A war is waging in the Middle East that has polarized and divided nations through differing ideologies within their populace. Terrorist threats outside the war zone are increasing as are attacks on maritime and land based entities.

Crime in the United States alone seems to be at an all time high. Daily stories of shootings and stabbings along with bold thefts of retail merchandising, often by groups of coordinated robbers, are the norm, so much so that a person barely raises an eyebrow anymore. Lawlessness has appeared to become an accepted part of our society.

And raging inflation in America has led to elevated prices on everything that people need to make it through life every day. Housing and gas prices are through the roof. Ditto for food. Meanwhile, salaries haven’t tracked with this rise in expenses, stressing budgets and leaving more and more families seeking assistance.

If there was ever a time our world needs peace on earth, it’s now.

Thankfully, it’s here and has been here since God came to earth incarnate in the form and flesh of Jesus in a lowly Bethlehem manger more than 2,000 years ago. As we have seen within these opening messages of the Christmas Advent season, this amazing, world-altering birth was foretold well before it occurred as God spoke through His prophets, especially Isaiah who proclaimed the following in the ninth chapter of the Old Testament book that bears his name:

For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. v.6

In today’s final message in this four part series on the titles given to the coming Jesus, titles that gave insight as to His character, we look at our Savior as the Prince of Peace.

First, the Prince part tells us that He was the Son of royalty, the Son of the God Most High, the Maker and Master of all things in Heaven and on earth. Indeed, God would place all authority in Heaven and earth on His Son before placing Him at His right hand to rule and reign over all.

Since the Son was One with the Father, than the fullest perfection of God was in Jesus. He was sinless but became sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) so to serve as the final sacrifice ever needed for atonement. Anyone who would believe in Him after His crucifixion and resurrection would not perish in eternal judgment but gain everlasting life (John 3:16).

It’s this truth and assurance that makes Jesus, the Prince of Peace, as we only find peace and reconciliation with a God that hates, despises, and judges sin by accepting His offer of salvation and pardon through His Son. Through Jesus, we are justified and freed from the penalty of sin and given the guarantee of joining Him and God in their Kingdom forever.

This is the kind of good news we can anchor ourselves to as Christian believers, no matter what rages around us in this world or in our personal lives. Like it’s known that at the center of a great hurricane there is calm, so too do we find peace in Jesus when we place Him at the center of our lives in the midst of difficulty and hardship.

My prayer for you in the run up to Christmas this year is that you will join me in drowning out all the turmoil that would seek to steal away our joy and solace from the holiday season and center our full mind’s attention and heart’s affection on the manger in Bethlehem where the world received a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace who would dwell with all mankind forever.

Thanks be to God for all He has done, is doing, and is yet to do, and especially for the gift of His Son Jesus, the Savior of the world.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.